More than 300,000 homes in England now better protected from flooding, Environment Agency says

‘Climate emergency is bringing greater risks,’ Environment Agency chair says

Towns in England and Wales - including Ironbridge in Shropshire - were hit by flooding during storms earlier this year (Getty Images)

More than 300,000 homes in England are now better protected from flooding as a result of new defences, officials have said.

The Environment Agency said the overall threat from flooding had dropped by five per cent because of this.

The public body - which works to protect and improve the environment - said a six-year drive to create new flood defences had exceeded targets.

More than 314,000 homes are better protected because of it, which is 14,000 more than originally estimated, according to a report on the outcome of the scheme.

It comes as the climate crisis is increasing the threat of flooding events - a growing risk which has been raised by the Environment Agency itself.

Parts of England and Wales were badly flooded in back-to-back storms earlier this year, including Bewdley in Worcestershire and Ironbridge in Shropshire.

Search and rescue teams check on residents in Bewdley where floodwater from the River Severn has breached the town’s flood defences in February (Joe Giddens/PA) (PA Wire)

On Tuesday, the Environment Agency released its assessment on the £2.6bn scheme for new flood and coastal erosion defences. It said 850 had been built in the six years since the programme started in 2015.

Out of the 314,000 homes it benefitted, 83,000 were in Yorkshire and the Humber, which received the most investment in flood defenecs than any other region.

Emma Howard Boyd, the chair of the Environment Agency, said: “Flood defence works. While we can never protect everyone against all flooding all the time, we can reduce the risk of it happening and the impact when it does.”

“In February – for the first time - we had three named storms in a week, and rivers rose to record heights. While some 400 properties sadly flooded, over 40,000 homes and businesses were protected by our defences.”

Properties were flooded next to the River Severn following high winds and wet weather in Ironbridge earlier this year (Jacob King/PA) (PA Wire)

She added: “The climate emergency is bringing greater risks. Our response must be to protect our communities as best we can, make them more resilient, using natural flood management as well as hard defences, and to tackle both the causes and consequences of climate change.”

Earlier this year, Ms Howard Boyd warned it may end up becoming too expensive to protect at-risk homes as the world gets warmer in the climate crisis.

George Eustice, the environment secretary, said: “Our programme of work has protected over 314,000 properties, defending people, communities, and businesses from flooding and coastal erosion.”

“We know that there is still more to do, so we are doubling our investment with a record £5.2bn over the next six years.”