January flooding in England

Significant river flooding impacts are expected today (Friday 05/01) and on Saturday across parts of the Midlands on the River Trent and in Gloucester, and also today in the South West on the River Avon due to the recent prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall.

The Environment Agency emergency responders and local authorities are helping to protect people and properties following the flooding across the Midlands, Southwest and Southeast with teams out on the ground across the nation, working to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible, operating flood defences and clearing watercourses

So far, more than 44,000 properties have been protected from flooding caused by Storm Henk in the last few days, the Environment Agency has confirmed.  

While risks are likely to start reducing over the weekend, ongoing flood impacts are also likely across much of England over the next five days as some larger rivers slowly respond to recent and forecast rain. Many rivers are elevated and will remain so for several days.  

Floods Minister Robbie Moore said:

Today I have been visiting some of the affected areas in the Nottinghamshire – speaking to the Environment Agency and emergency service teams as well as residents impacted by flooding.

I know how devastating flooding is for people, and also I urge people to be vigilant and should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation.

Environment Secretary Steve Barclay and I have both been in frequent contact with the Environment Agency and have been receiving daily updates on the situation. With barriers, pumps and permanent defences across the country, it has been possible to protect many thousands of homes and businesses.

In many areas, this is down to record investment to better protect the nation, following our successful delivery of a £2.6 billion programme which has better protected more than 374,000 homes across England since 2015.

We are now going further with a record £5.2 billion being invested between 2021-27 to create thousands of new flood schemes to better protect hundreds of thousands of properties across England.

Stefan Laeger, Flood Duty Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

Significant river flooding impacts are still expected today and on Saturday across parts of the East Midlands on the River Trent downstream of Nottingham, the River Severn including Gloucester and Tewkesbury and also today in the South West on the River Avon due to the recent prolonged wet weather and intense rainfall. Flood impacts are expected to continue over parts of England over the next five days as rivers and groundwater levels remain high, despite a change to drier weather.

Environment Agency teams are out on the ground, working to minimise the impacts of flooding where possible by operating flood defences and clearing watercourses. So far, more than 44,000 properties have been protected in the last few days. We also urge people not to drive though flood water and follow advice of local emergency services on the roads – flood water is often deeper than it looks and just 30cm of flowing water is enough to float your car.

People should check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation at https://www.gov.uk/check-if-youre-at-risk-of-flooding and follow @EnvAgency on X, formerly Twitter, for the latest flood updates.

For images of operational activity by the Environment Agency, please see the South West, South East, and Midlands team’s accounts on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Sign up for flood warnings and the latest flood updates here:

• Check for flood warnings and find out if you are at risk of flooding 
• Sign up for flood warnings 
• Follow @EnvAgency on X, formerly Twitter, for the latest flood updates