UK's environment Agency calls for flood protection products

BBC: UK businesses should spend more effort on developing innovative devices to help protect homes from flooding, the Environment Agency's chairman says. Lord Chris Smith called for more action as climate change meant flooding would become more "commonplace". He said one in six properties in England and Wales was already at risk.

He is due to address the National Flood Forum, where members will urge the main political parties to give guaranteed commitments on flood defence spending. Members of the forum, which represents people who live in more than 200 areas affected by flooding, are expected to air their concerns at the meeting in Birmingham.

They want assurances that major new flood defence work will go ahead despite the squeeze on public spending. Lord Smith said that although many households already had certain defensive products in place, including air brick covers and door barriers, this was not enough. He said up to 5.5m homes and businesses in the UK were at risk of flooding but with the right amount of investment, the country could become a "market leader" in technologies…

The River Ouse flooding in November, 2009, shot by Kevin Bailey, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license