UK braced for more flooding as Storm Frank set to bring fresh downpours

Inundated: a wine bar is submerged in York
Justin Tallis/ AFP/Getty Images
Robin de Peyer29 December 2015

Fresh weather misery is set to hit much of the UK as Storm Frank arrives on British shores this evening.

More torrential rain is likely to his parts of northern England and southern and central Scotland.

Nine severe flood warnings remain in place for England and Wales, with the majority of those focused on York, which was inundated on Boxing Day.

It comes as the estimated cost of the flooding approached £6 billion, according to KPMG.

David Cameron has defended the government's spending on flood defences in the north of England after the devastating rainfall in the past week.

Floods minister Rory Stewart told BBC Radio the government is open to an external review on flood defences.

Storm Frank is set to arrive in the UK this evening
NASA

The Environment Agency has promised a “complete rethink” of flooding preparations after 500 troops were deployed to help the clean-up operation as thousands of homes were evacuated.

EA deputy chief executive David Rooke said it would have to look at ways to flood-proof homes as well as traditional defences as the UK was "moving into a period of unknown extremes".

"We will need to have that complete rethink and ... move from not just providing better defences - and we have a £2.3 billion programme to do that over the next six years - but looking at increasing resilience," he told the BBC.

That would include solid floors, waterproof plaster, electrics moved up the walls and better early-warning systems, he suggested.

David Cameron said: "We need to sit down and look at what we are planning to build, what we are planning to spend and see if more can be done.

"You don't just protect people, of course, through the flood defences, although they are important, and of course while some flood defences haven't worked this time, many flood defences have worked and protected thousands of homes."

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell called for an independent assessment of spending on flood defences.

"Serious concerns have been voiced today at the Government's cuts in flood defence spending since 2010. David Cameron is in danger of losing the confidence of council leaders and local communities hit by the floods," he said.

The Met Office said rain overnight would be much lighter than the recent downpours but Storm Frank - the sixth of the season - would arrive by this evening.

It has issued amber warnings with up to 40mm of persistent rain expected widely across Northern Ireland, west and south-west Scotland, Wales and north-west England - flooded by Storm Desmond - by tomorrow.

Twice that is possible - 80mm - over high ground, with some exposed areas in south-west Scotland and Cumbria warned they could be hit by 100-150mm.

It said the conditions were "not unusual for this time of year" and comparable with the storms of the winter of 2013-14.

KPMG said the costs were broken down to different sectors such as the insurance sector, businesses, individuals, communities and government.

Costs will include insured losses of up to £1.5bn - the estimated cost of claims to be made by insured homeowners and businesses.

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