Video: As the mop-up continues, a warning: ‘Torrential rain’ returns on Thursday

A period of dry weather is expected in Yorkshire between now and Wednesday, but rain is set to return with a vengeance on Thursday and Friday, with “torrential downpours” expected.

Downpours and thunderstorms across northern England, Scotland and parts of Wales are predicted for Thursday, according to MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association.

By Wednesday, temperatures are set to climb to 24C, which could make it the warmest day of the month.

Meanwhile, flood campaigners and Yorkshire MPs issue fresh pleas today for the Government and the insurance industry to end their long-standing impasse over cover for at-risk homes amid mounting fears that hundreds of thousands of people could be left badly exposed next year.

With parts of the region counting the cost this morning of yet another weekend of disastrous summer flooding, after an entire month’s worth of rain fell in a single day on Friday, the National Flood Forum is warning that time is running out to solve the complex issue of insurance for flood risk homes.

The warning comes on the fifth anniversary of the catastrophic 2007 floods which devastated large parts of Sheffield and Hull, leaving three people dead and thousands more homeless.

The events on Friday night offered a chilling reminder of those scenes, when hours of torrential rain saw the swollen River Calder burst its banks shortly after 9pm wreaking havoc through a number of West Yorkshire towns and villages. North Yorkshire and Cumbria were also badly affected by the deluge.

As residents in those areas continue the clean-up of their homes and businesses today, there is increasing concern that despite months of protracted negotiations, the Government and the insurance industry have failed to agree a way forward after a long-standing Statement of Principles’– which guarantees cover for flood-risk homes – expires next summer.

If no deal is struck, an estimated 200,000 home owners could be left without any insurance cover.

The National Flood Forum said Environment Minister Richard Benyon had promised to resolve the issue “in the spring” – but that midsummer’s day has now passed with no deal in place.

Chairman Charles Tucker said: “It’s time for the talking to stop and action to begin. Flood-hit communities need to know they will be able to get affordable insurance in future.

“Thousands of people already have great difficulty finding affordable insurance in flood risk areas, and we are getting an increasing number of calls from people struggling to buy or sell houses.

“The numbers can only increase unless Government steps in to shape the market and ensure that flood insurance is both available and affordable.”

East Yorkshire resident Ron Smith, whose home was devastated in the flooding of June 25, 2007, said that even with the Statement of Principles in place, premiums have soared.

“Mine have gone up and up – but I dread to think what will happen if the agreement is simply allowed to expire,” he said. “It really is the biggest issue at the moment. Time is running out now.”

The coalition has slashed spending on flood defences since coming to power in 2010 as part of its austerity drive. Leeds and Thirsk are among a number of places which have seen much-needed defences schemes scaled back dramatically.

Writing in today’s Yorkshire Post, Hull North MP Diana Johnson recalls the devastation in her constituency five years ago and warns the Government’s current stance is “inadequate.”

“Richard Benyon said that households should be encouraged to invest in their own flood defences,” she writes. “This is simply an inadequate piecemeal response to the threat of flooding to communities. The message to flood risk area such as Hull is that ‘you’re on your own’, certainly not ‘all in it together’.”

In April the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) launched its new “partnership model” for funding flood defence schemes, asking communities to come forward with plans which the Government would contribute to.

Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said last year that this approach would help rural areas as the cost-benefit ratio required to win funding would be far lower.

However, communities will now be expected to come up with significant contributions of their own.

Heather Shepherd, a Flood Forum activist who was present during the 2007 floods in Sheffield, said this means rural areas will actually be penalised.

“I live in a tiny village where the only business left is a single pub,” she said. “How are we expected to raise £1m or whatever is required for our flood defence scheme? This system leaves rural areas exposed.”

The Government insists its new model is the best solution for austere times and that there is still time for an agreement to be reached with insurers.

But Ministers are keen to resist the insurance industry’s calls for any form of subsidy to cover their own exposure.

A Defra spokeswoman said: “Taxpayers’ money is best spent on long term solutions that prevent flooding in the first place rather than on subsidising insurance.

“We are spending more than £2.1bn on flood risk management, and are on course to exceed our goal to better protect 145,000 homes by March 2015.”

One option being explored is the idea of “pooling” flood risk to control rocketing premiums.

Aidan Kerr, head of property at the Association of British Insurers, said: “Insurers are determined to do everything possible to ensure that a competitive market for flood insurance exists when the Statement of Principles expires in June 2013.

“This is why the ABI is continuing in constructive discussions with the Government to explore ways in which this may be possible.”

Graham Stuart, a senior Tory backbencher whose Beverley and Holderness constituency saw widespread flooding five years ago, said he was “confident” a deal will be reached.

“Anyone who witnessed the devastation of 2007 knows how important this is,” he said. “I know the Government is working hard and I expect an announcement to be forthcoming.”