A COUPLE who may have drowned trying to rescue their dog have been found dead near a swollen river, after days of rain caused flooding across parts of the UK.

Heavy downpours in parts of the UK since Sunday have raised river levels and flooded hundreds of homes and businesses, while there was chaos on the travel network when railways and roads were swamped by high water levels.

About 570 properties have been flooded across England and Wales as a result of what has been described as the most intense September storm for 30 years.

Alicia Williams, 25, who has a young daughter, and boyfriend David Platt, also 25, were found dead last nightclose to the River Clywedog, near Wrexham, North Wales, where they had been walking their dogs.

It is feared that the couple entered the river trying to rescue one of their dogs and drowned in fast currents caused by the heavy rainfall.

Detective Chief Inspector Mark Pierce said: “We believe the couple were here with dogs and at the time the river was swollen. The river level was at a higher level than it is at the moment.

“It’s speculation to say whether or not the dogs have gone into the river and one or both of the couple have gone in to save the dogs. We haven’t got a witness to confirm that.”

All of the couple’s dogs have been recovered safely.

Local people described the river’s levels in recent days as horrific, saying it rose 4ft (1.2m) since the heavy rain began.

River levels remain high in the areas worst hit by the bad weather.

The Met Office said the most intense September storm since 1981 is the result of the unusual position of the jet stream: a high altitude band of wind which steers weather systems. It caused heavy rain and floods in the summer when it shifted further south than normal.

In the past week, the jet stream has had a kink in it, a spokesman said, so the low pressure bringing the rain was caught in the kink and ricocheted over the country instead of being channelled north of the UK.

Some areas of the UK have seen about 4in (100mm) of rain in the past few days.

The Met Office said the outlook is better for the coming days, with weather returning to settled periods and low pressure systems which it would normally expect at this time of year.