The Environment Agency has expanded its flood warning service across Yorkshire to ensure more people than ever are warned about any imminent risk of flooding.

The new flood warnings cover 3,786 properties and will see a warning message issued when flooding is forecast and then again to warn users if impacts are likely.

Residents can register for the new service for free and choose to receive notifications via phone call or text.

The warnings tell people about the risk of flooding to their home or business and help people make informed decisions about how to respond. There are three types of warning – Flood Alert, Flood Warning and Severe Flood Warning.

Householders are encouraged to prepare if they receive a Flood Alert which could mean packing a bag that includes medicines, insurance documents and anything else they wouldn’t want to lose if flooding were to take place. A Flood Warning calls on people to act now which means turning off gas, water and electricity and moving family and pets to safety. A Severe Flood Warning means you are in immediate danger and should follow advice from the emergency services.

Many properties previously considered too remote, rural, or difficult to warn of flooding because of lack of power supply, are now able to take advantage of the service.

This significant improvement has been made possible using new technologies developed by the Environment Agency.

Graham Lindsey, flood resilience team leader at the Environment Agency said:

We know the devastating impact that flooding can have, which is why protecting people and communities is our top priority.

These warnings are there to help people prepare for, and become more resilient to, flooding incidents and this new service allows even more people to take appropriate action when flooding is forecast. We would encourage all of those in new flood warning areas to sign up now for free for both their safety and peace of mind.

In Yorkshire, the programme has also included the installation of 15 new river level gauges and two new rain gauges to ensure that decisions about when to issue a warning are made using real time data.

The new flood warning areas have been added as as part a result of modelling and new data which is part of the Environment Agency’s drive to continually improve the flood warning service.

There are over 1.6 million users registered to receive flood warnings at the touch of a button across the country. These flood warnings are generated from river level data which is collected via an extensive monitoring network across England. The data is combined with weather forecasts, river models and other information to produce location specific flood forecasts. Photo by Gordon Hatton, Wikimedia commons.