More misery for farmers as UK hit by further flooding

Severe rainfall on Christmas Day and throughout the night into Boxing Day has left farmland in Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria under water.

Severe flood warnings were issued earlier on Saturday (26 December) following “further rain on already saturated ground in Lancashire,” Liz Truss, the secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs, said in a statement.

Ms Truss, who chaired an emergency Cobra meeting this morning to assess the impact of the rainfall, said there are “ongoing concerns around possible impacts in Yorkshire which we are monitoring closely.”

“This is a very fast moving situation and we have been deploying critical response teams and personnel overnight to where they are most needed,” she said.

See also: Video: Flooded Cumbrian farmer hits out at Environment Agency

So far more than 300 flood alerts are in place across the country with 20 of them rated severe.

The situation is so severe in Cumbria that the army has been deployed to help with flood relief.

And in Yorkshire the Environment Agency (EA) warned people to brace themselves for further flooding on Sunday (27 December) as heavy rain is forecast in Calderdale, Airedale (from Skipton to Leeds) and North Yorkshire including York, Pateley Bridge and Catterick.

Alison Baptiste, flood duty manager at the EA, said: “Our thoughts are with all those who’ve been coping with serious flooding to their homes and businesses repeatedly over Christmas and those who face the risk of further flooding.

“On Boxing Day we have issued several severe flood warnings meaning a risk to life, we urge people to check their flood risk, prepare for flooding, follow advice from emergency services and never to risk driving through flood water.

“EA staff have been working around the clock throughout Christmas with our emergency response partners and the help of the military in Lancashire, Cumbria and Yorkshire to help reduce the potential impacts of flooding and support those communities affected.”

Matthew Scott, chief claims manager at rural insurer NFU Mutual, said: “Based on what we are hearing from our network of offices across the UK, the flooding across many parts of northern England and north-west Wales could be the worst for several years.

“As a result of this, we have activated our emergency plan and our staff and agents are working hard over the Christmas period to support their local communities.

“Having a local presence means we’ve been able to react quickly and provide immediate assistance to families and businesses in all of the areas worst affected by Storm Eva. “This is a particularly cruel weekend for anyone to be affected by a flood and our first priority is to help get our policyholders and their families back into their homes and workplaces as quickly as possible.

“We have teams of loss adjusters ready to assess the damage and arrange repairs as soon as the floodwaters have subsided.”

A statement on the EA’s website issued on Saturday (26 December) reminded farmers that grants of up to £20,000 to help restore agricultural land are available for those affected.

An application form for funding was published on the government’s main website on 18 December following earlier flooding. 

Farmers unable to access the form online were urged to call the Rural Payments helpline 03000 200 301.

Forage Aid, a charity supporting farmers whose livestock has been affected by extreme weather, by providing forage/bedding to those in need, said its helpline would be running throughout the Christmas period.

The organisation urged farmers in need to contact it on 07967 219 991 and said that anyone wishing to donate to the charity could do so via Forage Aid’s website.

Social media has been inundated with pictures of the devastation across Lancashire, Yorkshire and Cumbria.