The discovery was made by a team of Italian volunteers who had flown in to help with the relief efforts. The three, who work for the Protezione Nazionale agency, came to the UK with a hovercraft they use for flood searches.

The grim find underlined the severity of the flooding, which began in Yorkshire and Humberside a month ago.

At least six other adults have died since intense rainstorms struck the country. One man died trying to unblock a storm drain in Hull, another was swept up in the River Leen near Nottingham, and a man in his sixties was found drowned in Lincolnshire. In Sheffield, a 14-year-old boy died after being swept away when the River Sheaf burst its banks.

In the more recent flooding, a father and son lost their lives as they were pumping water from a submerged room at Tewkesbury Rugby Club. In addition, twins born prematurely in a flood-stranded area of the town failed to survive, despite having been airlifted to hospital by an RAF rescue crew.

Some 130,000 homes in Gloucestershire were still without fresh water yesterday, and the Met Office warned of further heavy rain last night and this morning, threatening to undo last week's salvage and rescue work. The Environment Agency, facing criticism for its response to the earlier floods, announced it was working to clear grills and unblock drains, as well as 'checking sandbag and pump availability'.

Though counselling 'vigilance' rather than 'alarm', it said water levels could rise 'very quickly' and warned that 'flash flooding caused by surface water' was possible.

Redoubling the pressure on the agency, a report in today's Sunday Times alleges that its chief executive, Baroness Young, picked up a £24,000 bonus only days before the flooding began.

Engineers for the Severn Trent water company said last week they hoped to repair a key, flood-damaged treatment station and to begin restoring water to the affected homes by this Tuesday.

But with new downpours threatened, the company's engineers, backed by the military, were busy yesterday installing new flood defences at the station.

The threat of more rain coincided with warnings that the cost of the past month's flooding - first in the north, and more recently in Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and other southern and central areas - would run into billions of pounds.

However, the national water regulator, Ofwat, was quick to reject suggestions by Young that water prices would have to rise to allow companies to invest in infrastructure to deal with future flooding.

A spokeswoman said the companies already had £1bn to spend on sewage system improvements and related projects, and that the firms' insurance would cover immediate costs. She said no change would be made until the next five-year price review in 2009.

The deluge is also set to revive the debate over plans to build hundreds of thousands of affordable houses, many on flood plains.

A spokesman for the Association of British Insurers said it was 'strongly urging' the government against building in 'high flood risk' areas.