More flooding to come in worst winter storms for 20 years

The UK is enduring the worst series of winter storms in more than 20 years, weather experts have said, as the country prepares for even more flooding.

Amid criticism of job cuts at the Environment Agency (EA), the prime minister also insisted that enough funding was in place to protect frontline services.

The Environment Agency had issued 72 flood warnings throughout England and Wales by early Sunday evening, urging people to take immediate action, while a further 216 areas remained on flood alert.

Coastal areas – particularly in southern England – are most at risk as they cope with a combination of unusually high tides and another Atlantic storm on Sunday.

It’s very unusual to have so many powerful storms come in one after the other… we haven’t seen anything like this since about 1991 – Forecaster Matt Dobson

When questioned about the Environment Agency’s ability to fund flood defences, Mr Cameron said: “We’re spending £2.3bn in this four-year period on flood defences which is more than the previous four-year period.

“We have also enabled them to access other sources of money – partnership funding – so I think we’re going to see record levels of spending on flood defences and we have guaranteed that right out into 2020 so they can really plan for the future,” he told the BBC.

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‘Lessons to learn’

“Local authorities have had to make difficult decisions. The Environment Agency does have to make sure it controls its budgets carefully but we are making sure they invest in the frontline.”

Mr Cameron added: “There are always lessons to learn…. I think the flood defences have protected tens of thousands of homes but there will always be lessons to learn and I’ll make sure they are learned.”

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said he will be chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee this afternoon “to ensure everything is being done on the ground to prepare for bad weather ahead”.

LATEST INFORMATION

Met Office: For the latest information about how different parts of the country are affected, go to: www.metoffice.gov.uk
Flooding: The Environment Agency is regularly updating flood warnings and alerts for England and Wales www.environment-agency.gov.uk
Trains: To check whether your travel has been disrupted due to the weather, go to: www.nationalrail.co.uk
Roads: Flooding and tidal surges have affected coastal roads in some areas: http://www.highways.gov.uk

‘Nasty weather will continue’

Forecaster Matt Dobson for MeteoGroup said the rain “simply has nowhere to go” after weeks of severe weather has saturated the ground and swelled rivers.

“It’s very unusual to have so many powerful storms come in one after the other in such a short space of time – we haven’t seen anything like this since about 1991,” he said.

“The nasty weather of the last few days is going to continue across the UK, with the combination of high tides and a powerful storm putting coastal areas particularly at risk. Any rain will mean more flooding as the ground is saturated and swollen rivers are coming up against strong waves. The water simply has nowhere to go.”

The Met Office has issued yellow weather warnings of ice and rain, predicting river and surface flooding as well as travel disruption mainly in south Wales and the south west and south east of England. Up to 40mm of rain could fall in higher ground.

Thames barrier shut

Inland rainfall will put pressure on rivers, endangering nearby communities including those along the River Medway in Kent, the River Thames in Oxford and Osney and the River Severn Estuary in Gloucestershire.

The Thames barrier will remain closed to protect land near the river.

The strong winds, persistent rain and tidal waves are predicted to the batter the UK for at least another two days, as emergency services attempt to cope with the trail of devastation already created by the severe weather.

More than 200 homes have been flooded from Cornwall to Scotland, with miles of coastline battered and roads and fields across the country left under water.

Meanwhile, searches resumed in south Devon for missing 18-year-old university student Harry Martin, who was last seen leaving his home to take photographs of the weather – with more than 100 people volunteering to look for him.

Two people have already died in the storms. A 27-year-old man from Surrey was found on Porthleven Sands beach in Cornwall after he was swept out to sea on New Year’s Eve night, and a woman died after being rescued from the sea in Croyde Bay, north Devon.

40ft high waves

Officials around the country have pleaded with people to keep away as dozens put their lives at risk by going to coastal areas to watch as the storm brought waves of up to 40ft high crashing onto land.

A man and child were almost swept away by a huge wave at Mullion Cove in Cornwall as they peered over the sea wall to watch the raging sea, and elsewhere in Cornwall vehicles driving on a coastal road were swamped and almost washed away by a tidal surge.

Police pulled a man from the sea who had been drinking at Towan Beach, Newquay, after he had ignored warnings about the fierce storms.

In Aberystwyth, Dyfed, a man was rescued by lifeboat after he became trapped when photographing waves from a harbour jetty.

Emergency services rescued four people from a flooded farm in Llanbedr near Barmouth, north west Wales, the River Severn burst its banks in Gloucestershire for the second day running and a pregnant woman was rescued after 30 properties were flooded in Cardigan, mid-Wales.

Part of the sea wall behind the Landmark Theatre in Ilfracombe collapsed because of the storms.

The coastal surge in recent days has tested over 3,000km (1,864 miles) of flood defences in England and over 205,000 properties have been protected.