Flood threat from Storm Ciarán remains with 41 warnings and 158 alerts in England

The Environment Agency was monitoring and responding to the impacts of Storm Ciarán on Saturday 4 November 2023, and advised the public to remain cautious. In its update at 2:30pm that day, it reported 41 flood warnings, meaning flooding is expected, and 158 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, in place across England¹.

The agency said minor river and surface water flooding was possible that day across the South and parts of the North East of England, and that minor groundwater flooding impacts were also possible in parts of Dorset and Wiltshire. River flooding may persist into Sunday¹. Defences including at Bewdley on the River Severn had been deployed, and other assets were operational. Approximately 13,000 properties have been protected from the storm, while the total number of properties reported to have been flooded stands at around 260¹. The Environment Agency said it had readied further assets to deploy if needed, including temporary and demountable flood barriers and high-volume pumps¹.

Chris Wilding, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said:

The agency also said that, following discussions with Unison, its staff would no longer take part in the four days of industrial action initially planned to begin on Friday 3 November at 0700¹. It reported that its response to Storm Babet saw an estimated 97,000 properties protected, with 20 high-volume pumps and five small-volume pumps deployed across several sites, and that its flood warning service sent out more than 300,000 messages by email, telephone and text during that storm. The number of properties reported flooded during Storm Babet stood at approximately 2,150¹. The Government announced that support would be available to areas in England that have experienced exceptional localised flooding through activation of the Flood Recovery Framework scheme¹.

Why it matters for households

The warnings and alerts covered England, and the agency said river flooding may persist into Sunday in places, so households near rivers in the South, the North East, Dorset and Wiltshire could see continued flood risk into the weekend¹. The Environment Agency urged people to stay safe on the coast and to take extreme care on coastal paths and promenades, and said flooding of low-lying coastal roads was also possible. It said people must avoid driving through flood water, as just 30cm of flowing water is enough to move a car¹. It advised people to check their flood risk, sign up for free flood warnings and keep up to date with the latest situation through its flood information service and by following @EnvAgency on X, formerly known as Twitter¹. The agency also advised the public to sign up to flood warnings and check the latest safety advice, as tidal flooding was possible and heavy downpours were likely to fall on saturated ground¹. Households can read about flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings, how to sign up for free flood warnings and the checklist when a flood warning is issued; the site's flooding hub and storms and snow hub cover wider preparation, and home insurance in a flood risk area and Flood Re explains cover after flooding.

What happens next

The Environment Agency said river flooding may persist into Sunday 5 November in places, and that further significant surface water and river flooding impacts were possible but not expected in parts of the South East of England on 4 November due to heavy showers¹. No further update beyond 4 November 2023 has been reported.