These remarkable before and after pictures show the true horror of the flooding blighting England's southern counties after persistent rainfall caused rivers to burst their banks. The deluge has consumed entire villages in Somerset, with more than 800 homes along the banks of the Thames currently affected by the rising water levels.
Once busy shop fronts are now under water, farmland has been destroyed, while homes have been barricaded with sandbags in a desperate hope of relief from the ever-rising flood. Roads in some counties now look more like canals, while gardens resembles Medieval moats. And with further rainfall forecast, it could be weeks or even months before England is once again a green, pleasant and hopefully dry land.
The A361 near East Lyng in Somerset before and after the recent heavy flooding
An aerial view of the abandoned village of Moorland on the Somerset levels
The flooded green in Datchet, Berkshire
A man stands in floodwater on the A361 at Burrowbridge on the Somerset Levels
Kate Kirby waist deep in flood water outside her home in Moorland, Somerset
The Environment Agency has issued flood warnings for dozens of areas along the River Severn
Flooded residential properties in Egham, Surrey
A man paddles from his home in Ouseley Road, Wraysbury, Berkshire