More heavy rain, but it can be used for nature’s benefit
THE new year has swept in on a carousel of seemingly never-ending squalls. It has been chucking it down for weeks now, with more forecast this weekend as a fresh wave of coastal gales sends a band of heavy rain driving north-east.
Rivers are running high and this week the Severn in Gloucestershire burst its banks, with floodwaters encircling the 12th-century Tewkesbury Abbey. Flood warnings are also in place across many western parts of the country.
The reason is an ongoing La Niña event, a periodic climate pattern that cools surface ocean waters in the equatorial Pacific. This can trigger stronger rainfall (as well as drought) across the globe and in the UK can lead to a drier first part of winter before a more unsettled January and February (particularly in the west).
La Niña and its drier counterpart, El Niño, have long influenced our weather patterns but their effects are being exacerbated by climate change. Prolonged and extreme bouts of rainfall are increasingly becoming a feature of our winters.
Amid the glowering skies, the Government announced an interesting bit of legislation this week designed to cope with the wetter weather. By 2024 it will make so-called sustainable urban drainage systems (Suds) a mandated requirement of all new developments.
These can be rain gardens, ponds or other boggy areas designed to soak up rainfall and prevent it from flushing into the sewers, which are quickly overloaded, prompting the water companies to open up the sewage into rivers instead, exacerbating pollution.
As well as reducing pressure on sewage systems, Suds boost biodiversity by helping restore Britain’s wetlands. Invertebrates, amphibians and birds all benefit.
This is part of a wider push to create “sponge cities” capable of soaking up water and using it to the benefit of nature rather than flushing it down the drains.