Flooding update: is your land ready for winter?

A flooded field is more than an inconvenience, it can be a risk to your livelihood.

Flood Action Week is the Environment Agency’s annual campaign to make sure homes, communities, and businesses are prepared for potential flooding and stormy weather over the winter months. This blog is based on a government briefing that the CLA attended during Flood Action Week, and includes a list of practical tips to help you improve winter readiness on your land.

So far in 2025, the autumn has been wetter than usual in northern and western areas of England and Wales, but eastern and central areas of England remain relatively dry. There is still a long way to go to make up the deficit in rainfall from the very dry spring and summer. Soil moisture levels are recovering with the rain in September, but groundwater isn’t recharging as quickly. Much of the infiltrated water remains stored in the upper layers of the soil, which is a risk factor for flooding even though there is, on paper, plenty of infiltration capacity left.

The Met Office’s best forecast is a typical start to the winter. December may be a bit colder than usual; rainfall in the north and northwest of the UK may be slightly higher. However, as we have seen in previous years, large-scale weather circulations can become trapped, leading to extended cold or wet periods, which are hard to predict. Climate change makes weather forecasting – and modelling flood risk – much tougher. While the Met Office forecast is relatively reassuring, it does not remove the need to be prepared for all eventualities.

In our latest briefing we heard from Mike O’Neill, Deputy Director of Preparedness and Recovery at the Environment Agency, who explained some of the steps the agency has taken to improve its preparedness. These include a full rollout of a National Operations Centre to enhance coordination, a 24/7 cadre of National Tactical Advisors on standby to improve the quality of decision-making in emergencies, as well as various enhancements to flood warning services.

The agency continues to coordinate with the National Fire Chiefs Council, military, and more local emergency-responder teams, including through joint training and simulations. Most recently, it tested a cross-governmental emergency response to a large surface-water flooding incident.

Many land managers will be anxious to learn the condition of flood risk assets, such as pumping stations, flood gates and culverts, or natural features like river embankments. The overall percentage of high-consequence flood risk assets in good condition is around 92.7%, much lower than 98% in good health in 2018, which used to be the target. This is due to several factors: ageing assets, a growing total number of assets, worsening flood events, and inflation and price increases.

Fundamentally, it's the CLA’s view that central government has not allocated enough money for flood risk asset maintenance. The FAQ explainer about riparian landowner responsibilities on page 23 of August’s Land & Business magazine (available to read by CLA members) should clarify responsibilities for riparian and asset maintenance. Your local Environment Agency office can let you know what permits you need for works.

Check you have the right insurance cover for your needs: For example, does your property insurance cover include the different types of flooding you may be exposed to, such as groundwater flooding? Flood Re can help provide more affordable home insurance if you live in a high flood-risk area, although it does not extend to commercial premises (which include certain holiday accommodation). You may find two separate insurance products is cheaper. CLA members can reach out to CLA Insurance for specially-tailored guidance, but as always, it pays to shop around.

Monitor your local flood risk: The Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) provide flood warnings and alerts, which you can sign up to receive by text, email, or call. Forecasts from the National Tidal and Sea Level Facility and real-time and historic data on river-flow rate and water levels from Gauge Map may also be useful.

Prepare an Emergency Flood Response Plan: Floods often happen with little time to plan or research what to do. Creating a checklist of actions can remind you of actions to take immediately before a flood to reduce your losses, for example:

• Turning off water, gas and electricity supplies
• Shutting windows and doors
• Taking pictures to help with insurance claims
• Moving important documents and sentimental belongings upstairs or to high cupboards
• Moving livestock, vehicles, equipment, fuels and chemicals to higher ground which you have previously identified.

Your plan could include details you may struggle to quickly access after a flood, like your insurance policy, contacts for your utility providers and helplines for charities like Forage Aid (which provides emergency bedding and forage for livestock).

Assemble an Emergency Flood Kit: A grab bag of essentials that will facilitate a speedy evacuation and make time in temporary accommodation more bearable.

Longer term, to build resilience, you may wish to invest in property-level flood resilience and set aside frequently submerged land to hold floodwater. This week, the government also announced a new flooding policy to decide which flood schemes are funded, and this should support more nature-based flood management and property flood resilience. Stay tuned for further guidance on this.