MINISTER: WE CAN’T
New environment secretary’s warning over climate change
NEW Environment Secretary George Eustice risked sparking anger in floodhit areas yesterday after warning he will ‘never be able to protect every single household’ from extreme weather.
Less than a week into his ministerial post, Mr Eustice warned the nature of climate change means extreme weather events such as this weekend’s deluge are becoming more common, advising: ‘We have to live with that fact.’
But he insisted the Government is investing billions in flood infrastructure and had done ‘everything that [it] can do with a significant sum of money’.
Speaking to Sky News during a visit to York – one of the worst hit areas – Mr Eustice said 600 flood schemes, protecting more than 200,000 homes, had been introduced over the past five years and roughly £2.5billion had been spent on flood defences.
He denied the Government had been caught off guard by this weekend’s floods, saying: ‘It’s not the case that we’re not doing anything; we’ve done a huge amount.
‘We can’t do anything about these extreme weather events but the steps that we’ve taken have meant the impact of those weather events have affected fewer properties.
‘The fact is, these extreme weather events are becoming more common – we have to live with that fact. But we’re spending billions of pounds on flood infrastructure.’
He added: ‘There is always more that can be done. We’ll never be able to protect every single household just because of the nature of climate change and the fact that these weather events are becoming more extreme, but we’ve done everything that we can do with a significant sum of money, and there’s more to come.’
The comments risk angering flood victims who have blamed a lack of protection from damage to homes and business. Speaking about planning ahead of Storm Dennis, Mr Eustice said: ‘I had a conference call with the local resilience forums.
‘I’ve been in regular contact with our teams on the ground, we’ve had teams for instance in Bewdley [Worcestershire], putting in temporary defences.’
His comments come as the UK is suffering a wetter winter than usual, after one of the wettest autumns on record.
The Met Office said rainfall records up to and including Saturday afternoon
‘We have to live with that fact’
show around 13.8 inches of rain has fallen since the start of December – 6 per cent above the normal level.
But despite the floods this weekend, the winter tally is unlikely to beat 2014’s record, when around 21 inches of rain fell over the three-month period.
Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: ‘We are about 30th in the table in terms of wet winters as it stands. We’ve had a couple of notable rain events but in other years there has been much more rain which has fallen gradually, so it isn’t noticed as much because it doesn’t cause the same problems that we see with the downpours this weekend.’
In December, East Anglia – which gets an average of two inches of rain in the month – and South East England – which gets 3.2 inches – both saw 150 per cent of their average rainfall for the period. Yesterday Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said the Government was ‘ stepping up its response’ to extreme weather situations. He said it will allocate £4billion for flood defences over the next six years.