Overhaul of Flood Defences Urged

Flood defences need to be overhauled to deal with the impact of climate change, experts and politicians have warned.

The Environment Agency wants a 25-year plan aimed at coping with the kind of flooding seen in England in late June.
About 500 Environment Agency staff are still monitoring water levels in the worst-affected areas, near Doncaster and Hull.

The floods hit more than 28,000 homes and 6,800 businesses, mainly in the Midlands and northern England.

Environment Agency chief Barbara Young said such flooding events - where torrential rain causes a deluge of surface water - were likely to become more frequent.

She said planning needed to take climate change into account and that piecemeal planning must be avoided.

"As an agency, we've got to improve the standard of protection we've got for many properties.

"But local authorities, water companies and the developers need to have a co-ordinated process for 25-year planning for surface water flooding."

Mr Huhne, who has visited the worst-affected areas of Hull, said the weather was causing a "new type of flooding".

"In the past we've been prepared for floods from rivers overflowing and floods from coastal and tidal surges," he said.

"This was an enormous amount of rain - four inches of rain in one day - almost monsoon quality. The drainage system simply couldn't cope."

He called on the privatised water companies to play a bigger part in assessing the risk of flooding.

The insurance industry estimates that claims will total £1.5bn.