Thousands of families are this evening facing the 'soul-destroying' prospect of eight months away from their homes as insurers prepared for payouts of £500million in the aftermath of Storm Desmond. It came as the devastating weather pattern claimed its second victim, with Cumbria Police confirming that a body had been found in a search of the River Kent in Kendal after an elderly man fell into the water yesterday. Almost 5,000 homes are still without power, while transport networks, schools and hospitals in the north of England face continued disruption. To compound the misery, forecasters say another seven inches of rain is expected to fall across Northern Ireland, Scotland and parts of northern England between now and Thursday. The areas most badly hit by the flooding are Carlisle (bottom and top left), Keswick (bottom right), Appleby and Shap in Cumbria, Morecambe, Carnforth and Lancaster in Lancashire and Hawick and Perth in Scotland. A resident in Keswick is pictured main clearing debris from his home, while the A592 between Patterdale and Glenridding in Cumbria was uprooted (top right).

Irish TV presenter Teresa Mannion has become an internet sensation thanks to a windswept report on Hurricane Desmond from her native Galway. The broadcast which showed her battling driving rain and Atlantic gales was turned into a meme inserting her into Jurassic Park and the new Star Wars film. Her report has also been remixed as a dance track with the video being viewed over 700,000 times.

I don't care what you want to be in life. I'm not in the slightest bit offended if a man believes he was born a woman or Cara Delvigne wants to be fashionably lesbian, writes KATIE HOPKINS. You can live your life in drag, believe you are Jesus, sew a penis on your head and call yourself Marjorie-I couldn't care less. Some of the best-looking men I know are drag queens. They have better legs than Caitlyn or me and a better sense of humour. Many have been alienated by their friends, ostracised from their homes or thrown out by people who only loved them as they were. So they became fabulous instead.

Muhaydin Mire (pictured left, top right in court sketch and bottom right in police van) is accused of slashing at the throat of a 56-year-old man in Leytonstone Underground station on Saturday night. His alleged victim needed five hours in surgery after the attack, Westminster Magistrates heard today. Prosecutors claim Mire, 29, of Leytonstone, said he was doing it 'for his brothers in Syria'. He was remanded in custody until his next court appearance.

Reality TV star Ferne McCann, 25, was filmed eating the live arachnid during the Bushtucker Bonanza challenge - prompting 553 complaints to Ofcom, and a further 500 directly to ITV. The challenge saw the Towie star forced to pick between a meal for her and her fellow finalists or a Bushtucker dish.

On closer inspection, an elusive Klipspringer deer can be seen hiding in plain sight at Shikumbu kop in South Africa. At first, photographer Piet Grobler could not find the animal he had snapped and it took his eagle-eyed daughter, Carmen Grobler, to spot its hiding place. He said: 'My eyes are too old to see something as small as that, but I thought it would be a fun thing to photograph to see if it tricked other people's eyes too.'

The heartwarming scene was captured by an onlooker at Middlesbrough's Cleveland Centre and was posted to YouTube. It has since attracted over 156,600 views. The kind Santa communicates with the girl in sign language after her mother tells him she 'can't talk very well'.

An atmospheric shot of a young boy and his dog with their hands (and paws) over their eyes taken by Justyna Garczyk-Kleszcz has beaten more than 1,000 entries to take first prize in an international photography contest. Otherw finalists include (clockwise from top right) American photographer Egle Ruth's image of a young girl walking barefoot into the sunset alongside a white wolf; Polish photographer Marta Obiegla's photo of a cat tenderly touching its young human companion and a shot by Dana DiSalvo, also from America, in which a frog seems to be in conversation with a young girl.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT - In its latest barbaric video, the accused - both blindfolded, bound and wearing orange jumpsuits - are led in the centre of a crowd to be executed in Tripoli, Libya. Onlookers, some standing on vehicles to get a better view, watch as they are knelt on the ground and beheaded. As the men die, the crowd shouts Allahu Akbar (God is great). The video ends with the headless bodies being loaded into an ambulance.

