Ministers were warned months ago that the country faced heavy flooding this summer but too little was done to protect vulnerable towns and villages, The Observer can reveal.As communities mopped up after the heavy flash flooding across the country and with the prospect of more to come, Gordon Brown yesterday promised local authorities that they would be given 100 per cent compensation for the costs of dealing with the rainfall.
But experts were asking why more was not done to shore up flood defences. Earlier this year, the Met Office and risk planners in Whitehall told ministers that because of the El Nino effect, which changes global weather patterns, this summer would have much wetter weather than usual.
However, at the same time, the government was planning to cut jobs at the Environment Agency, which deals with the defences. Water companies had also been prevented from building larger storm water drains and sewage systems because of the risk of rising water bills.
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