Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has called for better flood management ahead of a visit to deluged communities as police named a woman who died in floodwaters.
During a visit to Leeds on 9 November, Corbyn said better upstream river management and flood defences in towns were needed and called for more funding for emergency services.
“Obviously we need much better flood management and prevention schemes,” he said.
Corbyn continued:
It also means properly funding our fire and rescue services and properly funding our Environment Agency to deal with this.
The Environment Agency has lost a fifth of its staff, the fire services have lost more than a fifth of their staff. They’re struggling to cope with this.
The Labour leader said the UK could expect more extreme weather due to climate breakdown.
Following nearly a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours, river flooding is ongoing in parts of central, north & east England. There are 7 severe flood warnings on the River Don. Follow advice from emergency services. Keep yourself & your family safe. For more https://t.co/BpUpnj1mdd pic.twitter.com/WekHS4VSgh
— Environment Agency (@EnvAgency) November 9, 2019
Corbyn is due to visit flood-hit areas of South Yorkshire.
Yorkshire and the Midlands were among the areas worst affected by the heavy downpours since 7 November.
Former High Sheriff of Derbyshire Annie Hall died after being caught in floodwater near Darley Dale.
Police said her body was found after emergency services were called to the River Derwent near Matlock in the early hours of Friday.
Sheffield in South Yorkshire received 84mm of rain over 36 hours, which is almost the average monthly rainfall for Yorkshire, the Met Office said.
The flood-hit areas received respite on Saturday with dry and sunny conditions across eastern England.
Met Office meteorologist Sophie Yeomans said two yellow rain warnings are in place because of potentially difficult driving conditions.
“Anyone who is out and about, there can be a lot of spray on the roads,” she told the PA news agency.
There are #rain warnings in force this afternoon #WeatherAware, although for the north and east plenty of fine #weather is expected pic.twitter.com/htaj6793O9
— Met Office (@metoffice) November 9, 2019
One warning is in place from 11am to midnight stretching across Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, to Eastbourne and Portsmouth and another is in place from 5am to 8pm stretching across Northern Ireland from Ballycastle to Newry.
“The rain has only really just moved into these areas and it’s likely to keep raining there for the next eight to 10 hours,” Yeomans said.
The first snowfall of the season was also recorded on Saturday in Wales.
“It was quite a dusting in a few places,” Yeomans said.
The Environment Agency issued seven severe flood warnings on 9 November, suggesting there is a “danger to life”.
The warnings are in place for the River Don at Barnby Dun, Bently, Fishlake, Kirk Bramwith, Kirk Sandall, South Bramwith and Willow Bridge caravan site.
There are also 54 warnings telling people to take immediate action in light of expected flooding, along with 74 alerts urging residents to be prepared.
