The Disasters Emergency Committee Pakistan Floods Appeal continues to gather pace, increasing by £3m since yesterday to reach a total of £40m.

The pace of giving has picked up as the disaster has continued and the public have gained greater awareness of the scale of the catastrophe. Nearly £10m more was donated in week three of the appeal (£19.3m) than in the first week after DEC launched the campaign.

DEC chief executive Brendan Gormley said: “This response really is unprecedented. Giving to all our appeals, including Haiti and the 2004 tsunami, saw huge initial donations decline steeply after the first week.  We have never seen anything like this pattern of giving before.