Heavy rain and widespread flooding is expected to cause disruption on the roads and railways as millions return to work after the New Year.

More than 130 flood warnings are still in place and torrential rain is forecast to last through Thursday bringing the risk of further flooding.

Rail passengers in parts of southern Britain have been told they will face delays following a landslide caused by heavy rain.

And thousands of homeowners in flood-prone areas have been warned by the Environment Agency that flooding of some homes may be "virtually inevitable".

Is enough being done to warn people about the risk of flooding? What action should be taken by those who live in flood-prone areas?

You your questions to Ian Hope from the Environment Agency.

Transcript

Alex Kirby:
Hello and welcome to this BBC News Online Interactive forum with me, Alex Kirby. The threat of flooding is said to be heading towards a critical point after consistent heavy rainfall. There are about 130 flood warnings in place and the Environment Agency says flooding in many parts of the country will get worse over the next few days.

I'm joined from Exeter by the Environment Agency's head of flood defences, Ian Hope who is here to answer your questions. Ian welcome. I have to say I take a strong personal interest in this because I live in a town called Lewes which seems to be the flood capital of Britain - the River Ouse is very high there.

Can I ask you first of all a question that many people ask, is this a sign that climate change - global warning - is happening or isn't it?

Ian Hope:
I think in general that we could say yes. We've got some very accurate records now for the last century which indicate a rise in temperature - on average 0.6 of a degree centigrade and we are seeing linked with that increased intensity of rainfall, winter rainfall increasing and potentially drier, warmer summers. So we consider that this is the early indications of climate change and indeed the prognosis is certainly that things could get more serious over the next 50 to 80 years.

Alex Kirby:
David U, UK: I have been trying to access the Environment Agency website for the last 36 hours and cannot get onto it. Surely the Agency needs to set up a system that can respond to public demand precisely when it is required?

Ian Hope:
First and foremost we sincerely apologise for the problems that we've had with our website. It is down, as has been pointed out by out by a number of active listeners. We are struggling as quickly as we can to repair the website. We do sincerely apologise - it's one where we always analyse any issues that arise and make sure that they don't occur again and clearly once we have got the repairs in place we'll be analysing what went wrong to ensure that there's no repetition. But once again, I do apologise to your listener.

Alex Kirby:
Do you know when the site is likely to be working and in the meantime can you remind us of the number people should ring if they want information?

Ian Hope:
First of all I will remind you all of the number: 0845 988 1188. That's our flood line number which is readily accessible. At the moment unfortunately I don't have any date or time by when the repairs will be complete. We have got contractors in actively working at the moment and we hope it isn't going to be too long.

Alex Kirby:
Barrie Mason, Kent, UK: As a resident of East Peckham, I was quite disturbed to find that my whole street had flooded when I returned from work. No flood warnings had been given despite signing up to a system to warn people of such things. What is going on here?

Ian Hope:
During any event we accurately record all the occurrences and we analyse at the end of flooding events and any other event to determine if there is any way that we can improve our service and yes there were problems we've encountered in the past. In this particular instance I am not aware of the circumstances but once again I would encourage you listener to contact us on the above number.

We have been writing to all people in flood affected areas. We have an annual flood awareness campaign which happens in September and hopefully your listener will have received correspondence from us. But we encourage anybody that considers themselves at flood risk to get in touch with us.

What we can do for them is send them a pack of information which tells them how they can prepare for flooding, what to do in the event of flooding and how to recover from flooding because there are some very simple precautions that they should be taking because floodwater isn't just river water, it can be contaminated. There is a comprehensive set of booklets that we would send out to anybody that does consider that they're at risk from flooding.

To the questioner, I do apologise if we haven't contacted him to date but please I would encourage him and any other listener to contact us and we'll get a pack to them and we'd encourage them then to give us details so that we can put them on our flood warning system.

Alex Kirby:
Paul T, UK: My dad always tells me this flooding is down to the rivers and waterways not being dredged and having their weeds cut back like they used to-is he right?

Ian Hope:
There's a very complex background to the question that you ask and the short answer I would say, it won't be right. The situation is that each of our rivers is not just a main drainage channel, it also supports a rich flora and fauna and a rich diverse ecology. So first and foremost before we do any repair, maintenance or new works, we undertake environmental assessment to ensure that we are putting in place appropriate maintenance regimes and clearly what we will not be doing is allowing overgrowing trees and debris to block critical structures.

So in terms of maintenance we do invest something in the order of �110 million a year on maintenance of main rivers and clearly there are responsibilities riparian owners as well to make sure that they maintain their watercourses.

Alex Kirby:
Karen, England: Why despite the ongoing flooding problems do local councils continue to give planning permission for the building of new homes on areas liable to flood?

