A motorist has died after becoming trapped in his car in floodwater and police were searching for a second man feared drowned as Britain braced itself for more wet and windy weather this weekend.
Downing Street said 300 properties were mopping up after the deluge and by Friday night the Environment Agency had issued more than 200 flood warnings and alerts.
Another 40mm of rain is expected to fall this weekend and gale-force winds were predicted to batter the south of Britain as an area of low pressure sweeps in from the Bay of Biscay.
Eddy Carroll, the Met Office's chief forecaster, said: "The current very unsettled spell of weather is set to continue across the country over the next few days.
"Another deep depression will bring heavy rain and strong to gale-force winds to the southern half of the UK on Saturday, and this brings the potential for further flooding and travel disruption.
"We are forecasting gusts of 60-70mph for southern counties of England overnight Saturday and into Sunday with the potential for storm force winds over the English Channel."
The elderly motorist who died in the village of Chew Stoke, eight miles south of Bristol, is believed to have been visiting relatives. His Mitsubishi Shogun was swept away as he tried to cross a ford. It became completely submerged and was wedged under a small wooden bridge.
Rescuers got the man out but he died after suffering a cardiac arrest on the way to the Bristol Royal Infirmary.
Cynthia Troup, who has lived in Chew Stoke for 38 years, said locals would not cross the ford in bad weather. "We don't go over it when it's too deep. We know not to," she said. "We treat it with respect and certainly would never drive through it when it was like this."
David Smith, who lives next to the ford, said: "This is the first time we've experienced this kind of flooding. The speed of the water was quite horrendous."
A second tragedy nearly happened in the same place when a Land Rover was swept away. But it hit a bollard, halting the vehicle. The driver scrambled out and villagers attached ropes to the vehicle to pull it clear.
Thames Valley police were searching for a 91-year-old man called Franz Van De Gender amid fears that he had fallen into the river Thames at Sonning in Berkshire. His empty car was found nearby.
Dozens of other people had narrow escapes after becoming rescued from stranded cars. The AA urged drivers to think twice before taking on saturated roads.
Darron Burness, the AA's head of special operations, said: "Even if you think you know your local roads, don't be complacent, as flash-flooding continues to be a real risk and is catching people out.
"The best advice is to stay out of flood water. It can mask a range of hazards like raised drain covers and open manholes and it's often impossible to gauge how deep it is." The RAC said its callouts for breakdowns were up by 10% on Friday.
It was dealing with 60% more callouts in south-west England than normal.
An elderly woman and her two cats were plucked from her houseboat on the river Avon near Bristol. North Wales fire and rescue was so under pressure that it appealed for people to call only "if you believe lives are at risk".
Accident and emergency departments across the country were being kept busy with injuries ranging from cuts and bruises caused by falling branches or trees to broken bones caused by falls on slippery pavements. Thousands of homes suffered power cuts in the storms as winds of more than 80mph hit some areas.
In Bath a huge boulder crashed down in a landslip on Upper Camden Place.
Fortunately, nobody was hurt. Dozens of elderly people had to be evacuated after a landslide in Exeter close to sheltered housing. In Cornwall, heavy rainfall and winds around the fishing port of Mevagissey resulted in a landslide.
There continued to be long delays for some travellers as roads and rail lines were blocked or damaged by the week's deluges.
The Environment Agency said its teams continued to work around the clock to shore up defences, monitor river levels, clear blockages from watercourses and pump out flood water from towns.
A spokesperson said: "Rain will return to all parts of the country on Saturday with the heaviest and most persistent rain in western England and parts of Wales. River flooding is likely with the possibility of significant disruption, particularly across Devon, north Somerset and Wales. This rain spreads north and east increasing flood risk in north-east and north-west England on Sunday. The picture remains unsettled for the start of next week."
A minor mystery was caused by the weather on Hayling Island in Hampshire, where golf-ball-sized balls washed up on the shore. The council advised members of the public not to touch them or allow dogs to eat them, though they were thought to be balls of natural emulsified oils and organic matter.
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