A man and his dog were both killed on Monday after a car became completely submerged in "5ft of fast-flowing water" as he tried to drive across a ford.
Officers were called to Thornford Road, Compton Wood, Hampshire, after they received reports of the stuck vehicle.
A woman was able to escape from the car but the man had to be recovered from it and was pronounced dead at the scene.
A Hampshire police spokesman said: "A man has died after the car he was travelling in was submerged in water near Newbury.
"Police were called at 9.12am this morning to reports that a vehicle was stuck in a ford at Thornford Road, near Compton Wood.
"A woman was able to get out of the vehicle but a man was recovered from it. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
"The woman was taken to Basingstoke and North Hampshire Hospital where she is being treated for shock."
Police later confirmed that the couple from the Middlesex area were husband and wife although they have not yet been named.
Emergency services attended the scene to recover the car, which had become "completely submerged" in the water.
A Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service spokeswoman said fire crews from Hampshire and Berkshire attended the scene after being alerted at 9.07am.
"Newbury firefighters, who had been joined by a crew from Kingsclere, then mounted a rescue operation using ladders from both sides of the banks of the ford to reach the vehicle.
"They broke the window of the vehicle and pulled a man free."
Station manager Mark White said: "On reaching the scene, fire crews made a dynamic assessment and quickly mounted a rescue operation to free the man from the vehicle.
"Once the man had been pulled free from the vehicle, crews from South Central Ambulance who were standing by carried out CPR."
A Hampshire Police spokeswoman said the conditions on the road, including the impact of recent rainfall on water levels at the ford, would form part of the force's investigation into the death.
Gusts of up to 71mph an hour battered South West England and Wales on Sunday leaving trees uprooted, power lines down and much of the country waterlogged.
The Met Office has issued a “code yellow” severe weather warning, urging members of the public to be aware of conditions which have “the potential to cause danger to life or widespread disruption”.
See below for pictures of the recent wet weather.
Updated 20:39 30 April 2012: Couple confirmed as husband and wife