In the village of Ridgewell, Essex, special prayers will be said today at the parish church of St Laurence for Stuart Shields, a 37-year-old sales executive who died on Boxing Day in the Maldives. His wife, Tania, survived the wave that struck the couple as they were swimming in the tropical seas.

Dozens of families around Britain have begun the new year trying to come to terms with the knowledge that much-loved relatives — either confirmed dead or still missing a week after the disaster — will never return from their winter holidays.

In Owslebury, near Winchester, a Christmas wreath hung this weekend on the door of the Weston family home where all the curtains were drawn. Peter Weston, a 47-year-old digital technology executive, was standing near the reception of the White Sands resort on Ari Atoll in the Maldives with his wife, Jackie, and two daughters when the wave struck. Jackie later found her husband’s body at the island’s hospital.

“The first we were aware was children screaming,” she later remembered. “We turned around and saw the water coming. It wasn’t a big wall of water, just a big surge.

“There was chaos. People didn’t know where to go or what to do — it was sudden and chaotic. Pete got separated from us. We are absolutely devastated. Pete was a fantastic father and husband. We can’t put into words how we feel.”

Tristan and Kim Peatfield from Mappleton in Derbyshire took their five-year-old daughter, Isabella, to Sri Lanka for Christmas because she had seen elephants in photographs and dreamed of seeing them for real.

They said last week: “We had spent Christmas night together watching turtles hatch and make their way down to the sea and seeing shooting stars above us.”

Next day Isabella, known as Bellie, was separated from them by the force of the wave and swept away.

“Bellie will always be wonderful to us. She was unique. She loved life with a passion and embraced anything new and adventurous in front of her,” they said.

Like many who had not heard from a family member in the days following the disaster, Guy Hibbert, a 54-year-old television writer from north London, flew to Thailand last week to search for a missing loved one, his stepson Luke Puddy, 31.

Luke was staying in Khao Lak with his girlfriend, Alice Claypoole, also 31, as their latest stop on a trip around the world. Both good divers, they had been due to fly to New Zealand on the day after the disaster. Neither has been in contact since the wave hit Khao Lak, however.

Hibbert’s girlfriend, Lia Williams, an actress, said on Friday that the Foreign Office had told them to “prepare” for bad news. She said: “We have been told there is very little hope . . . our only hope is that they have been injured and unable to get in touch but they weren’t kids and they would have got in touch with us by now if they could. Hope is fading more and more as time passes and it is a terrible time.”

Many families spent last week making desperate calls to the Foreign Office and tour companies.

On New Year’s Eve the family of Jonathan Hughes, from Leeds, was waiting for news of the 33-year-old computer consultant who had been holidaying at Phi Phi with his girlfriend, Sally Shearing.

His brother Mark said: “Sally was knocked unconscious when the roof came down and she doesn’t know what happened to Jon. There was a lot of panic, a lot of bodies and debris in the water . . . she tried to look for him but she couldn’t see him.”

Urgent messages left on websites and message boards reflect the fears of the families of young backpackers missing since Boxing Day.

“Desperately searching for news of my brother William Digby Welch, who was visiting Ko Phayam island near Ranong over Xmas week. Please contact me urgently if you have any news — Peter Welch, Brighton, England.”

“I am looking for information on the whereabouts of my brother Paul Holloway who is backpacking in Thailand please — Sandra, Hastings, UK.”

“I am anxious for news of my sister Penny Cushing. She arrived in Thailand on December 19-20 for a two-week walking tour. If you have any information please let me know — Tina McGrath, Harrogate, UK.”

“My son Greg Fox is in Thailand and has not communicated with us since December 22. If anyone knows of his whereabouts in the region please let me know. It is not like him to not wish us season’s greetings — Terri Fox-Mitchell, Reading, Berks, UK.”

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