Aid agencies have stepped up fundraising efforts for Bangladesh, where the death toll from Cyclone Sidr has risen to more than 3,000.

Aside from the casualties, more than 800,000 homes have been directly affected and 500,000 completely destroyed, according to the British Red Cross.

Hundreds of people are still missing after the cyclone smashed into the country's southern coastline late on Thursday night, and there are fears the death toll could rise to 10,000.

And there are concerns that famine could claim even more lives after the storm destroyed countless rice fields.

Military ships and helicopters are trying to reach thousands of people stranded on islands in the Bay of Bengal and in coastal areas still cut off by the devastating storm.

Both the British Red Cross and Save the Children have launched emergency appeals, and British aid workers with Oxfam are on standby to go to Bangladesh and join those already helping survivors on the ground.

British Red Cross disaster preparedness project manager in Dhaka, Ali Asgar, said many people were in desperate need of help.

Mr Asgar said: "The needs are enormous - there is a huge scarcity of food and water, and people also need clothing.

"The rescue and relief effort is not being made any easier by the fact that many of these remote areas are incredibly hard to reach, and communications and electricity remain down."

He added: "Meeting the needs will be a huge challenge. Assessment teams are in some of the worst hit areas where hundreds of thousands have been affected, and thousands died, with the death toll increasing."

Britain has promised to deliver an aid package worth £2.5 million.

- Save the Children Emergency Appeal Line 0800 8148 148 or www.savethechildren.org.uk

- British Red Cross appeal line 0845 054 7201 or www.redcross.org.uk/cyclone

© Independent Television News Limited 2009. All rights reserved.