Major flooding in UK now likely every year, warns lead climate adviser

The flooded high street in Cockermouth in the
Lake District, days after Storm Desmond
 on 6 December 2015.

Major flooding in the UK is now likely to happen every year but ministers still have no coherent long-term plan to deal with it, the government’s leading adviser on the impacts of climate change has warned.

Boxing Day in 2015 saw severe floods sweep Lancashire and Yorkshire, just weeks after Storm Desmond swamped Cumbria and parts of Scotland and Wales. The flooding, which caused billions of pounds of damage, led to the government publishing a review in September which anticipates 20-30% more extreme rainfall than before.

But Prof John Krebs, who leads the work on adapting to global warming for the government’s official advisers, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), told the Guardian: “We are still a long way from where we need to be, in that there is still not a coherent long-term view.”

Read Damian Carrington’s story in The Guardian - “Major flooding in UK now likely every year, warns lead climate adviser.”

Victoria weather: Bright largely cut off by floodwaters as rivers continue to rise

A flooded caravan park in Wangaratta.

Wangaratta is on high alert, while Bright has been largely cut off by floodwaters as northern Victorian rivers continue to swell.

Major flooding is expected to occur along the Lower Ovens River near Wangaratta late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

Wangaratta is on high alert, while Bright has been largely cut off by floodwaters as northern Victorian rivers continue to swell.

Major flooding is expected to occur along the Lower Ovens River near Wangaratta late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

Read the Melbourne Age story - “Victoria weather: Bright largely cut off by floodwaters as rivers continue to rise.”