Winter has firmly gripped the United Kingdom, with snow and strong winds hitting much of the country this week.
Due to a combination of spring tides and strong winds, there is an increased risk of flooding. 63 flood alerts, 89 flood warnings and 14 severe flood warnings are currently in place across England and Wales as well as 2 flood alerts and 1 flood warning in Scotland.
Severe flood warnings are the highest possible warning level, indicating possible danger to life. As a result, evacuations are under way in parts of England and the Army is on standby.
Stay up to date with flood alerts and warnings
In order to be prepared for flooding, we recommend keeping up to date with flood alerts and warnings currently in place. Alerts for England and Wales can be found here, while alerts for Scotland can be found here.
Sign up for flood warnings by phone or text
The Environment Agency offers a free service allowing you to receive flood warnings by phone, email or text message. Sign up here. In Scotland, you can sign up for free warnings by text or phone via Floodline here.
Your first line of defence
As a first line of defence, we recommend Hydrosacks and Hydrosnakes. These revolutionary flood protection products function similarly to sandbags by keeping flood water from entering your home. But unlike sandbags, before use, they are lightweight, fold flat and can be stored in a space saving manner, ready to be deployed within minutes. This makes them handy to keep stored in the house until they are needed.
When a flood is expected, it only takes 2-3 minutes to inflate Hydrosacks and Hydrosnakes by placing them in water. Then place them at doors and other entrance points to your house and garage. You can also stack them and place them next to each other to create a higher and longer barrier.
Hydrosacks and Hydrosnakes allow water in but don’t allow any water out, creating a safe barrier. Each one can absorb between 15 and 20 litres of water. After use, contents can be deposited into soil as they are non-toxic and environmentally friendly.
You can also find a number of other flood defence products in our CSI Flood Products online shop and more tips and useful contact numbers can be found in our flood advice section.