Flooded and cut-off - the rural rain battle in Stratford district
IF you live in a rural community in south Warwickshire, the chances are that flooding is becoming a concerning issue.
The deluge of rain last month, reported to be one of the wettest September’s on record, may not have produced the wide-scale floods we have seen in recent years, but it was enough to leave rural roads cut off, fields covered in water and some drains unable to cope.
Climate change is impacting lives and businesses with wetter winters now the norm – and it’s only going to get worse if the predictions by experts come true.
Met Office data for the CV37 postcode shows that on the wettest winter day of the 30 years from 1991 to 2019, 33mm of rain fell in the area.
This will increase as global warming continues. With a 2C rise in global temperatures, about 37mm would fall on the wettest day of winter. And a 4C rise, could see that increase to about 49mm – 48 per cent more than now.
The Met Office adds that with warmer winters, the heaviest rains are likely to get more intense.
“If global average temperatures rise by 4C above pre-industrial levels, half the country could expect at least 20 per cent more rainfall on the wettest winter days,” it warns.
That rainfall may not be restricted to winter. The current wettest day on record was 3rd October 2020, when enough rain fell across all four UK nations to fill Loch Ness.
The impact is already being felt in rural Warwickshire.
Cherington resident Barbara Babbage and her husband moved to the idyllic Cotswold village to set up their dream home, but heavy rains cause sewage pipes to overflow – a problem ongoing since April last year..
Barbara told the Herald: “We have had two tankers continuously here since the [recent] rain, emptying the actuation tanks in the road as the sewage works were full and pumping into the River Stour and just column’t catch up.
“[The pumping station] is at 80 per cent capacity without run-off water, so any rain means raw sewage bubbling out of manhole covers in Main Street and running into the river.
“I have a meeting planned with our MP so she can understand what is happening as this has been getting worse every time it rains in the last four years I have lived here.”
In Brailes some of the roads were under water following September’s heavy rains. It can leave villagers isolated, concerned to step into – or drive through – the flood water.
Amanda Wasdell, clerk to Brailes Parish Council, said: “Henbrook Road was flooded and a couple of houses were breached but in comparison to the floods of 2007 we got off lightly this time.
“When it does flood we do feel isolated because people can’t go to Shipston or Banbury to do their business. A lot of people are scared because they just don’t know how deep a puddle, is so they stay at home.
“Then there’s the issue of medical emergencies and you get concerned about these happening when the roads are flooded. It disrupts local businesses like the butchers, hairdressers shops. It’s almost like snow. When our main road – the B4035 floods – we get cut off and can’t go anywhere.”
Ken Taylor, of Brailes Flood Group, added: “We do regularly monitor the weather forecast and we prepare up to 20 hours in advance.
“We did have heavy flooding in 2007 and 2018 but defences are now in place outside the village and have helped advert more serious flooding.”
Henley, which can be overwhelmed at either end of the High Street, was not impacted last month but parish clerk Ray Evans said: “We are always holding our breath in Henley during periods of heavy rain, but to date nothing catastrophic has happened this time, I am relieved to say.”
Farming has not escaped the floods and changing weather conditions.
NFU Warwickshire county adviser Nick Watts told the Herald: “We saw horrendous weather at the end of last year, winter storms and there has been very little let-up since. Despite these awful ground conditions Warwickshire farmers have worked hard to protect their soil, fields and crops but the prospect of another wet autumn, which has arrived three weeks earlier than usual, means many are battling difficult conditions again and almost back to square one.
“There are some real challenges for our county farms at the moment and the NFU is making the case strongly to see the right policy and support in place for our family farms.
“We have also just seen the end of party conference season where we made strong representations and with the autumn budget due to be announced on 30th October we need clear commitments on the agriculture budget from the government.
“We also urgently need movement on the Farming Recovery Fund to help those farming businesses recover from the devastating impacts of the flooding and saturated ground.”
Stratford farmer Mark Meadows, Warwickshire NFU chair, added: “This latest heavy rain adds to what has already been a very challenging growing season with huge variations in yield and quality for our farms.
“Farmer confidence is low and there is a real moment of peril for those impacted by the wet weather last autumn, those who haven’t received any funding from the Farming Recovery Fund, and we are now running into another incredibly wet autumn that is going to threaten profitability for next year again. So it is a worrying time.
“Some farmers have not completed their harvest, there are still winter crops to be brought in and there will be challenges ahead in terms of planting and getting machinery out on the fields.
