Fierce storms lashed Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England today as a deep Atlantic depression which triggered the worst UK floods in almost 200 years at the weekend swept north once more.

The Met Office today issued severe weather warnings as winds gusting up to 100mph battered the north of the British Isles, causing chaos on the roads.

Forecasters predict the gales will continue through the night and into tomorrow with conditions not expected to improve until Thursday.

Thousands of householders in the weekend's worst-hit areas, particularly Cumbria and Northumberland, remain without mains water tonight. In the market town of Hexham 10,000 homes were cut off and 70 emergency bowsers and water tanks have been set up as repairs to mains continue.

Further warnings were issued by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as heavy rainfall and melting snow caused fast-flowing rivers - including the Tay, Earn, Tummel and Isla in Perthshire - to burst their banks.

Motorists have been urged to take extra care with a series of road closures expected and a number of rail services suspended. On the coastal A78 from Wemyss Bay to Largs drivers battled through huge waves which rose up from the sea.

In Northern Ireland, a lorry driver was killed when his articulated vehicle was blown off Foyle Bridge in Londonderry as 90mph winds battered parts of the province.

The West Coast Main Line, from Euston in London to Glasgow, has suspended many of its services and delays were expected tomorrow on the line from Dumfries to Carlisle.

Forecasters have warned that another 40mm of rain could fall in the next 24 hours and all schools, sports centres, libraries and council offices in the Western Isles of Scotland are to be closed tomorrow.

Although the south escaped the worst of the weather, its repercussions were felt in Westminster today as the Government announced a review of the flood warning system.

Elliot Morley, the environment minister, said that many people were not alerted to the flood danger at the weekend despite the activation of the early warning system.

He told the House of Commons: "Preliminary indications are that this was the most serious flood in Cumbria since 1822."

He said there were plans for a new Environment Agency flood defence scheme to protect Carlisle, where 6,000 families have been told not to return to their flood-affected homes because of contaminated water and damaged electrical cabling.

He added: "Nobody can guarantee that there will not be extreme weather events or flooding. But we can, and are, continually reducing risk by investment in defences and warning systems."

The storms have already claimed three lives since they swept in at the weekend, causing widespread flooding in Carlisle.

Margaret Threlkeld, 79, and Margaret Porter, 85, both died in their homes on Warwick Road, Carlisle, while Michael Scott, 63, from Hethersgill, near Brampton, died after a barn collapsed onto his caravan after torrential rain.

Meanwhile, Grampian Police were waiting for water levels to lower before searching a river where a man is feared to have been swept away. Police divers are to search the River Findhorn, near Forres in Morayshire, for Andrew MacDonald, 42, who went missing on Saturday.

Sepa said the weather was likely to be the most severe seen north of the border for more than a decade.

The scale of the flooding has raised fears that Scotland will become more susceptible in coming years because of the effects of global warming.

Lewis Macdonald, the deputy environment minister, said: "We certainly recognise that the problems will increase. I do not think there are any serious commentators left who deny the reality of climate change and deny that that causes problems here in Scotland and elsewhere in the world.

"And it is because of that that we want to ensure our policies are up-to-date responding to that, are realistic and make a difference."

He said the Scottish executive intended to change the planning laws to restrict building on flood plains, and wanted develop more flood prevention schemes and renewable energy schemes such as hydro and wind power to lessen the impact of climate change.

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