Insurers Braced For Flooding After Environment Agency Warning – Environment Agency Says Even Small Amounts Of Rain Will Trigger Flooding

Insurers should brace themselves for flooding in the winter months following an Environment Agency warning that even small amounts of rainfall will cause problems.

UK rivers are full after the wettest April to June on record, followed by months of further flooding.

The agency said the earth is saturated and there is no more space in aquifers to store water. That means water is more likely to seep through from the surface and cause flooding.

The washout has so far been some way off the £3bn bill that landed with insurers five years ago. In July, RSA said in a trading update that the floods in June will have cost an estimated £40m in net losses.

The Met Office’s chief adviser to the government Sarah Jackson said: “We are heading into the winter period which is traditionally the wetter period of the year in the UK.

“Because the ground is so wet, if we do have any prolonged heavy rainfall in any part of the country, there is going to be heightened risk of flooding.”