Whilst the nation’s gaze is locked onto the upcoming general election, the worst sets of floods since 2007 have been causing chaos in northern England. The most severely affected areas have been Yorkshire and the Humber, the Midlands and parts of South East England. 

Those unfortunate enough to live in areas particularly affected by the floods over the last month have faced significant disruptions. A case in point is in Doncaster where a large number of people were stranded in a  shopping centre because it was not safe to leave the building. Also, the majority of public transport has been suspended in the city.

“To minimise the impacts of it and of other natural hazards caused by climate change, the government should invest more in reducing carbon emissions and make sure they do not betray the future generation.”

Environment experts blame the Conservative government for their lack of effective action on tackling global warming which is the reason behind such significant flooding. Dr Hugh Ellis, the director of policy at the Town and Country Planning Association, has said that more action must be taken by government, new laws and a new department especially dedicated to lessening the impacts of the crisis should be established.

He argued that the government’s failure to deal with climate change is the ‘greatest political betrayal by politicians for the future generation’. This will only add to the mounting public pressure for politicians to finally act to reduce the UK’s emissions. Students in various cities across the UK have held climate change protest over the past months. Besides Brexit and the future of the NHS, it is one of the key topics which has dominated the agenda of the general election.

The environment agency has and continues to invest over £600m on more than 220 flood defence project in the UK between 2015 and 2021. Over 9,004 homes will be better protected from flooding through this round of funding. However, critics say that this Is enough to protect communities from the effects of flooding.

For the upcoming week forecasters have warned of further flooding and disruption in south Wales with heavy downpours expected. Flooding is not going to go away.

To minimise the impacts of it and of other natural hazards caused by climate change, the government should invest more in reducing carbon emissions and make sure they do not betray the future generation.

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