Severe weather is set to continue battering large parts of Britain over coming days, with the threat of further flooding and disruption from heavy rain and gales.

The South West of England and South Wales have taken the brunt of the latest storms, which have affected many areas of the UK since Christmas.

Shocking pictures of destroyed train line in Dawlish

The weather has left thousands of homes without power, transport networks in chaos and has forced people to leave their homes – with wind speeds reaching more than 90mph.

The Environment Agency (EA) yesterday had six severe flood warnings in place – meaning a danger to life – in south-west England. The EA was warning there was a “high risk” of coastal flooding in Dorset, Devon and of further river flooding on the Somerset Levels and Moors. Meanwhile on the Levels, which has been badly affected by flooding since Christmas, police used a helicopter to advise the occupants of more than 150 properties at Fordgate and Northmoor to leave their homes because of flooding.

Met Office forecasters yesterday were warning of further severe weather to come. Another band of heavy rain is due to sweep across southern Britain today into tomorrow. A separate area of low pressure is then expected to bring more rain and very strong winds on Saturday.

In response to the crisis, Prime Minister David Cameron announced an extra £100 million would be spent tackling the aftermath of the floods and there were “no restrictions” on the help available to stricken communities.

In Dawlish, between Exeter and Cornwall, a section of seawall under the coastal railway line had collapsed and two people had to be rescued from a car.

Cameron said: “I have seen the shocking pictures of the destroyed train line in Dawlish and I am determined that while it is out of action, the public get a proper alternative service and a solution is found to fix it, as soon as possible. The Government will continue to hold emergency Cobra meetings to ensure these problems are sorted out”