Flood alerts to last until 2020
‘Everywhere is sensitive to rain’
HUGE parts of the country are at risk of severe flooding for months to come as Britain heads towards its wettest ever autumn, officials warned yesterday.
Experts fear that the unprecedented autumn rainfall that has caused devastating flooding in rural communities could soon hit a major town.
With flood plains across the country already saturated, the Environment Agency said further downpours would place thousands more homes at risk of rising water.
The warning was issued after parts of the country saw more than a month’s rain fall in just 24 hours, causing rivers to burst their banks. More than 100 flood warnings remained in place across the country last night but forecasters said the UK will see some respite this weekend as the heavy rainfall subsides. But the Environment Agency – the public body in charge of flood preparations – said its 6,500-strong workforce will remain on high-alert for weeks to come with contingency plans in place beyond Christmas.
It said that swathes of lowlying land are already saturated, and susceptible to further rain.
John Curtin, executive director of flooding, said: ‘This is only the middle of November. It is still really quite early in the season and floodplains are full.
‘We might have another period of dry weather but the sensitivity of catchment across the whole of the country to any more rainfall is significant.’
Yorkshire has experienced some of the worst flooding this month after 2in to 4in of rainfall within just one day – the amount usually expected to fall within the whole of November.
Officials said 900 homes have been flooded since last Thursday, while around 21,000 others have been protected by flood defences. Mr Curtin said: ‘We have to be really vigilant. What I don’t want is for that horrendous 900 number to become 10,000, 15,000 or 20,000.
‘I do sound alarmed because we are in the middle of November and everywhere is saturated. There is no forecast for any particular town but everywhere is super sensitive to rain.’
In Fishlake, South Yorkshire, which has borne the brunt of the autumn floods, the Army was drafted in to pump out millions of litres of water from streets and gardens. Mr Curtin warned: ‘I would hate for people to think “It has happened in Fishlake, so fine, it is them and not me”.’
The break in rain this weekend will allow officials to clear water from every property in the devastated village – which lies beside the River Don – but surrounding areas will not be cleared until next weekend.
Parts of the Midlands were left inundated with water yesterday. A temporary flood barrier was erected in Stratford-upon-Avon for the first time to protect buildings close to the riverside Royal Shakespeare Company theatre.
Six people and a dog had to be rescued by boat during two rescues in Evesham, Worcestershire, yesterday morning after the river Avon burst its banks.
The Met Office yesterday said the forecast is more ‘optimistic’ for the coming days with heavy rainfall localised to parts of Wales, while there are currently no severe weather warnings in place. But Will Lang, of the Met Office, acknowledged that the long-term forecast remained ‘unpredictable’, with heavy rain possible in the weeks ahead.
Amid a growing political row over flooding, Boris Johnson yesterday said that the Government had ‘big plans’ for investing in flood defences. The devastation caused by flooding over the last week unlocked council tax and business rate relief for homeowners and small businesses.
The Prime Minister was highly criticised during a visit to the Yorkshire flood zone earlier this week, where residents bemoaned the slow arrival of official help.
The wettest autumn on record was in 2000 when 19.6in fell on average across the country.