Flood projects to benefit from £1.4bn funding

The government says it will spend millions of pounds on more than 60 projects in East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire to protect homes and businesses from flooding.

The schemes include one stretching from Saltfleet to Gibraltar Point in Lincolnshire, which will get more than £11m, and the Winestead Drain Pumping Station, near Patrington in East Yorkshire, which will receive £4.9m.

They are among 600 projects in England receiving a share of £1.4bn to "help protect tens of thousands of homes and businesses", Floods Minister Emma Hardy said.

They include new flood defences as well as upgrades to existing ones, with the aim of slowing the flow of water before it reaches communities.

The Environment Agency said it was "part of the largest flood programme in England's history", coming as part of the £10.5bn investment promised for the period of 2024 to 2036.

Other major investments include £7.3m for a scheme on the Dutch River (left bank) from Went Outfall to the River Ouse confluence, part of the Humber 2100+ tidal flood risk programme.

Hardy said: "Flooding can turn lives upside down in a matter of hours, destroying homes, shutting down businesses and leaving communities facing months of heartbreak and recovery.

"This investment will help protect tens of thousands of homes and businesses across the country and strengthen the defences families rely on when the worst happens."

The Environment Agency will deliver the programme working with councils and other authorities.

The funding comes after the UK experienced prolonged dry conditions and droughts in 2025 followed by heavy rainfall and flooding at the start of 2026.

Caroline Douglass, executive director for flood and coastal risk management at the Environment Agency, said the funding would allow them to "continue the work needed to protect communities from flooding".

"From major flood barriers and strengthened embankments to natural flood management and coastal defence projects, we're combining engineering and nature-based solutions to reduce flood risk and build long-term resilience for communities across the country."

Ministers said every £1 invested in flood defences would prevent around £8 in economic damage, and expected the latest funding to stop more than £10bn in losses.

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