Significant river flooding impacts are expected today and on
Saturday across parts of the Midlands on the River Trent and in
Gloucester, and also today in the South West on the River Avon
due to the recent prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall.
The Environment Agency emergency responders and local authorities
are helping to protect people and properties following the
flooding across the Midlands, Southwest and Southeast with teams
out on the ground across the nation, working to minimise the
impacts of flooding where possible, operating flood defences and
clearing watercourses.
So far, more than 44,000 properties have been protected from
flooding caused by Storm Henk in the last few days, the
Environment Agency has confirmed.
While risks are likely to start reducing over the weekend,
ongoing flood impacts are also likely across much of England over
the next five days as some larger rivers slowly respond to recent
and forecast rain. Many rivers are elevated and will remain so
for several days.
Stefan Laeger, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment
Agency, said:
“Significant river flooding impacts are still expected today and
on Saturday across parts of the East Midlands on the River Trent
downstream of Nottingham, the River Severn including Gloucester
and Tewkesbury and also today in the South West on the River Avon
due to the recent prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall.
Flood impacts are expected to continue over parts of England over
the next five days as rivers and groundwater levels remain high,
despite a change to drier weather.
“Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, working to
minimise the impacts of flooding where possible by
operating flood defences and clearing watercourses. So
far, more than 44,000 properties have been protected in the last
few days. We also urge people not to drive though flood water and
follow advice of local emergency services on the roads – flood
water is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing
water is enough to float your car.
“People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood
warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation
at https://www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-at-risk-of-flooding and
follow @EnvAgency on X, formerly Twitter, for the latest flood
updates.”
