England gets one-stop flood advice hub as protection target set for 200,000 properties
Flood Action Online brings flood-risk checks, warnings and Met Office alerts together for the first time at the start of Flood Action Week, alongside a pledge to better protect 200,000 properties.
The Government and the Environment Agency have launched Flood Action Online, a single portal where households in England can check their flood risk, sign up for warnings and see Met Office alerts during an incident. The launch opens Flood Action Week, the Agency's campaign urging people to understand their risk and prepare a flood plan.
The launch comes with a government commitment to invest 4.2 billion pounds between April 2023 and March 2029 to repair and replace existing defences and build new ones, with hundreds of projects set for completion. Ministers say the work will better protect 200,000 properties and avoid an estimated 27.9 billion pounds in damage.
In the first two years of the programme, the Government says it spent 2.65 billion pounds on flood defences, helping protect almost 62,000 properties and beating an original target of 52,000. The condition of existing defences has stabilised after years of decline: 93 per cent of assets were at or above their required condition at the end of March 2026, and ministers have set a new target of 93.5 per cent by March 2029.
It's never been more important for people to understand what they can do to prepare.Caroline Douglass, Environment Agency
"Every year, flooding threatens communities across England, and as we deal with the changing climate, it's never been more important for people to understand what they can do to prepare," said Caroline Douglass, the Environment Agency's executive director for floods.
The Agency says its teams are ready to respond around the clock as winter approaches. Its equipment includes 260 mobile pumps, among them 17 ultra-high-volume pumps, and 25 kilometres of temporary barriers.
The announcement coincides with the first meeting this week of the new Flood and Drought Resilience Taskforce, led by floods and drought minister Emma Hardy. The taskforce brings together more than 50 organisations, including the Environment Agency, the Met Office, fire and rescue services and the water, farming and insurance industries, with winter preparedness and lessons from the ongoing drought on its first agenda.
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