Why is the UK still so poorly prepared for flooding and extreme weather?
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Great swathes of the UK have ground to a halt with weather warnings and travel chaos. This week, firefighters in Leicestershire rescued 59 people, while the body of a man was recovered from an area of flooding in North Yorkshire. Just last week, a major incident was declared after torrential rain left parts of Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Cheshire flooded, while flood warnings have been issued across many parts of the UK following snowfall.
Follow Metro’s live weather blog. Hundreds of schools were closed across the country this week, in areas including Lancashire, Yorkshire and north-east Scotland. Elsewhere, dramatic images captured the moments roads turned into rivers and trees toppled onto key transport routes in more rural areas.
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video. Up Next. At least five people died in England and Wales when Storm Bert struck in November, one of whom was 75-year-old Brian Perry, who went missing in North Wales as he walked his dog. When Storm Darragh arrived the following month, England rugby international Tom Voyce lost his life when his car came off the Abberwick Ford, near Alnwick, amid strong currents.
![[People cleaning up after the flooding in Tenbury Wells. A clear up is underway in Tenbury Wells, Worcestershire, this morning, November 25, 2024, after devastating flooding hit the town. Huge amounts of water poured through the town as rivers burst their banks. The devastation was made worse by the collapse of the Market Street Kyre Brook retaining wall, which gave way under the strain of the water.]](https://metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/11/SEI_230877783-71f0.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=646)
Unless further action is taken, experts warn more lives will be put at risk, especially when it comes to flooding. ‘We need to shift from the mentality about “if” there will be another flood to “when” it will be, and how ready we are,’ explains Dr Steven Forrest, lecturer in flood resilience and sustainable transformations at the University of Hull.
