Hundreds of people have been rescued by emergency service workers after rising floodwaters caused chaos in England's northwest.
Five Royal Air Force helicopters were called in to rescue about 50 people stranded in Cockermouth after floodwaters swept through the Cumbrian town on Thursday night amid torrential rain.
Some were airlifted after being forced to break through the roofs on their homes to escape, while many others fled in lifeboats.
Emergency service workers estimated that more than 200 people were rescued overnight on Thursday, with some residents still trapped in their homes early on Friday as rain continued to fall.
A search has begun for a missing police officer after a bridge collapsed in the nearby ancient market town of Workington.
The officer was believed to have been helping save local people from the floodwaters when he disappeared.
Meanwhile, flooding has been reported in northwest Wales as well as Dumfries and Galloway in Scotland, where dozens of roads have been closed due to heavy rain.
The Met Office has issued several severe flood warnings across northern England, Scotland and Wales after days of steady rain caused several rivers to break their banks.
Some areas received more than 170mm of rain in 24 hours, with more rain forecast for Friday and the weekend.
Cockermouth, known as the birthplace of English poet William Wordsworth, became submerged after two rivers overflowed and sent a torrent of water through local streets.
Cumbria Police said water levels in some part of the town had reached more than 2.5m while hundreds of buildings were without power.
Pub owner John Carlin described the heavy rain as "staggering".
"I have lived here for 15 years and have never seen anything like it," he told the BBC.
"At two o'clock it was raining heavily, but there was nothing here. But now there is four feet of water outside my front door.
"It's desperate. The town centre is completely flooded, the only people out there at the moment are the emergency services. The water is up to the waists of the firefighters."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered Cumbria Police all the help needed for the clean-up operation across the region.
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