After recent flooding, which saw 18,000 properties protected during Storm Claudia, the Taskforce is focused on preparedness for the rest of winter.
Preparations to ensure the nation is flood ready over the remaining winter months were at the top of the agenda for the government's Floods Resilience Taskforce, which convened today (Thursday 18 December) in Hull.
The Floods Resilience Taskforce's fifth meeting heard from the Met Office for the festive period and the rest of winter. They spoke on high pressure moving in next week, bringing settled and dry conditions for Christmas and the New Year but a return to wet and windy weather is expected towards the end of winter. The Environment Agency also gave an update on their resilience to responding to further possible flooding, reflecting on the recent response to Storms Claudia and Bram.
Last month, Storm Claudia caused widespread disruption across the UK, with severe flood warnings being issued in Wales while the Environment Agency were out on the ground in England as the storm brought heavy rain. The EA's decisive action, including clearing debris and erecting temporary barriers, protected more than 18,000 properties in England from flooding.
Having inherited flood assets in the worst condition on record, £108 million has been reprioritised into asset maintenance, which has led to an additional 14,500 properties having have their expected level of protection maintained or restored.
Floods Minister Emma Hardy said:
The Taskforce is about bringing all the key players together and bolstering preparations to prevent future flood risk to our communities.
Having seen the detrimental impacts of flooding myself here in Hull, heading into winter I am determined to ensure we are prepared for whatever the weather may bring.
Caroline Douglass, Environment Agency's Executive Director of Floods, said:
Heading into winter, we know we can experience more frequent and more extreme weather events. Our top priority remains protecting communities from flooding impacts, ensuring homes and businesses are safe.
We will continue to play our part in ensuring an effective response to flooding, as well as the delivery of essential projects and flood defences along with our partners in the Taskforce.
Met Office Chief Meteorologist, Will Lang, said:
December has been a wet month so far for many areas, but looking ahead, there are signs that high pressure could become more influential later this month and in the start of the new year, bringing a greater chance of drier, more settled weather compared to recent weeks.
However, the overall likelihood of a wet end to winter is higher than normal, with regional rainfall variations expected. While some areas still need rainfall to fully recover from drought, it's important to recognise that flooding continues to be a risk. We are monitoring conditions closely as the season progresses.
The meeting was hosted at The Deep in Hull, an award-winning aquarium and home to the new Property Flood Resilience Laboratory which helps design and develop products to make communities more flood resilient.
The Taskforce was set up to ensure focus on a long-term, strategic approach to bolstering the nation's resilience to extreme weather, and to protect vulnerable communities by speeding up the delivery of new flood defences. It brings together key decision-makers from national, regional and local government, the Environment Agency and Met Office, amongst others.
Focus turned to informative guides that aim to ensure accurate advice on insurance is provided to homeowners and misinformation is tackled.
The Taskforce also touched upon the Department for Transport's Climate Adaptation Strategy for Transport , which sets out the long-term strategic direction to enhance resilience to climate hazards, like flooding, and ensure the transport network remains flexible, responsive and reliable.
Keir Mather, Aviation, Maritime and Decarbonisation Minister, said:
In our changing climate, we need to prepare our transport network for extreme weather events, to keep people and our economy moving.
From today, our Climate Adaptation Strategy for Transport sets a strategic direction for industry and gives clear, actionable ways for our transport infrastructure to adapt to the realities of a changing climate.
The Taskforce also agreed to set up a new action group to identify ways to improve public communication around flood reporting, following a recent recommendation from the Environmental Audit Committee.
An update was also provided on ongoing work with flood action groups, insurers and housebuilders to deliver the goals set out in the independent FloodReady Review.
Alongside previous work to boost the nation's flood resilience , the Taskforce and its members have also delivered a range of improvements including:
- Met Office and Flood Forecasting Centre improving the National Flood Model, which now provides a 30-day outlook compared to only 7 days in 2024.
- The Flood Forecasting Centre running the Rapid Flood Guidance service between June and October to rapidly alert responders, especially to surface water flooding risks like those seen in Texas and Valencia.
- The Flood Forecasting Centre trained over 1,500 responders on flood warnings and issued new national guidance on flood risk to caravan parks, which can often be susceptible to flooding.
- Publishing the London Surface Water Strategy, which was delivered by the EA working in partnership with the Mayor of London and others.
- The Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government amended the Flood Recovery Framework to enable faster identification of eligible areas and created a toolkit to assist local authorities with implementing the Flood Recovery Framework schemes.
- The Environment Agency launched its new Flood Warning Service to get messages about flooding from rivers, the sea or groundwater across England.
