Weather is becoming ever more extreme

ENGLAND has had a major flood almost every year since 2007, damaging more than 100,000 properties, according to Climate Coalition scientists.

It is not certain storms in the UK will become more powerful or frequent, though some models predict this.

But is it is clear extreme rainfall is already more intense, thanks to a warming atmosphere which can absorb more moisture.

This can then be dumped in shorter periods, as in this week, when parts of the UK experienced a month’s worth of rain in two days. Over 50

WET ‘N’ WILD Downpours years, the Met Office says the maximum daily deluge has risen from 64mm to 75mm. The longest wet spell is up from an average of 12.4 days to 12.9.

Concreting over of soil and green spaces, has made problems worse along with burning moorlands for grouse shooting, which stops them acting as sponges to absorb rainwater.

Dr Mohammad Heidarzadeh, of Brunel University, said UK flood defences are also no longer up to the task: “The interval for major floods was 15 to 20 years in the past century, it has shortened to two to five years in the past decade.

“It is no surprise flood defences were overtopped.”

The Environment Agency says about one in six properties risk flooding.

Areas at greatest risk are Yorkshire, Cumbria, Cornwall, Skegness, Hull, Merseyside, Great Yarmouth, Kent, and coastal areas of Sussex.

Worryingly, more than one in 10 of all new homes in England since 2013 have been built on land with the highest risk of flooding.

To find your flood risk, put your postcode into floodwarning-information.service. gov.uk/long-term-flood-risk.