UK faces another autumn and winter of flooding, Met Office warns

Flooding around the town of Upton upon Severn in Worcestershire during Storm Henk in January. Photograph: David Davies/PA

The UK faces another autumn and winter of destructive floods, the Met Office has warned.

On Thursday, the government flood resilience taskforce met for the first time to discuss how to proceed when – as seems highly likely – homes, farms and businesses are flooded in the coming months.

The environment secretary, Steve Reed, and the floods minister, Emma Hardy, met representatives from the environment and housing departments, the Home Office, the Cabinet Office, the Environment Agency, the Met Office, local resilience forums, mayoral offices, emergency responders and the National Farmers’ Union, among others, to discuss their plans.

During the meeting, the Met Office confirmed that there was an increased probability of a wetter than average winter floods season. The ground will be waterlogged and rivers swollen after a wet September. At this point in the month, many areas have already received 100% of their average September rainfall, and October is forecast to be similarly wet.

Last year and early this year, floods struck large swathes of the country, and farming was particularly badly affected. As climate breakdown worsens, experts have said that extreme weather, including heavy rainfall and floods, will become more likely in the UK. Cuts to public spending have also left the UK vulnerable, with many flood defences in disrepair. The government has not said whether it will increase the flood resilience budget.

Reed told the meeting: “I’ve made clear that protecting communities from flooding is one of my top five priorities – with preparedness and resilience for this autumn and winter the clear focus for today’s meeting.

“This taskforce will drive a robust review of preparedness for flooding before the start of the main flood season – and ensure it is improved continuously in the long-term. We’re committed to bringing the required energy, drive and cohesion to the entire flood resilience picture to help increase protection for people and businesses.

“The climate crisis is the greatest global challenge we currently face, and, as an eyewitness to extreme flooding myself, I know the devastating impact these events can have on our livelihoods.

“As chair of the floods resilience taskforce, I will work closely with our partners to ensure projects remain on track and not only protect homes, but create more green jobs and drive investment in our towns.”

In preparation for flooding this autumn, pumps have been deployed at 10 strategic depots in vulnerable regions around the country so that they can be rolled out rapidly when required.

The Environment Agency told the meeting it had conducted 170,000 checks on the state of assets in the past year – up from 100,000 in an average year. It has also increased its spending on asset maintenance and repair to £236m, up from £200m.