The image was apparently taken as Syed Farook and his bride, Tashfeen Malik, were going through customs in Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on the evening of July 27, 2014, upon their arrival from Saudi Arabia. This marks the first time that the couple responsible for killing 14 people and injuring 21 others during a holiday party held at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino, California, on December 2 are seen posing together.

Courtney Solstad, 36, and her husband Steve, from Dallas, Texas, surprised their daughters with an early Christmas present, placing their newly adopted son Nathan under the tree (pictured top right). Captured in a minute-long clip, which has been viewed nearly 400,000 times since appearing online, the three girls walk into the front room in anticipation of their surprise before crying tears of joy and jumping around excitedly.

A stunning apartment with dazzling interiors and A-list neighbours in London's 'golden postcode' is up for sale - but living next to Simon Cowell and co will set you back ?7million. The apartment, which is located in fashionable Holland Park, has been developed by Ameyaa and promises to offer potential buyers a luxurious home in London's most sought-after road.

In a real-life version of Rudyard Kipling's Just So Stories, this calf had been splashing around in the shallow end of a watering hole in the African bush, when the crocodile launched out of the water and clamped down on his trunk. The rest of the herd stood around in shock, trumpeting and snorting as they battled to save the helpless baby elephant from the attack. Against the odds, the tiny baby elephant managed to beat off the reptile and stumble backwards, leaving the crestfallen crocodile to slink back into the murky water. The incredible pictures were caught by Zimbabwean farmer and keen photographer Francois Borman by the Mana Pools in Zimbabwe's Zambezi Valley.

Aaron Halstead, from Burnley, Lancashire, sparked a police investigation after he uploaded images to social media showing various stuffed wild animals. Pictures showed the 24-year-old roaring alongside the head of a tiger (left), posing next to seven giraffes (right), wearing a leopard skin coat with beaver skin trim and even sitting in a car with a stuffed zebra in the back. Halstead was today jailed for 24 weeks after he admitted four charges brought under the Control of Trade in Endangered Species (Enforcement ) Regulations 1997 at Burnley Crown Court.

The gigantic row between diners and managers at The Old Vienna in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, was soundtracked by an oompah band which continued to play throughout the fracas. Staff at the restaurant - which has been dubbed 'Fawlty Towers' thanks to the farcical scenes - walked out on the job after customers started complaining. The bizarre spat took place on Saturday night when dozens of customers had paid £40 a head for a special three-course meal complete with live entertainment from the Alpine-style musicians.

Stuart Bates, 43, who was dressed as Santa, and seven-year-old Fraser when both were hit by a car in Talbot Green, South Wales. Anna Bates watched in horror as her husband and seven-year-old son were killed in front of her. Keen churchgoer Mr Bates was dressed as Father Christmas and had been handing out festive presents to other children at the party. Fraser was dressed in a bright green Christmas jumper.

These images collected from Russian dating sites show the extraordinary lengths some singles have gone to capture the attention of a would-be suitor. Clockwise from top left: One man hugs a sheep; a lady shows what a catch she is by posing next to a fish; a single tries to impress with his flexibility on the bonnet of a car and a woman with a sense of humour presses her face to the door of a washing machine.

House breakers with hearts are an unlikely combination but burglars with a guilty conscience saved the life of a family's pet goldfish after smashing its bowl during a raid. Money and two laptops, containing precious family photos, were stolen by the criminals when they forced their way into the home of Monica, 47, and Lance McGill, 49, in Wollaton, Nottinghamshire. In a brief moment of sympathy the thieves picked up the couple's pet Freddie and placed him in the kitchen sink, filling it with water and allowing him to swim another day.

