How does the UK prepare for floods and extreme weather?

Storm Bert has swept through the UK and left many communities reeling from the damage it has caused.

South Wales saw some of the worst flooding in the country and it has left many asking if more could have been done to prevent it.

Pontypridd and nearby areas were put under water on Sunday and Monday, with many residents amazed only a yellow weather warning was issued for the region in the days prior.

People also reacted with anger about how Natural Resources Wales (NRW) manages flood risk in the country.

John Morgan, manager of the Rheola pub in Porth, said he had been flooded three times in four years.

He said: "What good are warnings at three o’clock in the morning, they are no good.

“What needs to be done is the defences, dredge the rivers, build walls."

NRW said it had issued flood warnings before the downpour but there was “no silver bullet” to managing the flood risk in the area around the River Taff.

Sally Davies, duty tactical manager Wales at NRW, said: “Our teams worked around the clock, working with emergency services to respond to this significant incident. As we do with every significant flood event, we will now review the response as we enter the recovery phase.”

Every time the UK experiences flooding people always ask if things could have been done differently, but just how does Britain prepare for extreme weather?

What warning systems do we have?

The UK relies on two different systems to predict the impact of severe weather.

For the weather as a whole, the Met Office issues weather warnings under a red, amber, yellow system.

This covers all weather events from heatwaves to blizzards.

For specifically floods the environmental agencies of England, Scotland and Wales issue flood warnings in response to predicted severe weather.

The flood warnings are issued as either 'alerts', 'warnings', or 'severe warnings'.

An alert indicates flooding is possible, a warning indicates flooding is expected and a severe warning indicates flooding is expected and there could be a risk to life.

How frequent are red warnings?

The red weather warnings are extremely rare, some years will go without having any.

A red warning means danger to life is expected and anyone in the impacted area should take precautions and avoid travelling.

Substantial disruption to travel and energy supplies is also expected.

The last time a red weather warning was issued was in October 2023 for Storm Babet across northern Scotland.

Two people were killed and hundreds of homes were evacuated.

Similarly, severe flood warnings are also rare, during instances of heavy rain across the country the environment agencies may issue hundreds of flood alerts but just one or two severe warnings.

How common is extreme weather?

The UK's mild climate means extreme weather is not very likely, but the Met Office has warned this may change as a result of climate change.

In 2023, the Met Office compared weather data and events from last year with statistics dating back to the 19th century.

The report flagged two key trends, the number of "hot" days (28C or above) and "extremely wet" days are both increasing.

Between 1961 and 1990, London and Hampshire were the only places to average six or more days over 28C.

But in 2023, that rose to 20 days across 11 different counties in the south and east of England.

The number of "extremely wet" days was 20% higher in the most recent decade than in the 60s, 70s and 80s.

March, July, October and December 2023 were all in the UK's top 10 wettest months ever, according to records which go back to 1836.

Extreme weather is notoriously hard to predict outside of a few weeks into the future, so even with trends appearing to show they are more common, the UK could still go years without one, or experience multiple in a single season.

How do we prepare for floods?

Recent governments have had a mixed record when it comes to protecting the country against floods.

The UK has numerous flood defences dotted around the country aimed at protecting particularly vulnerable areas, with more than 75,000 defences in England alone.

But a report by the Public Accounts Committee in January 2024 found the UK had not kept its defences well maintained and it could lead to more flooding.

They found due to the lack of defences caused by poor management and longer than expected delivery times 40% fewer properties would be protected during a flood than the government's own figures expect.

The report said 5.7 million properties in England were at risk of flooding in 2023 and despite a government plan to reduce this to 5.5 million by 2027, the figure is likely to increase.

They said this was due to poor maintenance of current defences.

Local authorities also keep on approving more buildings on high-risk flood plains.

In October 2024 the think-tank Localis reported that 7,000 homes were approved in areas like King's Lynn and West Norfolk - regions considered some of the most prone to flooding in England.

Despite this, the government is spending billions more on further flood defences, doubling capital spending in March 2020 to £5.2bn.

Labour also committed £2.4bn for flood defences in its first budget after entering power.

The Labour government also announced reforms on how flood planning would be organised aimed at supporting rural communities and farms by introducing better draining and looking at alternative ways to prevent floods.

The Met Office is also considered one of the best meteorological organisations in the world and has a strong reputation for predicting extreme weather as quickly as possible.

ITV News has approached the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs for comment.

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