More rain to hit flooded areas

Flooded areas of Cumbria and Scotland face further heavy rain this week, the Met Office said yesterday, the FT reports.

The heaviest of today's rain is due to fall again over Cumbria, Dumfries and Galloway and the Scottish Borders. Last night forecasters were predicting a further 50mm to 75mm of rain over 18 hours, with up to 100mm in the Cumbrian Fells, accompanied by high winds.

At 6.40am the Environment Agency had cut eh number of flood warnings to 17 and had no severe flood warnings.

What are the future needs?

Nick Herbert, the shadow environment secretary, questioned yesterday whether resources were being targeted correctly and called for a formal review of flood defences in the area, "not just to understand fully what happened but also in order to assess future needs''.

The Times said rebuilding bridges and repairing roads damaged by the floods will cost Cumbria County Council as much as £100m. The Government has pledged £2m so far to cope with the impact.

Jill Stannard, chief executive of Cumbria council, said that at least six bridges would need to be completely rebuilt, at a cost of £6m each.