United Kingdom: Government pledges £40 million for flood defences

© UK Gov

Prime Minister David Cameron has announced a package of more than £40 million to rebuild and improve flood defences in the aftermath of Storm Eva. The latest funding takes investment in recovery from Storm Eva and Storm Desmond to nearly £200 million. The package is set to be extended with grants to reimburse fire and rescue authorities that have incurred excessive costs protecting flooded communities. “I have seen at first-hand the devastation caused by flooding,” said Cameron. “We are already spending £280 million over the next six years to protect thousands of houses from flooding in Yorkshire as part of our £2.3 billion investment to protect 300,000 houses across the country. But now more than £40 million will be spent to fix those defences overwhelmed by the record rainfall we’ve seen and make them more resilient to further bad weather.”