Storm Desmond: Osborne announces £50m flood fund – as it happened

• Osbourne announces 50m flood fund
• Government rejected advice from climate change advisers
• Met Office warns of further flooding in north-west England
• Government facing criticism over delayed flood defences
• Read the latest summary

5.57pm GMT

We are closing this live blog; here are today's main points.

5.39pm GMT

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has fleshed out his idea for owners of second homes to open their doors to flood victims, in a piece for the Guardian. He also urged the government to look again at flood schemes across the country to make sure they are fit for purpose.

Many local people have already helped out by offering shelter to flood victims in the immediate aftermath of the floods; however, moving beyond the immediate problem, many of these families are now looking to find temporary properties to live in until their own homes are once more habitable. South Lakeland has the third highest proportion of second homes of any local authority in the country, with thousands of holiday homes in the area. It would be fantastic if second-home owners whose properties would otherwise be sitting empty were willing to make these available to those whose homes have been destroyed. We have already had over a dozen concrete offers of help, while many more have expressed an interest.