Overall, 36 flood warnings were issued by the Environment Agency, most of which were targeted at northeast England, along with a further 91 flood watches.

A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers told AFP that though the weather forecast was in flux, initial estimates suggested damage valued at around the "low tens of millions (of pounds) at this stage."

That figure is a fraction of the cost of flooding last summer, which crippled parts of central and northern England, which the spokesman said led to insurance payouts of around three billion pounds (5.3 billion dollars, 3.7 billion euros).

Six people have died since Friday in what media reports blamed on the storms, including a 27-year-old geologist who was buried alive in a landslide in Gloucester, western England, while surveying a site there.

Separately, a 17-year-old girl was killed when the vehicle she was travelling in overturned and plunged into a swollen river in Powys, Wales.

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