Environment Agency warns flood threat may force UK communities to abandon homes

The Environment Agency has called for a consultation to review the process of flood protection for coastal areas after new evidence shows climate change is increasing the risk of losing homes in UK towns.

An increased risk of flooding from climate change
may force UK communities to abandon homes.

The new consultation will run for 8 weeks and aims to develop new standards of flood resilience for communities in the UK.

In preparing for a predicted 4 degrees Celsius rise in global temperatures, the EA has warned that potentially they will have to move communities “out of harm’s way” in the long term.

The EA will provide £1 billion a year to fund traditional flood and coastal defences. This comes after the National Audit Office reported that for every £1 spent on protecting communities, around £9 in property damages and wider impacts is avoided.

Read the ClimateAction story by Rachel Cooper - “Environment Agency warns flood threat may force UK communities to abandon homes.”