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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to promote awareness of the flood alerts scheme.

The Environment Agency provides the Check for flooding service giving information on flood alerts and warnings as well as a five-day forecast. The Environment Agency uses its flood warning system to directly alert around 1.6 million people when flooding is expected in their area.

The Environment Agency provides practical information about what people can do before, after and during a flood on GOV.UK. Between April 2022 and March 2023, the Environment Agency sent over 4.7 million messages to the public, partners and the media. These messages informed them of flooding in their area and the flood warning service they can receive.

The Environment Agency’s annual Flood Action Campaign launched in November 2023, with Flood Action Week. The campaign encourages people at risk of flooding to focus on what they need to do to prepare for a flood. Signing up to flood alerts forms part of the Environment Agency’s "Prepare Act Survive" message.