Graham Roberts:There have been fatalities

And the floodwaters themselves can also take their toll.

Otter cubs are born in a burrow which is usually around three feet above the river, recent flood levels have been way over that.

Under 15 weeks old their babies cannot swim and experts fear many could have drowned.

Hampshire Wildlife Trust spokesman Graham Roberts said there had been several otter fatalities.

"The water comes up, the velocity increases and sadly otters cannot get through the water and they are forced up onto the road," he said.

Setback

"Sadly our roads are more busy these days and they get killed."

Otters had been one of the few recent conservation success stories.

In the late 1950s they faced extinction, a victim of the threat from pollution from pesticides and changing habitats.

But their numbers had been increasing as rivers have become cleaner and food more plentiful.

Conservationists will have to wait until spring to see how badly that recovery has been set back.

The Environment Agency is warning the recent heavy rain means water levels could peak above those which caused devastating floods last month.

Warnings

Across the UK on Friday, there were 12 severe flood warnings in place, down from 14 on Thursday after the danger receded on the Ems and Lavant in west Sussex.

There are 85 flood alerts in place compared to 100 earlier in the week.

An EA spokesman said: "Things are improving slowly, we are not seeing additional rain but it will be at least three days before we see the waters around the Severn recede in any great way," said the spokesman.

"The problem now is not so much the water in the sky, it's the water in the ground."

He said the deluges were building up the water table in the south of England which could mean more flooding over the winter in areas including west Sussex, Kent and Somerset.