BRITAIN:The Thames burst its banks yesterday, forcing the evacuation of hundreds of homes in Oxford in Britain's worst floods in 60 years.
About 350,000 people faced two weeks without running water and insurance companies said the bill could soar to £3 billion (€4.4 billion).
Farmers say harvests have been badly hit and that farm animals in flood-hit areas could die unless water supplies are restored soon.
Visiting the worst-hit area in Gloucestershire, British prime minister Gordon Brown pledged more cash for stricken areas and more tankers and bottled water to ensure supplies.
Oxford became the new frontline when rivers feeding into the Thames spilled over into its streets, forcing police to evacuate 250 homes. Aerial pictures showed flood waters not far from some of the city's historic college buildings.
Heavy rain is expected overnight and Environment Agency officials warned that the river had not yet peaked.
Meanwhile, southern Europe sweltered through some of the year's hottest weather as the second major heatwave in a month sparked more forest fires.
The heat has claimed at least 33 lives in Romania. Many thousands of acres of forest have been burned in Italy, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Greece. Arson is suspected in many cases. Forests in Serbia have also been ravaged.
Greek authorities warned citizens, especially the elderly, to minimise movement, stay indoors and drink water.
Argos, Lamia, Serres and Eleusis, near Athens, hit 45 degrees yesterday.
Health officials in Hungary said that the high temperatures over the last week may have contributed, at least in a small way, to hastening the deaths of hundreds of seriously ill people in the country. Last night the western Balkans suffered widespread power cuts, including Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia. -