Charles and Camilla visit flood areas

The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall are visiting Gloucestershire to meet victims of the recent devastating floods.

A massive clean-up operation is continuing one week after the main deluge swept across southern England and resulted in the deaths of at least three people.

Prince Charles, whose Highgrove mansion near Tetbury escaped the floods, is meeting families, emergency teams and volunteers as over 300,000 people still face the prospect of two weeks without clean water.

Earlier, the Mayor of Gloucester, Harjit Gill, urged people to help support a floods appeal fund which has already raised over £73,000.

He said: "As you will all know Gloucestershire has faced the worst peacetime crisis in the UK in living memory. The people need our help and if you do support this fund it will help get life back to normal for people."

Meanwhile, the Chief Constable of Gloucestershire Police, Dr Tim Brain, has downplayed reports that bowsers installed in streets for residents to access water have been damaged by vandals.

And as water levels continue to recede, microbiologists have warned of a danger of potentially-lethal bacteria such as E coli and salmonella being left behind in the sludge.

On Thursday, Met Office figures showed the period from May to July of this year was the wettest since records began in 1766 - even before the month was over.

Forecasters have said Friday will be drier and warmer with occasional scattered showers in places but a band of heavy rain is expected to hit Wales and central and southern England between Saturday night and Sunday morning.

The Environment Agency (EA) continues to maintain three severe flood warnings, all along the River Thames.

This summer's floods claimed another two victims on Thursday after a father and son died as they tried to pump floodwater out of the cellar of Tewkesbury Rugby Football Club in Gloucestershire.

Bram Lane, 64, and his son Chris had been part of a larger group cleaning up the club on Wednesday night, but decided to stay on after the others had left.

The floods are also feared to have claimed the life of 19-year-old Mitchell Taylor, who has not been seen since the early hours of Saturday morning.

Elsewhere, the body of a man in his 40s was pulled out of the River Great Ouse on Tuesday, while a woman stranded in Tewkesbury lost her newborn twins at the weekend despite the best efforts of the RAF.

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