London: Prime Minister David Cameron has chaired the government's emergency response committee after record rainfall hit northern England and Scotland, flooding some 2,000 homes.
Cameron is visiting flood-hit areas on Monday amid criticism that millions spent on flood defenses after major floods in 2005 failed to hold back the deluge in Cumbria, the hardest-hit county.
The area got a month's worth of rainfall in a day.
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Rejecting criticism of flood defenses, John Leyland, deputy director of operations at the Environment Agency, told the BBC that the amount of rainfall was an "unprecedented event" which was "beyond the forecasts and beyond the models."
The military has been called in, and has been helping evacuate people from their homes.
The rain subsided on Sunday. But forecasts call for more rain during the week.
