The Guardian view on Britain’s floods: the reality of climate change | Editorial
by Editorial from on (#WYXW)
If the government is serious about infrastructure, then flood defences should be a greater priority than HS2 or another airport runway
Winter freeze-ups and phew-what-a-scorcher summers may traditionally have made more dramatic headlines for newspapers, but in Britain the real threat from climate change today comes from flooding. The rains that hit north-west England and southern Scotland over the weekend were certainly exceptional. A record 341.4mm of rain fell at Honister in the Lake District. And the storms had devastating consequences. One man has died, 3,500 homes have been flooded, more than 2,000 of them in Carlisle, while road, rail and power links have all been cut. Yet this year's floods were hardly unusual.
Related: Storm Desmond: Cameron promises to review flood defence plans - live
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