The Army is to carry out a "rapid inspection" of the nation's flood defences to assess the damage left by unprecedented flooding.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond told the BBC's Andrew Marr show that the inspection - which would normally take two years - would be done over the next five weeks.
The announcement comes as 15,900 homes remain without power.
And scores of flood warnings and alerts are still in force across the country.
'Damage'
Forecasters have warned that larges swathes of England and Wales are in danger of further flooding despite a let-up in the long spell of stormy weather.
The storms cut off power to almost a million homes in the past week, and engineers are working around the clock to restore to electricity to the remaining homes.
Speaking to the BBC's Andrew Marr show, Mr Hammond said that there were a further 5,000 troops on "varying levels of notice to move" who would be able to offer their services to help flood-stricken communities.
He said that the Government had agreed with the Environment Agency that the Royal Engineers would carry out the inspection of flood defences.
"We are going to try and do in five weeks what would be a two-year programme of inspection, just to assess the level of damage," he said.
Mr Hammond went on to say that the Government had offered troops to civil authorities "a long while ago".
He said: "What we have done over the last 10 days is push them a bit more aggressively at those civil authorities."
Other developments include:
Network Rail said that 150 trees had fallen on tracks this weekend in the most recent storms
Track at Dawlish, Devon, has suffered yet more damage with the erosion of the sea wall by a further 10 metres - passengers in the area are advised not to travel
The Met Office had a yellow severe weather warning - meaning "be aware" - for ice for most of the UK until 10:00 GMT
First Great Western says it is running a "near normal service" in the London Paddington and Oxford areas
60,000 sand bags have been distributed in Surrey, say police
South Eastern trains said that although all routes were open, services were "still subject to delay and cancellation"
Signalling problems caused by flooding near Preston Park are causing delays of up to 15 minutes between Haywards Heath and Brighton
A landslip at Oxted, Surrey, is still causing disruption, and the line is not expected to re-open until Tuesday 18 February
BBC weather presenter Susan Powell said after sunshine and light winds on Sunday, next week would be unsettled with further spells of rain but not as stormy as recently.
Speaking after a Cobra emergency committee meeting on Saturday evening, Prime Minister, David Cameron, said: "Thankfully, it does appear that we will see less rain and wind over the next few days.
"However, after so much rain over recent weeks groundwater levels remain very high and in many places will continue to rise."
The Environment Agency has 16 severe flood warnings - meaning "danger to life" - in south-east and south-west England.
'Remain vigilant'
The agency said the Thames Barrier had been closed for a record 16th consecutive time to help lower river levels.
From BEN Latest News: www.benlatestnews.com
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