Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what provisions her Department has planned for the flood warnings issued across the UK for 11 January 2023.

As of 12 January 2023, the Environment Agency (EA) has issued over 60 flood warnings and over 160 flood alerts across England. The EA is prepared to act wherever and whenever it is needed. It has 5,000 trained staff across the country ready to respond to flood events. These staff will issue flood warnings and operate flood risk management assets when flooding is forecast, and work with partners to support communities at risk.

Flood warnings give people valuable time to prepare for flooding and enable the emergency services to prepare and help communities. The EA’s Check for Flooding service provides flood warning information; river, sea, groundwater and rainfall levels; as well as the five-day flood forecast. The EA uses its flood warning system to directly alert over 1.6 million users when flooding is expected in their area.

The EA constantly monitors rainfall, river levels and sea conditions to forecast the possibility of flooding. The present situation shows local river and surface water flooding impacts are probable in parts of South West England and possible in parts of the North, the Midlands, and far South of England.

Slower responding rivers, particularly in parts of the West Midlands and North East England, are likely to remain high in the short term leading to further river flooding. River and surface water flooding are also possible across parts of the North of England, and local groundwater flooding is possible in the short term in the south of England.

The EA continues to respond to the changing situation. It is actively liaising with communities through local resilience forums, which are multi-agency partnerships made up of representatives from local public services, including the emergency services, local authorities, the NHS, the EA and others.