Millions of businesses and homes across the country are being urged to get ‘flood ready’ by the Government.
As part of Flood Action Week running from today (13 October), the Environment Agency is pointing people to its dedicated Get Flood Ready page, which offers advice on potentially flooding.
Flood Action Week is the Environment Agency’s (EA) annual campaign to encourage people to prepare for flooding by taking proactive steps such as knowing their flood risk, preparing a flood plan, and signing up for flood warnings.
After several named storms last winter and Storm Amy earlier this month, communities are warned not to be complacent about the risk of flooding, despite this summer’s dry weather.
Groundbreaking data from the EA shows that around 6.3m homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea or surface water – yet polling shows 45% of the public have not looked up their flood risk.
Caroline Douglass, executive director for flood and coastal risk management at the EA, said: “We’re already seeing the impacts of climate change through wetter winters and drier summers. We’re taking action, working to help communities become more resilient to extreme weather and rising sea levels.
“This Flood Action Week, the public and business owners should play their part by checking their flood risk, signing up for flood warnings and having a flood plan. This will help to keep them and their loved ones safe and reduce the devastation flooding can cause to homes, businesses and communities.”
Floods Minister, Emma Hardy (left), added: “Floods devastate lives and livelihoods, but this Government’s preparations mean that after inheriting flood assets in their worst condition on record, we’re better prepared than we were this time last year.
We’re investing more than £10.5bn up until 2036 to build new and repair existing flood defences, driving growth by creating thousands of jobs and protecting against billions of pounds of damage.”
The EA is working closely with the Government to deliver £2.65bn of investment by March 2026 to scale up national resilience through building new and improving existing flood defences – and is a key member of the government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce.
Ahead of this winter, the Environment Agency has 260 mobile pumps, including 17 ultra-high-volume pumps, to divert water and 25km of temporary flood barriers deployable across England.
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