COMMUNITIES across vast swathes of Britain have been warned to brace themselves for further flooding this week.

River levels continue to rise in Wiltshire, Hampshire, Dorset, Somerset and the Midlands, the Environment Agency (EA) said.

There were 102 flood warnings and 181 flood alerts in place, although none of them were deemed severe.

Rivers including the Hampshire Avon through Wiltshire, Hampshire and Dorset, the Stour in Dorset, the Parrett in Somerset and the Severn in the Midlands showed no signs of receding.

Communities along the River Thames in Surrey, Berkshire and Oxfordshire were also warned that they were also at risk of flooding.

The latest warnings came as David Cameron said during Prime Minister's Questions some energy companies did not have enough staff working over Christmas to deal effectively with power failures. And he said Energy Secretary Ed Davey was looking at the response of the energy companies and the compensation on offer.