The government is urging everyone to prepare for floods following the wettest 18 months on record.

The Environment Agency is urging the public to ensure they are prepared for a flood as the nation marks the annual ‘Flood Action Week’.

This year’s awareness campaign coincides with the one-year anniversary of Storm Babet, which brought significant flooding across the country. 

According to the Met Office, Storm Babet saw the third wettest three-day period in a series for England and Wales since 1891.

Nearly 96,900 properties were protected by the Environment Agency during Storm Babet, though sadly around 2,150 were flooded.

(Image: Joe Giddens/PA Wire)

As climate change brings more extreme weather, there has already been flooding this autumn.

Only last month, heavy rainfall led to the first major incident of the season with almost a thousand properties flooded.

It followed the wettest 18 months on record in England up to February 2024

Floods Minister Emma Hardy said: “Flooding can be a destructive force that puts everything in life on hold. I’ve seen the impacts firsthand and am determined to ensure as much as possible others do not.

“Through the recent launch of our Floods Resilience Taskforce, this government is taking decisive action to accelerate the development of flood defences and bolster the nation’s resilience to extreme weather.

“But this Flood Action Week, we must be all be proactive in taking steps to protect ourselves by checking our flood risk and signing up for flood warnings.”

Caroline Douglass, Environment Agency Executive Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management, added: “Climate change means extreme weather events are happening more frequently, and we have already seen an unusually wet September this year. 

“We can’t always predict where the rain will fall or where flooding will occur, but we do know which areas are at risk. 

“That is why it is essential we all do our part by checking our flood risk and signing up for flood warnings this Flood Action Week. 

“While we at the Environment Agency are stepping up our preparations to increase the nation’s resilience to flooding as we head into the winter, taking small steps today can immediately improve your own readiness.”