The clean-up for the Christmas floods is estimated at £100m, according to reports.

An estimated 500,000 homes in areas such as East Sussex and Uckfield may not be insured, as some of the worst floods coincided with this year's 1 January renewals.

Insurers now offer insurance policies only to the owners or occupiers of houses that have no more than a one-in-75 chance being flooded in any given year.

The figure is calculated by the Environment Agency which is able to offer an assessment of any given property on request.

The Met Office predicts further torrential rain for the coming week. Some of the worst hit areas are Worcester, Helston in Cornwall and Torquay in Devon.

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