Downing Street at risk of flooding says UK environment agency

Sophie Yeo in Respnding to Climate Change:  Three million properties are at risk of surface water flooding in the UK, including Downing Street, home of the British Prime Minister, according the the country’s Environment Agency. Taking into account the 2.4 million homes also at risk from river and sea water flooding, this equates to about one in six homes across the country which could be damaged.

New interactive maps reveal that many parts of central London faced a greater than one in 30 chance of surface water flooding this year, which occurs when intense rainfall overwhelms the drainage system. This is much harder to predict than river or sea flooding, as it is difficult to forecast exactly where or how much rain will fall in any storm.

“Last week’s storm surge brings into sharp focus how important it is that people know if they could be affected by flooding,” Dr Paul Leinster, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said. Despite the government’s own projections for sea level rise of between 13 to 76cm by 2095 due to climate change, a new flood insurance plan, Flood Re, does not take into account the likelihood of the growing intensity or frequency of flooding....

The door of 10 Downing Street, shot by Robertsharp, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license