Photos: UK hit with multiple storms, major floods

Parts of England and Wales have been underwater for more than a month after the wettest January on record.

Angry residents have criticized the government, saying it hasn’t done enough to prevent flooding and should have reacted faster to help those affected by the devastation.

The military has been brought in to help build flood defenses and evacuate properties, but it’s not clear if the defenses will hold up as more rain is expected in the coming days.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who visited the region most affected by flooding on Friday, has announced extra funding for flood defense repairs and maintenance.

But Environment Agency chairman Chris Smith, who received a frosty reception when he visited flood-hit areas this week, has faced calls to step down.

On Sunday the government's Communities Minister Eric Pickles, who took over responsibility for the flood response after the environment minister took a sick leave, apologized.

"We made a mistake, there's no doubt about that, and we perhaps have relied too much on the Environment Agency's advice," he told the BBC, saying the government now realized rivers should have been dredged to help prevent flooding.

"I'll apologize unreservedly and I'm really sorry that we took the advice," he said. "We thought we were dealing with experts."

In the Somerset Levels, where muddy brown water stretched off in all directions as far as the eye could see, over 3 million tons of water were being pumped out every day.

Earlier in the week, high tides and stormy seas destroyed a large section of seawall at Dawlish in Devon, washing a stretch of railway track into the sea. Further flooding and landslides cut off all rail links to Devon and Cornwall on Saturday.

On Sunday afternoon Network Rail, Britain's rail network operator, said one route had now reopened for a limited service, with trains running at a reduced speed.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain's anti-European Union party UKIP, has called for some of the overseas aid budget to be diverted to help tackle the flooding. Speaking to the BBC during a visit to the region on Sunday, he described the government's response as "too little, too late." 

Wire services