Flood defences are essential for economic growth of UK's Cornwall

This is Bristol (UK): It's now nearly a month since devastating floods hit Cornwall, causing road and rail routes to be closed and cutting off towns and villages. And it's less than four years since flooding caused havoc in Gloucestershire. Flooding at Tewkesbury's Mythe water treatment works left 140,000 homes without clean water for days and Castle Meads's electricity sub-station was shut down, leaving thousands without power.

Flooding on the M5 trapped thousands, with many others stranded on the rail network. These incidents were caused by intense rainfall. While we can't prevent the rain, we can minimise the impact that flooding has. And we must minimise it, because thanks to climate change, it is going to happen more often.

It's not just rain we have to be mindful of. We've also seen snow and ice in recent weeks. When this melts, we are faced with surface flooding. The effects of floods can paralyse our critical infrastructure, particularly our transport networks. The South West is already in a vulnerable position in terms of transport with major routes into the region limited. We are dependent on the M4 and M5 but when these fail – as they did during the summer floods of 2007 – we must rely on the A30/A303, most of which is a single carriageway….

River Amble Dam. The green bank at the centre of the photograph is an earth dam across the mouth of the River Amble Valley where it joins the Camel Estuary. Shot by Tony Atkin, Wikimedia Commons via Geograph UK, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

UK's Met Office warns of more torrential rain on the way for Cornwall

Steven Morris in the Guardian (UK): Forecasters have warned that torrential rain could sweep across Cornwall again this evening as householders and business owners continue to mop up after this week's floods. The Met Office warned that up to 20mm of rain could fall in many places, with as much as 50mm in some places – the same sort of deluge that caused the floods across parts of south-east Cornwall.

In its weather warning the Met Office said there could be "localised flooding", particularly where the ground is already saturated. David Cameron was in the county this morning to see for himself the extent of the damage. He met people driven out of their homes by the floods in the harbour town of Mevagissey before visiting Pentewan, near St Austell, one of the worst-affected areas.

The prime minister said he was keen to find if there were better ways of giving clearer warnings about the approach of torrential rain. He said: "You can never guarantee there won't be flooding. We do have these huge weather events that sometimes overcome communities but we can do better….”

The River Looe in Cornwall, shot by roger geach, Wikimedia Commons via Geograph UK, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license

Cornwall clean up begins

Alison Brown in edie.net: A massive clearing up operation has started in Cornwall after devastating floods hit the area yesterday. Hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes yesterday, which saw schools shut down, people trapped in their cars and train services suspended.

Reduced flood warnings are still in place today for rivers in the South West but the Environment Agency say the Met Office predictions should lead to a low risk of flooding from now on. The government has promised help but this will be of little comfort to those who are staying in temporary shelters and feel that not enough warning was given.

In a timely move, the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra) today announced that it was funding £2million to improve flood rescue capability. Announcing the new funding, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: "We have learnt from the floods we have experienced in recent years that the emergency response is most effective when public, private and voluntary groups work well together - and we saw this week in Cornwall how important it is for these groups to have well rehearsed plans in place….

The river in Boscastle, Cornwall, shot by Martin Stewart, Wikimedia Commons via eograph.org.uk, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license