Ian Hope:
There's a huge background of planning permissions that have been granted where developments have occurred in the floodplain and clearly that's the one critical area that we are working with to make sure that those people have got proper flood warnings and flood precautions in place.

As far as new planning permissions are concerned, we work very closely with all the planning authorities to make sure that we are fully consulted at the planning stage for any proposed developments and there are very few now that are considered appropriate for development. If they are granted planning permission, we do have a right of redress through to the Minister of State - it's a very rare route that we would take - but we do have some legislative redress if we need to. What I can say is our consultation has been extremely successful over recent years such that there's very minimal development that has occurred in the flood plain.

Alex Kirby:
Would you like to see a complete ban on any building on flood plains? Do you think that would help?

Ian Hope:
We wouldn't want to see any further development in flood plains. But equally what we do want to do is to work very closely with developers and planning authorities to make sure that existing developments and brown field sites that are proposed for development do incorporate appropriate precautions - sustainable urban drainage, for example, as well - to make sure that they are sensitively developed. So we don't expect to see very much further development in the flood plain and that which is developed will be done with due regard to the advice that we give.

Alex Kirby:
Jason, UK: If people were smart enough to look at an OS map before they bought a house, the developers would have a harder time selling the houses that they build on flood plains. The first thing I checked when I was buying was whether it was on a decent-sized hill, and how far away the nearest watercourse was. How tricky is that?

Ian Hope:
We have maps available which indicate where all the flood plains are, so that information is readily available. It is accessible through our website - obviously when the website is up and running. You can also contact us through flood line to determine whether the postcode in which you are proposing to buy a property does reside in the flood plain and that there is also further information through searches that can be carried out by solicitors. So we would expect and we in fact field a significant number of responses now from solicitors for prospective purchasers of properties that could lie in the flood plain.

Alex Kirby:
Aren't you at the agency in something of a cleft stick? We expect the Environment Agency to do two things: first of all to warn us when a flood is likely and second to build defences to make sure that that flood is not going to affect us. Now you can do the warning although it seems, as you've said yourself, things have gone wrong at times. But when it comes to building defences, you're really like the little Dutch boy with your finger in the dyke aren't you? We cannot build enough defences to keep everyone and everywhere safe from the floods we should be expecting.

Ian Hope:
As you rightly observe, it is a predicament. Clearly first and foremost we do provide flood warning. We have got a significant number of flood defence schemes across the country but as you've indicated with your analogy of the little boy with his finger in the dyke, flood defence schemes can be overtopped. They are designed for a certain level of flood and we can never guarantee that that level of flood will not be exceeded and those defences overtopped. So even with properties that lie behind defences, we still provide the opportunity for flood warnings and indeed we have a flood warden system whereby there are local wardens in the locality that can contact people.

In addition to that and in a potential major emergency, what we also do is have what we call major incident plans . We work very closely with local authorities to make sure that if there were a very extreme flood that we have the means of evacuation if those defences were overtopped. So there is a very comprehensive contingency that's in place right across the country.

Alex Kirby:
Steve Fricker, UK: I am disgusted with the insurance companies who seem reticent to pay out when flood claims are made. They are all too quick to take people's money, but very shy in paying out! What is the Government doing about this?

Maybe you can't answer about what the Government is doing about it but do you think that Mr Fricker has got a point there?

Ian Hope:
Clearly there are very real issues for the insurance industry. What I can say is that there will be an additional �150 million invested in flood defences over the next three years and we do work very closely with the Association of British Insurers to ensure that their requirements are listened to. An indication I've just given you is in terms of construction of new defences.

What we're also doing is making sure that information is readily available to prospective purchasers. Also there is the commitment from the Association of British Insurers to remain in the flood plain but clearly it will be on a case-by-case basis. So where properties are defended clearly the level of risk is lower. But it is obviously a case-by-case basis for the individual to take up with their insurers.

Alex Kirby:
Just looking to the future, two years ago after the awful floods in 2000, people tended to think that that was going to be it for some time ahead and we shouldn't expect anything more. We've got pretty horrendous floods today, should we expect floods of this magnitude to occur increasingly often in the years ahead?

Ian Hope:
We've already touched on the issue of climate change and what we see is an increased frequency of flooding. The severity that we saw two years ago, there's no guarantee that that couldn't happen again this winter or even more severe flooding.

If you back in the last century we had very severe flooding in 1947, in 1953. We mustn't forget that flooding of flood plains is a natural process. What we've seen in the last few days isn't that severe - it is a natural process. It is regrettable for those people that are affected by flooding but as we've already discussed, the issue is that you've natural process of water being stored in flood plains during the winter period.

Alex Kirby:
I'm afraid that's all we have time for. Thank you to our guest Ian Hope and to you for your questions.