Prince visits flood victims

Charles will visit Catcliffe in Rotherham and Sheffield in Yorkshire to meet some flood victims and emergency services, as the clean-up continues across the region.

He will also visit Derbyshire, which was another area affected by the flooding.

In Yorkshire, many homes remain flooded and without power with Bentley near Doncaster still badly affected. Emergency services and homeowners are anxiously keeping an eye on the weather as more heavy rain is forecast over the coming days.

The regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, has promised up to £1m in recovery funding to help businesses affected by the flooding.

The Government has been accused of underestimating the scale of the flood rescue effort after new figures showed as many as 3,500 people had been rescued by the fire service in the past few days - an effort that has been described as the biggest in peacetime Britain.

Newly-reshuffled Cabinet ministers Hilary Benn and Ed Miliband visited Yorkshire's flood stricken communities on Thursday night.

They promised that repairing their villages would be their top priority - but refused to guarantee flood defence work would be brought forward.

Mr Benn said: "People are angry and distressed about what's happened and I sympathise with those who feel this way. For those without insurance there will be support from the Government social fund. Once the immediate crisis has passed we will reflect on lessons to be learned."

Five people have already died in the flooding, which has forced hundreds of people in Yorkshire and the Midlands from their homes.