The government has unveiled sweeping reforms which will see deprived communities across the country benefit from new flood defences with a record £10.5 billion investment to defend nearly 900,000 properties in England, with new rules to get defences built more quickly.

The Environment Agency and a wide range of partners have completed the Outstrays Managed Realignment Scheme, creating 250ha of intertidal habitat by embankment realignment at a total cost of £56.3 million.

Environment Agency Chair Alan Lovell will today stress the importance of building and maintaining strong defences to reduce the risk of flooding in a speech to leaders in flood risk management.

A comprehensive flooding contingency plan has been launched for Northwich, led by Cheshire West and Chester Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority working in partnership with the Environment Agency and United Utilities.

A new report by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has found that a £2.6 billion, six-year programme of work dedicated to improving flood and coastal defences has exceeded its original targets by 14,000 – with over 314,000 homes now better protected from flooding since 2015.

The National infrastructure Commission is warning that climate change will continue to increase the risk of flooding and pressure on flood risk management and drainage infrastructure - highlighted by recent surface water flooding events over the summer.

The Environment Agency has completed work on the Leominster flood risk management scheme which will help to protect hundreds of homes from the devastating impact of flooding.

The Environment Agency (EA) is getting ready to go out to tender with a contract to strengthen the resilience of its incident support role across England.

The Environment Agency is seeking ways to better protect up to 3,000 homes and over 1,000 businesses along the length of the River Severn - investigations have started into options to improve flood and drought resilience in the Severn Valley.

The Environment Agency has published the key findings of its monitoring review of the Thames Estuary 2100 plan which flag up the growing prospects of flood risk and the need to strengthen flood defences, including the Thames Barrier.