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VIDEO: After months of heavy winter rain in the south of England, the mighty Thames river is overflowing its banks, swamping the villages it has sustained for centuries. Mike Drolet reports.

LONDON – The River Thames has burst its banks after reaching its highest level in years, flooding riverside towns upstream of London.

Residents and British troops had piled up sandbags to protect properties from the latest bout of flooding, but the river overwhelmed their defences Monday, leaving areas including the centre of the village of Datchet underwater.

Schoolchildren are ferried by boat after the River Thames breaks its banks in Berkshire, England. Stephen Simpson/REX A woman struggles to wade through the wash created as a truck passes her. Photo by Stephen Simpson/REX An unfortunate woman wading through the floods becomes caught up in a truck's wash in Old Windsor after the River Thames broke its banks, Berkshire on Sunday. Stephen Simpson/REX Women wade through a flooded street, in Datchet, England, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. The River Thames has burst its banks after reaching its highest level in years, flooding riverside towns upstream of London. AP Photo/Sang Tan Mother Vicki Schofield tows her children Callum (10) and Jessica (7) along a flooded road in a canoe in Wraysbury, England. Stephen Simpson/REX People load their boats with sandbags on a flooded street, in Datchet, England, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. AP Photo/Sang Tan Story continues below advertisement People build a defensive wall with sandbags on a flooded street, in Datchet, England, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. AP Photo/Sang Tan A railway workers walks across the flooded railway tracks, in Datchet, England, Monday, Feb. 10, 2014. AP Photo/Sang Tan The River Thames bursts its banks at Alexandra Road in Thames Ditton, England. Javier Garcia/BPI/REX The River Thames bursts its banks at Alexandra Road in Thames Ditton. Javier Garcia/BPI/REX

The Environment Agency has issued 14 severe flood warnings — meaning there’s a danger to life — along the Thames east of Windsor, about 20 miles (32 kilometres) from London.

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Its chief executive, Paul Leinster, said “extreme weather will continue to threaten communities this week” with more Thames flooding expected Tuesday.

There were no flood alerts for the part of the river that flows through London. That tidal stretch is protected by the Thames Barrier, a series of giant metal gates that can be closed to protect the city from surges.

READ MORE: Southwestern United Kingdom continues to struggle with floods

England has had its wettest January since 1766. Its southwest coast has been battered repeatedly by storms and a large area of the low-lying Somerset Levels in the southwest has been under water for more than a month.

The disaster has sparked a political storm, with the Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservative-led government facing criticism from many residents for allegedly failing to dredge rivers and take other flood-prevention measures.

VIDEO: Soldiers deployed to help reinforce flood in UK



Both Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg visited flood-hit areas Monday as the government struggled to take charge of the flooding crisis.

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Cameron denied the government had been slow to respond.

“We have been dealing with it from the very moment it started,” he said. “Where money was needed, we provided more money. Where military was needed, I made sure the military was deployed.”

VIDEO: Angry resident calls on UK PM David Cameron to address River Thames flooding crisis.