Floods, fires and droughts to get more intense without urgent action
Climate bosses in Yorkshire have set out the work needed to make the region more resilient
Last updated 14th Nov 2022
Experts are warning the floods, droughts and moorland fires we've seen in Yorkshire will get more frequent and more intense, without urgent action on climate change.
This summer saw record temperatures across the region, with rivers and reservoirs running low. It led to Yorkshire Water announcing a hosepipe ban and the region officially entering drought status.
Yorkshire’s Climate Action Plan warns these types of weather events will only get worse – and sets out the work needed to make the region more resilient to climate change.
It includes natural flood management, using things like tree-planting to help protect communities.
Katie Kimber is from charity Slow the Flow which does natural flood management work in the Calder Valley. The area was badly hit by the Boxing Day floods in 2015 – and Katie wants other places to learn lessons from their experience.
“If we continue as we are and we do nothing, we will see the events of 2015
again most definitely.
“We’re seeing the extremes at the moment, we’ve had extreme heat, then we’re getting the extreme rain.
“Unless we start to do things to make ourselves climate resilient, we won’t be able to cope with it. We see the effects first-hand in the Calder Valley. We really have to be doing so much more than we’re doing now.”
Since 2015, a total of 23 groups have been set up in the area to help people deal with the mental impact of flooding.
“It’s tough for people that have experience it, because they know what’s coming if we have a really big event,” says Katie.
“When it rains heavy, people do panic. You need to be mentally resilient to deal with the effects of flooding.”