How do I prepare for rapid thaw or flooding? Environment Agency issues advice around flooding as snow set to thaw in Yorkshire this weekend

The Met Office has issued another weather warning for snow and ice this weekend, which is set to thaw next week. Over the next few days in Yorkshire there will be sunny intervals during the day with maximum temperatures of 6C and overnight these temperatures may drop as low as -6C.

According to the Met Office, Saturday (March 11) will be very cold with a sunny start to the day. It will stay dry while high clouds will arrive and any patchy freezing fog clears and rain will move through overnight, with potential sleet preceding the rain, or snow in the evening.

The Met Office explains what the outlook for Sunday, March 12 to Tuesday, March 14 is: “Dry with bright spells Sunday before milder conditions with spells of rain arrives later and persists into Monday. Monday night rain, sleet or snow clears, with wintry showers for Tuesday.”

With the deep snow set to thaw over the next week, flooding may occur in the region and as a precaution it’s always advisable to prepare for these conditions. There are a number of things to do to help significantly reduce the potential dangers of flooding.

A spokesperson for the EA said: “Given the amounts of snow that has fallen over the last few days, our teams will actively monitor river levels in Yorkshire’s upper river catchments over the coming days. We may need to issue some flood alerts, however, the current flood risk is low with no flood warnings or alerts in place for the county.

“We would encourage people to visit Gov.uk to understand the ways in which they can prepare for any possible future flooding.”

You sign up for flood warnings, so that you can keep up to date with any future risks in many flood risk areas.

According to the government website, these are the ways you can protect yourself from future flooding:

- Use a template to make a personal flood plan, community or group flood plan or a business flood plan.

- You can get advice from the National Flood Forum about how to protect your property and how much this will cost.

- You can find flood protection products and services at Blue Pages.

You may need permission to do work that will affect the flow of a river or divert flood water.

If you own a riverside property next to a watercourse, for example a river, culvert, brook or mill stream, you must maintain the riverbeds and banks and not obstruct the water flow.

If your property’s next to a canal, you will need to contact the Canal and River Trust to check who is responsible for maintaining the canal.

There are three flood warnings that are issued by the EA: flood alert, flood warning and severe flood warning.

Flood alert - Prepare

- You will need to prepare a bag that includes medicines and insurance documents

- Check flood warnings

Flood warning - Act

- Turn off gas, water and electricity

- Move things upstairs or to safety

- Move family, pets and car to safety

Severe flood warning - Survive

- Call 999 if in immediate danger

- Follow advice from emergency services

- Keep yourself and your family safe