More than 4,000 of England’s vital flood defences are so damaged they are almost useless, including hundreds in areas battered by Storm Babet.
Nearly 800 critical assets – defined as those where there is a high risk to life and property – were in a “poor” or “very poor” condition in the 10 English counties worst affected by last week’s historic downpours.
The analysis will add to growing anger from flood-hit communities who have accused the authorities of being ill-equipped and complacent in the run-up to Storm Babet.
It comes as Britain braces for yet more heavy rain and flooding this week ahead of the arrival of Storm Ciarán, which is set to bring strong winds and heavy rain when it arrives on Thursday.
Parts of Britain faced further severe downpours at the weekend, hampering the recovery from the devastating floods that left at least seven people dead, hundreds homeless and scores of properties damaged.
MPs and residents across England and Scotland have demanded a review of the protections in place in the aftermath of Storm Babet, which overwhelmed defences and caught forecasters off-guard.
Steve Reed, Labour’s shadow environment secretary, said: “The Conservatives’ sticking-plaster approach to flooding has left communities devastated and cost the economy billions of pounds.”
Extreme weather events are becoming more likely and frequent due to climate breakdown, and have caused food shortages and price increases.
An analysis of Environment Agency data obtained by Unearthed, the investigative arm of Greenpeace UK, showed that 4,204 of England’s most important flood defences were in a poor or very poor condition in 2022. This accounts for about one in 15 of the total.
Across the country, 856 were judged very poor, meaning they had “severe defects resulting in complete performance failure”, essentially rendering them useless.
The remaining 3,348 were in poor condition, meaning they have defects that would “significantly reduce” their performance.
In the 10 English counties worst affected by Storm Babet, spanning from Suffolk to Northumberland, 646 were in a poor condition and 135 were judged to be very poor.
The Environment Agency, which owns and maintains more than half of the flood defences in England, said inspections from the latest financial year showed an improvement, from one in 15 being in disrepair to one in 20.
It added that contingency plans will be put in place if required when critical defences are found to be in poor condition.
Paul Morozzo, Greenpeace UK’s senior climate campaigner, said: “Our crumbling flood defences are a symbolic and literal demonstration of the government’s failure to tackle the climate crisis.
“Storm Babet was a sobering reminder that the climate crisis is on our doorstep and that the cost – both in terms of lives lost and damage caused – is huge.
“Without bold action to cut emissions as fast as possible, extreme storms and flooding will become more common and more intense. And without the necessary investment and upgrades, our flood defences will continue to fail.
“By rowing back on its climate commitments and failing to ensure we have infrastructure needed to mitigate its impacts, the government has all but given up on the communities it is supposed to protect. This is a shameful dereliction of duty and will cost votes in the coming election unless Sunak wakes up and has the guts to change direction.”
The Environment Agency, which is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, aimed last year to repair scores of its flood defences leaving only 30 in poor or very poor condition. In reality, 1,766 remained in that category.
The environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, suggested last week that the Met Office and the Environment Agency had been caught off-guard by Storm Babet because the rain came in from the east.
She also said it looked as if her department “may not be hitting” its target of protecting 336,000 properties by 2027.
The Met Office has said the 18 to 20 October period was the third-wettest independent three-day period in England and Wales since 1891. The Midlands provisionally recorded its wettest three-day period on record.
Defra said it was investing £5.2bn between 2021 and 2027 to protect properties from flooding and that more than 96,000 buildings were shielded from Storm Babet.
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We maintain approximately 76,000 flood assets across England, 95% of which we would expect to function as designed during a flood, which is an increase on the previous year.
“We prioritise maintenance where there is significant threat to lives and livelihoods, which was supported by a £200m investment between April 2022 and March 2023 to ensure our assets were winter ready.”
• This article’s headline was amended on 31 October 2023. A previous version used the phrase “almost useless” in quotation marks, though this description was not found in the Unheard analysis.
