Flooding is a natural process. River channels can only carry so much water. Heavy rain or sudden snowmelt can cause rivers to rise to the point where they overflow. During a flood, excess water flows onto the low-lying areas on either side of a river – the flood plains. High tides, combined with certain weather conditions, can also lead to flooding along the coastal flood plains.
However, floods can endanger lives, damage buildings, historic structures, archaeology and settlements. It can also adversely affect health, the characteristics of landscapes and habitats.
Predicted increases in both the amount of winter rainfall and the intensity of storms could increase the future risk of flooding. The UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) predicts that by the 2050s winters will be 15% wetter whilst extreme high sea levels will be up to 20 times more frequent.
The Environment Agency run an automated system of flood warnings in England and Wales. However, whilst 750,000 properties situated in high risk flood areas of England and Wales can receive these automated flood warnings, only or 287,774 or about 40% of these households have signed up.
Over 26,000 properties in the South West have signed up to the Environment Agency's automated flood warning system (Floodline Warnings Direct). However, many more properties are at risk, and can be provided with a Flood Warning service from the Environment Agency.
In February 2010 the Environment Agency launched their new 'opt-out' flood warning service, that will provide flood warnings to nearly half a million more properties, at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea.
The better prepared you are, the better you'll cope with the effects of flooding should it ever happen to you. Sign up to the Environment Agency's Floodline here or use the mapping facility to find out whether your home or business is at risk of flooding.
For more information at a local level on flooding and other topics, please see the Local Profiles
