Government to review flood warning system

Three people were killed as parts of the UK were battered overnight by severe storms, toppling trees, telegraph poles and power lines. Winds of up to 124mph caused severe damage and tens of thousands of homes were left without power and water as parts of the country continued to experience storm-force winds.

The full force of the weather was unleashed in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, where 60,000 homes were without electricity. Roads and bridges were closed, ferry services abandoned and rail routes suspended as police and travel chiefs appealed to the public to postpone non-essential journeys.

North west England was bracing itself for the severe weather to move south, after suffering the worst of the storms and flooding that affected Britain over the weekend. Three people were also killed in the Carlisle area after 9ins of rain fell in a 36-hour period, causing the River Eden to burst its banks.

Ironically, the severe weather came just as Carlisle prepared to introduce a £20 million flood defence system, which would have made "a big difference" to the outcome, according to Environment minister Elliot Morley.

Flood warning review

On Tuesday, the Government announced a review of the flood warning system. Elliot Morley said that, from early indications, many people were not alerted to the flood danger despite the activation of the early warning system.

Mr Morley also promised financial help to councils affected by the flooding. Under Government rules councils can claim 85% of their costs once they have spent more than 0.2% of their annual budget on the floods.

Mr Morley told the Commons: "Nobody can guarantee that there will not be extreme weather events or flooding. But we can, and are, continually reducing risk by investment in defences and warning systems."

Britain was not the only country to be counting the cost of the weekend storms. More than 250,000 homes and businesses across northern Europe from Russia to Ireland were left without power. Norway's oil production was hampered for a fourth day by delayed repairs to three offshore fields.

In southern Sweden, seven people were killed in the storm, including four motorists and four people were killed by flying debris and falling trees in Denmark.

Climate change?

Inevitably, such widespread damage merely intensified the debate over global warming, with people left wondering what was causing such atrocious conditions.

Chris Kilsby, a senior lecturer in hydrology at Newcastle University, said it was impossible to say statistically whether the recent weather was due to climate change.

He said: "Climate change is here to stay and there's good scientific reasons to be sure it will happen over the next 50 years but I'm undecided as to whether you can prove statistically we have climate change affecting flooding.

"We have been looking at rainfall over the last 40 years and it shows there has been some change in extreme rainfall. My gut instinct is that the recent events are part of a consistent picture but, scientifically, to prove that is not currently possible."

On the other and, Dr Mark Saunders, senior lecturer in climate physics at University College, London, said it was time to "calm down the hype" about climate change.

"You expect these freak weather events," he said. "They have been happening since records began and there have been far worse ones in the last 50 to 100 years. It is not indicative of anything more lasting or of similar events happening more in the future."

Dr David Viner, of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia, believes such flooding could be attributed, at least in part, to climate change. He has warned that changing rainfall patterns meant rapid, unpredictable, flash floods would become much more common.

"When rainfall happens it will be a lot more intense, a lot heavier," he said. "These very extreme rainfall events are going to become more common over the coming decades.

"The world is warming up and this is having an impact on the way rainfall happens. We have altered the climate so much that this is no longer just a natural phenomenon."

Stark warning

The European Environment Agency (EEA) has also issued a stark warning about the future of our weather. The agency fears that the world could see floods, storms, droughts and other extreme weather becoming more common in years to come.

Serious flooding in 11 countries in August 2002 killed about 80 people and caused economic losses of at least 15 billion euros (£10 billion). The year after, a heatwave in western and southern Europe was responsible for more than 20,000 excess deaths, particularly among elderly people.

Following the weekend floods the Association of British Insurers (ABI) advised property owners who had suffered damage to arrange for emergency temporary repairs as soon as possible to stop the damage getting worse.

It added that those affected should contact their insurer as soon as possible. "Where there has been flooding, disinfect floors and furnishings. Where practical, leave doors, windows and cupboards open. If possible, keep rooms heated," said the ABI in a statement.

Eric Galbraith, chief executive of the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA), said flood damage to homes and businesses had cost insurers and those that were uninsured, "hundreds of millions of pounds" during the last few years.

He added: "It is too soon to estimate the true cost of the damage caused by this current flooding and it will take many months before the full extent of the bill facing many uninsured homeowners and insurance companies alike is known."