A devastated little girl has written a pleading letter to Santa Claus to bring back her missing dog in time for Christmas. Isla Kerr, seven, from Sowerby Bridge, West Yorks, decided to put pen to paper after telling her mum 'Santa can do anything'.She now desperately wants to be reunited with her Boston terrier, Dolly.
The three-year-old dog is blind and requires daily medication. The family say she will be terrified not knowing where she is.

King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia have released their second Christmas card as heads of the Spanish monarchy. However, the family chose to feature their daughters Leonor, 10, and Sofia, 8, on the card this year, which carries a message inside in Spanish which reads: 'Every day we have reason to find hope and peace in our hearts. We hope that the goodwill of Christmas will always light our way.' (Pictured from left: Princesses Leonor, 10, and Sofia, 8, on the Spanish royal Christmas card. Top left: The handwritten message inside the card. Bottom left: King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia)

Wenlou village in Henan province has fallen back into the spotlight as China commemorates World Aids Day which fell on December 1. Over 600 residents contracted HIV from unclean needles at a paid blood drive. 200 of these have since died and many children were left orphaned (inset bottom left). Over the past decade, conditions in the village have improved with the mortality rate almost falling in line with the national average. AIDS has made many Wenlou residents from poor to poorer. Pictured left, an unidentified woman is hanging up an IV drip for her HIV-stricken husband 20 years on; pictured right, a patient, who goes by the name of Lin Xiumei, cooks in her bare kitchen.

A loving husband has melted the hearts of millions in China for preparing different breakfast every day for his wife for nearly nine months. Li Ping (left in main), a chef who lives in Chengdu in south-west China, has created around 600 breakfast dishes in the past 273 days in order to help his wife, Ye Na (right in main), regain appetite after she gave birth to their daughter (middle in main) in February. The doting husband excels in a wide range of cuisines, from Italian raviolis (bottom middle) to wonton soup (top right).

Mother-of-two Charlene Harvey, 36, from Wiltshire (left) started lifting weights after an injury stopped her from running (left) and beat stiff competition from around the world to be crowned champion just a year later (right). Thanks to a strict regimen that sees her waking up at 5.30am to train and eating a calorie-controlled diet, she walked away with the top price at Pure Elite World Championships in Margate, Kent, last month.

The footage, which was filmed thousands of feet in the air by the guitarist of San Francisco rock band Gold Minor, shows the volcano in Central America spouting ash on Wednesday. Nicaragua's 4,255-foot peak also emitted some glowing rock, after gas and ash emissions began Tuesday.

Natasha Smith, 25, from Cardiff, went to the gravity-defying extremes to protect her decorations as she and her partner Wayne Rudy (together right), 37, prepare for their first Christmas with the moggy. The couple - along with Wayne's children Taryn, six, and Ella, seven - set a whole day aside to create the topsy-turvy tree after fearing that playful kitten Storm (left) could hurt herself on it. The tree took the family all day to put onto the ceiling, along with presents around the base and a Super Man figure seemingly holding it up from the ground (left) - but they are keeping their strategy behind the unusual tree top secret.

Fascinating pictures and video show Chishuru the 17-year-old elephant locating a small amount of TNT on a piece of filter paper hidden in a row of buckets and raising his right leg when he finds it (left) with his trunk (pictured, top right, in the bucket). The amazing research is being carried out in the Limpopo Province of South Africa by wildlife organisation Adventures with Elephants and has been largely funded by the US Army Research Office which is currently working on developing scent detection devices. In 2007, researchers discovered that a herd in Angola, who were being tracked using GPS technology, were purposely avoiding landmine fields left over from the civil war which had claimed the lives of many elephants. Elephants could now be used to detect land mines in areas that have seen conflict and could even do so at a distance with the aid of drones.

Bexlee Marie was filmed by her mum Tangee McMahon waiting in the queue for a car wash while listening to the radio. The two-year-old from America begins shaking her head from side to side as Adele track 'Hello' plays in the background. The toddler then produces a performance worthy of a spot on TV show Lip Sync Battle by opening her mouth wide, closing her eyes and miming along to the popular track.