David Cameron pledges to help 800 homes hit by floods

David Cameron has pledged to “ensure everything is done to help” flood victims as it emerged the first person to die in the bad weather was a Londoner.

Retired company director John McNair, 77, from Blackheath, was killed on Thursday when his car became wedged under a bridge in Chew Stoke, Somerset, as he drove to his Welsh home for the weekend.

Neighbour Julian Jarvis said: “He was a no-nonsense kind of man and was outspoken and charismatic. He will be missed by all who knew him.”

Police were today searching the Thames near Sonning for 91-year-old Franciscus Van De Gender, who is feared to have been swept away on Friday. A 21-year-old homeless woman was killed after a tree fell on her tent in Exeter on Saturday and 50-year-old Kevin Wilkinson died after falling into the Grand Union Canal in Watford. Thousands of people had to be rescued from their cars with recovery organisations reporting 4x4 drivers becoming stranded after trying to find shortcuts.

More than 800 homes in the south-west and the Midlands were flooded after a month of rain fell in four days in some areas. The Environment Agency has issued 265 flood warnings and 288 lesser flood alerts for England and Wales.

Mr Cameron wrote on Twitter: “Shocking scenes of flooding in Cornwall and around the country. Govt will help ensure everything is being done to help.”