Flooding: government to invest billions of pounds in flood defences including £7m in the Humber

This includes £7m going towards the latest phase of the Stallingborough Sea Defences along the Humber estuary.

A Labour source told The Yorkshire Post that Conisbrough, near Doncaster, and Appleton, in North Yorkshire, would also get funding.

They claimed that overall there would be a 26 per cent increase on investment compared with the last three years of Conservative government.

It comes as floods devastated parts of the county earlier this year as a wave of storms battered the UK.

Battyeford Sporting Club house in Mirfield was one of the community hubs which was almost completely destroyed.

While in 2023, hundreds of acres of farmland in East Yorkshire were left underwater for months after deluges, damaging swathes of crops.

Farmers told The Yorkshire Post the incidents were impacting their mental health, as well as their agricultural businesses.

On Boxing Day in 2015, thousands of properties in Leeds were damaged as flood, costing £500m to West Yorkshire, ravaged part of the city.

The full list of projects to benefit from the Government funding will be announced next month, however The Yorkshire Post understands more investment is set to benefit the region.

Other big cash injections across the country include £43m to the Bridgwater Tidal Barrier Flood Defence Scheme in Somerset and £35m to the Derby Flood Risk Management Scheme.

In particular, Mr Reed said he wants to protect farmland to safeguard agriculture businesses which have been badly hit by recent storms.

He said: “The storms this winter have devastated lives and livelihoods. The role of any Government is to protect its citizens.

“We are investing a record £2.65bn to build and maintain flood defences to protect lives, homes and businesses from the dangers of flooding.” 

Environment Agency chair Alan Lovell added: “The impact of flooding on our communities will only become greater as climate change brings more extreme weather, like Storms Bert, Conall and Eowyn.

 “With this new funding, we will work closely with the Government to deliver the vital projects that are needed across the country, ensuring our investment goes to those communities who need it the most.”

The funding announcement comes as the Government’s Floods Resilience Taskforce, including the Met Office, Local Resilience Forums and the National Farmers’ Union, meets today with Floods Minister Emma Hardy.

The MP for Kingston upon Hull West and Haltemprice will be learning the lessons from Storms Bert, Conall and Éowyn this winter.

In particular, Storm Bert caused flooding and road closures across North Yorkshire.