After a winter of storms and a record-hot summer, the government is bringing together forecasters, flood officials, local authorities and industry representatives to prepare for the next test. Defra will hold the first meeting of its new extreme-weather taskforce on Wednesday, with the Met Office, the Environment Agency, mayoral authorities and representatives of the farming, water and insurance industries due to attend.
The immediate concern is flooding. The Environment Agency says approximately 6.3 million homes and businesses in England remain at risk. The government has created the taskforce to address extreme weather, including the prospect of flooding this winter.
Emma Hardy, the Defra Minister, said the government was taking decisive action on extreme weather, describing flood and drought as connected challenges. She said communities and businesses would be at the centre of the work.
The meeting is intended to examine how ready the UK is for wet, windy and stormy conditions in the months ahead. The government has also committed at least £10.5bn until 2036 for measures intended to protect homes, businesses and critical infrastructure from the growing flood threat.
The planning follows a sharp swing in conditions. Last winter brought four named storms to the UK: Bram, Goretti, Ingrid and Chandra. England received 42% more rainfall than its winter average during that period. The summer of 2026 then became the country's hottest on record.
Forecasters are now looking towards El Niño, the climate phenomenon that the Met Office says is likely to be the strongest in living memory. Its peak is not expected until the end of the year. The Met Office's seasonal outlook points to a greater likelihood of wetter than average weather during autumn, partly because of El Niño.
The Environment Agency has stopped short of predicting floods. It says, however, that repeated storms, extended rainfall and saturated catchments are all more likely than average this winter. What the taskforce decides at its first meeting, and how the funding will be allocated, remain to be seen.
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