Sodden Britain in the grips of wettest winter in 130 years

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Britain is enduring its wettest winter in 130 years as giant elements of the nation are submerged in water. More than 300 flood warnings have been issued in the aftermath of Storm Henk, as greater than 1,000 properties have been flooded and rivers throughout the nation burst their banks.

Since September, there have been eight named storms – the highest quantity in a season to be named by the Met Office – with the interval between July and December final 12 months being the wettest on file since 1890.

Prof Hannah Cloke, a hydrologist at the University of Reading, stated the storms have turned the nation right into a “sopping wet sponge”.

Storm Henk introduced a wall of rain throughout (*130*) and Wales, with giant elements recording greater than 40mm of rain – virtually half the common for the month – in simply 24 hours on Tuesday, in keeping with the Met Office.

Environment Agency knowledge exhibits virtually each river in (*130*) to be exceptionally excessive with some reaching their highest move on file, equivalent to the River Itchen in Southampton. Caroline Douglass, the company’s flood director, stated the Trent has been at “some of the highest levels we’ve seen in 24 years”.

The flooding has brought about widespread injury with farmers going through enormous losses resulting from rotting crops in waterlogged fields and insurers going through payouts of £560m because of this of Storms Babet, Ciaran and Debi, which have to date prompted almost 50,000 claims.

Of these prices, £352m is anticipated to go in the direction of broken houses, with an extra £155m to broken companies and £53m for broken automobiles.

With the common payout for a flooded property at the moment standing at £36,000, insurers are more likely to face one other barrage of claims after Storms Gerrit and Henk wreaked havoc over the Christmas interval.

Experts warn that the rise in excessive climate will imply dwelling homeowners might face a surge in renewal premiums, with fewer insurance policies accessible for these dwelling in coastal areas.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has known as for compensation and urged the authorities to make modifications to flood defences and introduce assist schemes to raised shield rural companies.

Peter Gadd, a farmer in Nottinghamshire and chairman of the NFU’s crops board in the East Midlands, stated Storm Babet and Storm Ciaran hit inside 10 days of him having sown a crop of wheat and barley – 40 per cent of which washed away earlier than rising from seed.

He believes he has misplaced about £14,000 to £15,000 in the present floods, although he can solely tally the complete as soon as the water has cleared, for which he’ll obtain no compensation or insurance coverage payout.

He stated: “We’ve just got to see what we can retrieve in the spring, but many of the crops that have been sown and those that were unharvested that are now under water will not be retrievable.”

While the Met Office forecasts drier climate over the weekend, the Environment Agency stated ongoing impacts are more likely to proceed over the subsequent 5 days because of this of the floor being “completely saturated”.

Describing the rainfall as “well above average” for elements of the nation, senior meteorologist Greg Dewhurst stated that wetter winters are anticipated every year as the results of world warming take maintain.

Nottinghamshire County Council declared a serious incident on Thursday resulting from rising ranges alongside the River Trent, with residents of Radcliffe Residential Park, an property of static caravans for the over-55s, have been pressured to evacuate.

Another 50 folks have been led to security by firefighters in Hackney Wick in east London, after a canal burst its banks, whereas a get together boat sunk in the River Thames.

Parts of (*130*), together with Gloucestershire, have been additionally submerged with a variety of 20mm to 30mm of rain falling throughout a number of southern counties, with a quantity of cows drowning in the village of Sawley in Derbyshire.

Passengers travelling on prepare traces together with South Western Railway and Great Western Railway confronted signficant disruption resulting from flooding and a severe incident in Reading.

Speaking to The Independent, Martin Lucass, an professional at environmental consultancy Geosmart, stated that flooding is more likely to worsen in the coming years because of this of local weather change inflicting unpredictable and excessive rainfall.

“There are four types of flooding events, and those are ground water, tidal, river which is what we’ve traditionally seen in the UK and increasingly surface flooding which is caused by intense rainfall and is the type that can cause quick property damage. That is the main effect of climate change we’re seeing in the UK,” he stated.

The newest knowledge from their flood evaluation device exhibits that 9 million houses in the UK are in danger of flooding, and estimates the common annual price of damages totals £1.5bn.

During Storm Babet, hundreds of houses and companies have been flooded, with the city of Brechin in Scotland severely affected after defences have been overtopped by the river South Esk. Several rail companies have been cancelled whereas seven folks have been killed because of this of wind, rain and floods.

Labour has accused the authorities of being “asleep at the wheel” over flood warnings and have known as on Rishi Sunak to convene a “Cobra-style taskforce” to guard houses from additional injury.

Latest figures from the Association of British Insurers seen by The Independent present that 2023 marked the third 12 months estimated price of claims referring to dangerous climate topped the £1bn threshold.

Adam Holland, the Head of Product at AXA UK, stated: “Research shows that adverse weather events are becoming more frequent and severe across the UK, which is in turn leading to a rise in the number and severity of insurance claims we receive relating to weather.

Research conducted by AXA found that 24 per cent of people are not currently protected by home insurance, despite 38 per cent of those living in areas susceptible to flooding or extreme weather.

“In the UK, adverse weather can cause expensive damage to your home. If you live close to the sea, high winds are a particular risk because there are often no natural barriers, such as trees, to act as a windbreak so it is important to be prepared,” Mr Holland stated.

Claims referring to storm injury have been £17.8m in 2023 for AXA, a rise from £12.1m in 2016.

Speaking to the media on the banks of the Trent in Nottingham on Friday afternoon, floods minister Robbie Moore stated the authorities had sufficient cash for flood prevention. Asked if there could be compensation for folks affected by the flooding, Mr Moore stated the authorities was “absolutely looking at what measures we can put in place”. He added that the quantity of funding for flood resilience plans had been doubled “from £2.6bn to £5.2bn”.

For Carol Watters, the morning of 27 December marked the fifth time her property in Cupar had been flooded by the watercourse at the again of her backyard, inflicting nervousness over future insurance coverage cowl.

“We’re fully insured but if this floods again, where will that leave us? We’ve had wind and snow up here, we’re having more rain. Prior to the flood last week, we were always on high alert in extreme weather.

“As much as we can say the damage has been done to the house, if it floods again it will prolong the entire insurance process. We’ve lived in this house for 24 years, it’s soul destroying.”

Go.Compare’s dwelling insurance coverage professional Ceri McMillan stated: “There will be some insurers who will stay we don’t want to insure these houses or areas that are in floodzones, so it may be that while the premiums don’t go up, the number of policies avilable will go down.

“Less people will want to put them on policies and unfortunately they’ll be disadvantaged as the competitiveness of their pricing will go down.”

Experts from the National Infrastructure Commission have warned that excessive climate occasions equivalent to floods and drought are more and more extra doubtless as a knock-on impact of local weather change.

Their director of coverage, Margaret Read, additionally issued a warning that the quantity of properties in danger of flooding was more likely to improve by greater than a 3rd ought to temperatures in the UK rise greater than 2C.

The UK Health Security Agency has now issued a yellow chilly climate alert for this weekend, with the Met Office warning that the chilly snap will likely be attributable to excessive stress constructing over the UK, with drivers warned to be cautious of ice.

The UKHSA stated: “A brisk easterly wind developing across the south over the weekend will make it feel much colder, with the added wind chill. Temperatures are likely to be a few degrees below average, across much of the UK, especially overnight, with more widespread frosts than of late.”

Met Office spokesperson Oli Claydon stated situations have been “turning considerably drier”, including that the climate service had no rain warnings issued “for the first time in quite a while”.