Is the UK ready for floods?

Heavy rainfall has caused flooding in England and Wales, with 'thousands' of flood defences in a state of disrepair

Illustration of a home with a Union Jack flag on the roof peeking above flood waters
There are "serious concerns" over the state of England's flood defences as the country faces a wetter than average autumn
(Image credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly / Getty Images)

Heavy downpours and thunderstorms threaten to cause significant flooding across parts of England and Wales, with "more than a month's worth of rain" set to fall in the next 24 hours in some areas. The Environment Agency has issued 13 flood warnings and 71 alerts for possible flooding, mainly in central and southern England.

An amber weather warning has been issued for the south Midlands, southern and southwest England, "indicating an increased likelihood of travel delays, road and rail closures, power cuts and risks to property in those regions", said The Times. A yellow weather warning is in place for much of the rest of England, and southeast Wales.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us

 Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.