Warnings in place along 12-mile stretch of Thames, as strong winds and heavy rain are expected across much of UK
The Met Office is warning of another band of heavy rain sweeping in from the Atlantic, while 14 severe flood warnings remain in place across a 12-mile stretch of the river Thames.
The warnings of danger to life span an area between the M4 in Berkshire and Surrey, where emergency services have already been at full stretch. Fire crews in Surrey have rescued 150 people over the last 24 hours and police said 2,500 residents were at risk.
Amid criticism from beleaguered residents that they are not doing enough, Matt Twist, divisional police commander for the flooded areas in north Surrey, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that they were dealing with an extremely challenging situation. He said officers had been making house-to-house calls in Runnymede, Spelthorne and Elmbridge.
First Great Western warned of major disruption to rail services from Paddington and said customers should only travel if absolutely necessary in affected areas. The problem was caused by rising water that damaged safety and signalling equipment in Maidenhead, Berkshire. CrossCountry, South West Trains, Southeastern and Southern are also operating heavily curtailed services.
David Cameron will continue visiting flood-stricken areas on Tuesday, in an attempt to illustrate that the government is doing everything it can to help those affected. On Monday the prime minister ordered his feuding cabinet ministers to end infighting and sniping aimed at the Environment Agency (EA).
Visiting flood-hit Wraysbury on Tuesday, the defence secretary, Philip Hammond, said now was not the time for "recriminating and finger-pointing". He refused to be drawn on the future of the EA chairman, Lord Smith, describing it as an "esoteric" question.
In an internal letter to its staff, the agency reportedly launched a staunch defence of Smith, describing the criticism as "ill-informed and unfair".
The Met Office has issued amber "be prepared" warnings for London and south-east England, the south-west, West Midlands and south Wales because of strong winds and heavy rain. The Met Office's Sarah Davies said some regions, including the south-west, south Wales, western Scotland and Northern Ireland, could experience up to 70mm (2.75 inches) of rain by Friday night.
She said a storm due to arrive on Wednesday could fell trees and cause further transport and power disruption, with winds in the south-west potentially reaching 80mph.
As well as the warnings for the Thames, two severe weather warnings remain in place for Somerset, for Salt Moor and North Moor and the A361 between East Lyng and Burrowbridge. There were also 134 flood warnings, indicating less severe risk, across England and Wales on Tuesday morning.
The cost of clearing up after this winter's floods could hit £1bn if rain continues to fall on water-logged ground and causes damage to more homes and businesses, an insurance expert has said.
On Monday the accountancy firm PwC revised up its forecast for the cost of flooding in December and January to £630m, including a £500m bill for the insurance industry.