Bradford on Avon's flood defences hold firm

Flood warnings remain in place across large parts of the region as the West Country once again takes a battering from winter storms.

Waters on the Somerset Levels are continuing to rise. But elsewhere flood defences have so far proved successful.

Richard Payne reports from Wiltshire:

Flood defences at Bradford on Avon have so far held, preventing a repeat of the kind of flooding seen at Christmas in the Wiltshire town. But a flood warning remains in place for the area.

This morning the Environment Agency said river levels were stable but could rise further in response to forecast rainfaill.

An appeal set up to help victims of flooding on the Somerset Levels has raised more than £125,000 in just a few days. The fund set up by the Somerset Community Foundation aims to provide emergency relief grants to families flooded out of their homes.

It will also help with with longer term support for businesses and communities that are affected. More details here.

Heavy rain in Gloucestershire has caused large waves to spread up the Severn.

These two Roe deer had to swim for their lives during high tide to escape the flood waters at the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust in Slimbridge:

Video courtesy of Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust, Slimbridge

The Environment Agency has done such a poor job in their response to the Somerset floods that they should be disbanded, a local landlord has told Daybreak.

Jim Winkworth said residents had been promised an action for future floods at the beginning of 2013, but it never materialised.

Watch: Somerset farmer: Military will lead to 'dead livestock'

The Chair of the Environment Agency Lord Smith will visit Somerset tomorrow:

As the region deals with severe flooding, Weston-super-Mare's MP John Penrose has confirmed that the Congresbury Yeo Tidal Banks scheme has been approved for construction in 2014/15.

Mr Penrose said: “This is great news for local residents. Weston’s new flood defences have done a great job in keeping us a great deal drier than the rest of Somerset, but if the old defences on the Congresbury Yeo give way, the floods could take all the villages between

Sand Bay & Congresbury itself, including parts of Worle. So it’s great news they’ll be strengthened and improved. A stitch in time, as the saying goes.

Ukip leader Nigel Farage has said that Britain's spending on foreign aid should be diverted to help deal with the flooding crisis in the UK.

He said: "Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that a government's primary duty is to the well-being of its own citizens."

Describing the government's response as "both lethargic and inadequate," he said people "would be forgiven for thinking that ... ordinary British families are not their priority."

Read: Govt commits to protecting 42,000 homes from floods

With floodwaters still rising right across the Somerset levels today, farmer James Winslade and a team of neighbours and farmers have spent all day saving his 550 cattle from the flood.

He had planned to protect the animals by building mud barriers around his farm but finally had to admit defeat.

Our Somerset correspondent David Woodland joined James in his tractor to hear his story