Warning of flooding this winter across Yorkshire despite recent drought

The UK could suffer from flooding this winter, an Environment Agency chief has said, even though areas like the Calder Valley – hit badly by storms in the past – and West Yorkshire are still in drought.
Nathan Hyde
By Nathan Hyde
Published 10th Nov 2022, 18:00 BST
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Caroline Douglass, the Executive Director for Flood and Coastal Risk Management, said climate change was making extreme weather events more common and winters were becoming wetter.

She warned the country could be hit by more flood-inducing downpours in the coming months and urged people to check the risk in their local area, sign up for warnings and find out what action they should take in the event of a flood.

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Speaking during the Environment Agency’s Flood Action Week, Ms Douglass said: “We can still have flooding while we’re in drought

Swamped: Flooded houses in Mytholmroyd on February 9, 2020, after the River Calder burst its banks as Storm Ciara swept over the country. Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)Swamped: Flooded houses in Mytholmroyd on February 9, 2020, after the River Calder burst its banks as Storm Ciara swept over the country. Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)
Swamped: Flooded houses in Mytholmroyd on February 9, 2020, after the River Calder burst its banks as Storm Ciara swept over the country. Photo by OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images)

"We know we are likely to get some flooding this winter and February’s not looking great again based on that weather forecast. But when you also see what’s happening around the world, flooding is occurring much more frequently.

“The climate is getting warmer and Cop27 is showing that we are going to have to cater for more impacts as a result of climate change which is here and now and we are experiencing that, as are many countries around the world.”

According to the Met Office, the UK has seen six of the 10 wettest years on record since 1998.

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The country has also been hit by three named storms in a week (in February) for the first time ever, record-breaking temperatures and a drought so far this year.

A flood warden carries scaffolding as residents begin clearing up following severe flooding beside the River Calder on February 10, 2020 in Mytholmroyd. Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images.A flood warden carries scaffolding as residents begin clearing up following severe flooding beside the River Calder on February 10, 2020 in Mytholmroyd. Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images.
A flood warden carries scaffolding as residents begin clearing up following severe flooding beside the River Calder on February 10, 2020 in Mytholmroyd. Photo by Anthony Devlin/Getty Images.

February was the eighth wettest on record, as 152 per cent of the average rainfall fell.

It comes as hundreds of millions of pounds are being spent on bolstering defences around Calderdale and elsewhere in Yorkshire, following the devastating floods caused by Storm Eva in December 2015 and the deluges which damaged thousands of properties when a month’s worth of rainfall fell in 24 hours, in November 2019.

More than £40m was spent on the flood alleviation scheme in Mytholmroyd, which was devastated by its highest ever recorded flood on Boxing Day in 2015, work is being done on other schemes in other areas of the Calder Valley, including Hebden Bridge and Brighouse.

Related topics:Environment AgencyCalder ValleyWest YorkshireMet OfficeCalderdale