Update on flooding - Thursday 10 December
Government information and advice about the support available following flooding in north west England.
This news item is not being updated. Read Winter flooding 2015: community support for current information.
Environment Secretary Elizabeth Truss said:
More heavy rainfall yesterday has led to overnight flooding in the village of Glenridding in Cumbria and high river levels in the area, including in Appleby. Environment Agency staff are on the ground with other emergency response staff and military personnel to help people affected. We are using pumps in the area and will continue to support the community today to get people back into their homes.
A severe flood warning is in place for the village of St Michael’s on the River Wyre in Lancashire. Our teams remain on the ground in St Michael’s, working to protect as many properties as possible using pumps and sandbags. We have also operated flood basins at Garstang and Caterall to relieve pressure on the rivers Wyre and Brock.
We continue to help those affected by last weekend’s floods to get back on their feet as soon as possible. The Chancellor yesterday announced an additional £51 million to support households and businesses, taking the total support pledged by this Government to more than £60 million.
The outstanding recovery effort continues apace. Normal rail services have resumed between London, the West Midlands and Manchester and work continues round the clock to address any remaining issues with essential services. The number of customers without power continues to fall. We are working with the energy companies to get remaining homes and businesses re-connected as soon as possible.
We are providing practical support to farmers affected too. The new Farming Recovery Fund we have set up will offer some relief at this challenging time so that those in the flood-hit areas can get back up and running. The funding will help to cover farmers’ short-term uninsured recovery costs and we will pay out on all eligible applications, offering rapid relief at this challenging time.
There is still more to do and I will chair a COBR meeting later today to continue to support affected communities. The Floods Minister Rory Stewart is travelling to Cumbria this morning and will be spending several days visiting the most isolated and worst affected communities.
As any further rainfall can have an impact on already heavily saturated ground I urge communities to continue to monitor the Environment Agency website and Twitter for the latest information.