Gloucester (England), July 23 (Reuters): Flood waters across huge swathes of England rose to 60-year highs today, submerging vast tracts of land and leaving thousands of people without running water or electricity.

Environment secretary Hilary Benn told parliament further flooding was very likely, as heavy rains continued and major rivers such as the Thames swelled.

The Environment Agency said Britain’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE), which assembles, maintains and decommissions nuclear warheads, had reported that their site at Burghfield in Berkshire had experienced severe flooding.

“Several parts of the site, including a number of buildings and the site’s sewage treatment works, have been affected,” the agency said. “AWE staff have been sampling and analysing the floodwater from the site. They have confirmed that there has been no escape of radioactive materials.”

Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited the western county of Gloucestershire, badly hit by the flooding, and promised more money to help with drainage and flood defences. “What we saw here was a month’s rainfall in some places in an hour.”