“Despite this, we will continue to get on with our jobs of producing food for people’s tables and the NFU is pushing the government to deliver robust policies to support our farms.”
Warwickshire has a variety of farming sectors including combinable crops, arable, livestock, horticulture and potatoes with more than 4,800 people working on farms across the county.
These farms – there are 1,700 covering 144,400 hectares in Warwickshire – are worth around £190 million to the regional economy, not including the contribution made by those working in allied industries and the wider food and drink sector.
As well as managing farmed land, the farmers manage almost 6,500 hectares of woodland and help to maintain 1,750 miles of public rights of way.
Stephen Norrie of Stratford Climate Action, said better local flood management would benefit farmers – as well as residents.
“Climate change is one of the major issues causing flooding in our rural areas,” he said. “As temperatures increase, Met Office forecasts are that we will see more rain overall in winter months and also fiercer downpours which are more likely to overflow river banks and flood defences.
“We understand this is leading to problems for farmers growing their crops, as well as for grassroots sports clubs which are having to continually cancel or rearrange events.
“There are other factors that have contributed to the issue, at least in some areas, such as farming practices like straightening rivers. This issue is only going to get worse as the planet continues to get hotter, but we could attenuate it with better planning for local flood management, including upstream river restoration, swales and natural floodplain restoration, and more tree planting.”
Work, of course, is taking place to try to alleviate the impact of flooding but it’s a problem that’s only going to get deeper.
According to the Environment Agency – in its Rural Flood Resilience Partnership 2024-26 plan published on 23rd September – climate change means people, places and nature will be faced with more frequent storms, rain and flooding.
A spokesperson for the agency said: “Climate change is leading to more extreme weather and increased flooding in the UK.
“Staff from the West Midlands Environment Agency Area worked a shift system monitoring the rainfall and issuing flood warnings in response to the recent wet weather in late September.
“We’re working to better protect communities from this risk, with climate change projection built into the design of flood defences to ensure they are fit for the future.
“Within Warwickshire, from 2021 to 2026-27, we have planned a six-year programme in which £16 million will be invested in order to better protect 550 properties.
“Across the West Midlands area as a whole the programme is worth £360 million (2021-27) to better protect around 11,500 properties.
“There’s a serious public safety angle to the floods which is affecting rural communities in a potentially dangerous way and it’s the uncontrollable dispersal of sewage right next to peoples’ homes.”
Warwickshire County Council (WCC) monitors the risk to communities on a regular basis at this time of year and into the spring.
A spokesperson said: “Like other areas, Warwickshire is seeing an increase in the number of heavy rainfall events falling in a short period of time, which causes more frequent and widespread flooding. This includes water flooding out of rivers but also surface water flooding. Heavy rainfall can overwhelm drainage systems and can be a particular problem in both rural areas and heavily concreted urban areas.
“WCC is responsible for the maintenance of over 110,000 drains or gullies and these are cleaned and emptied on a regular basis depending on their risk of becoming blocked.
“All drains are cleaned every two years as a minimum.
“Those sites which are more problematic are identified by area surveyors, along with information provided by the council’s flood risk management team and these are emptied more regularly.”
Some communities are taking action themselves.
There have been valiant efforts to stem the tide in Shipston where a concerted effort to get to grips with defences around the town has reduced the risk of flooding, which was on an unprecedented scale ten years ago.
The town’s flood action group has studied the problem of flooding for years and instigated hundreds of significant measures to avert the threat. From clearing blocked drains and planting shrubs and trees as natural barriers, to diverting water courses away from residential and shopping areas and slowing the flow of river water heading towards town, there has been a lot of work.
Cllr John Dinnie, the mayor of Shipston, said that in September no properties were flooded, which was thanks to the more than 800 measures built and installed by Shipston Area Flood Action Group volunteers and contractors over several years.
“This group continues to maintain these measures over the entire Upper Stour catchment area. There is room for more to slow the flow and hold rain where it falls. We look forward to WCC being able to secure more funding for this activity.”
He added: “Perversely, the one flooding incident we did have [in September] was near the top of Hanson Hill on a new-build development where the surface water run-off overwhelmed the drainage system.
“We look forward to the developers’ solution to this issue due for installation. Work begins on the 14th October, sadly a little later than the rain this year.”
The Shipston example shows that developers, just like communities, will have their part to play as the environment changes and the rain falls.
