Communities up and down the country continue to benefit from increased flood protection thanks to the Government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce which convenes today (Monday 8 September).
In the last winter storm period, the country saw several named storms. This includes in November when the country was met by Storm Bert, causing severe flooding, while Storm Conall arrived a few days later, bringing further rainfall. During the whole period, around 167,000 properties were protected from flooding by Environment Agency assets.
The group’s fourth meeting will discuss and prepare for possible flooding this winter – while also reflecting on the challenges and achievements of the last 12 months.
Established in September 2024, the Taskforce was set up to ensure a long-term, strategic approach to bolstering the nation’s resilience to extreme weather, as well as speeding up the delivery of new flood and coastal defence schemes to better protect vulnerable communities.
Since being launched, the Taskforce has:
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Facilitated rapid information sharing between partners ahead of and during these incidents, and lessons learned have helped to prepare the nation ahead of this winter.
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Helped deliver an improved forecasting service for surface water flooding – known as Rapid Flood Guidance. This provides short notice updates on incoming flood risks and helps first responders in their decision-making to protect lives.
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Established Action Groups focused on three specific services – flood warnings, flood recovery and flood insurance. These groups have been created to deliver systemic improvements to the way the public engages with these services, with updates provided at future meetings as their work develops.
Floods Minister Emma Hardy said:
I know first-hand the disruption that flooding has on people’s lives and the unexpected costs it causes.
Since being established last year, our Taskforce has helped ensure communities have the protection they need from the dangers of flooding.
Under our Plan for Change, we are investing billions to build new flood defences, which will protect homes and businesses across the country.
Caroline Douglass, Executive Director for Flood and Coastal Risk Management at the Environment Agency, said:
As we head into autumn, we need to think about flood risk even though drought is still being felt in some parts of the country.
Our priority is to ensure communities are protected from the risk of flooding as our changing climate brings more extreme weather.
Working with our partners in the Floods Resilience Taskforce, we will continue to ensure the nation’s flood resilience is bolstered by delivering new flood and coastal defences in towns and cities across the country.
With a new weather and climate outlook from the Met Office indicating an increased likelihood of a wetter than average autumn is approaching, the gathering of key flood responders – including Floods Minister Emma Hardy, the emergency services, and the Environment Agency – comes at a crucial time.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Will Lang, said:
While the longer-range forecast leans towards wetter-than-average conditions for the coming months, rainfall is likely to vary significantly across regions. There is an increased likelihood of westerly weather patterns, which typically bring more rainfall to western and northern parts of the UK, while eastern and southern areas may experience drier conditions than the national average suggests.
Importantly, despite the overall signal for wetter weather, this outlook does not guarantee that current drought conditions will ease consistently across the country.
This outlook will play a vital role in supporting Taskforce members to prepare for the forthcoming winter period, and ensure communities are better protected from the impacts of flooding.
During the meeting, the Taskforce will also discuss the Environment Agency’s progress in the development of a new Flood Warning Service, outlining how user feedback has shaped the system to better serve the public. The meeting will also consider the progress made to deliver the current flood and coastal defence programme, while also hearing from the Taskforce’s Insurance Action Group on plans to improve the insurance protection available to homeowners across the country.
The wider work of the Floods Resilience Taskforce also includes:
- Delivering the Environment Agency’s new national flood warning and forecasting centre.
- Initiating a review of multi-agency flood plans, focused on assessing their quality and providing feedback on how they can be strengthened.
- Developing new toolkits for MPs and Mayors to support their understanding of flood warning systems. This includes practical guidance on flood response and how to support their constituents during flood events.
- Streamlining the Flood Recovery Framework to enable faster identification of eligibility areas and extended the time by local authorities can claim business and community recovery grants.
The Government has committed a record investment of £2.65 billion over two years towards building and repairing over 1,000 flood defences. This is alongside pledging a record £7.9 billion over 10 years to deliver the largest capital floods programme history, which will protect 840,000 homes and businesses in England.
In 2024/25, £36 million was spent to undertake urgent repairs to flood defences damaged in the previous winter’s extreme flooding, with a further £72 million this year to maintain and repair assets. 92.7% of high consequence assets are now at their required condition.
