all along the servern towns and villages were cut off. 10,000 homes and businesses were inundated. have come a couple of miles down the river from upton to one of the many places that was flooded that day. this is the village of uckinghall and i remember coming to this house. it was flooded up to those first—floor windows and for a time you could only get into the village by boat. even though they were used to flooding, that day was exceptional. now it is protected by flood barriers, but ten years ago it was not. we got caught out, it was just too quick. it was an extreme event that had happened before, but not in our living memories. in upton upon severn temporary flood barriers were stuck elsewhere and its historic waterfront went under water. now the town has permanent defences. we are light years ahead from where we were in 2007 and it isn't just the flood defences, it is the way that we plan, the way that we work with the met office in terms of looking at the weather forecast well in advance, the way that we work with professional partners like the police and fire and local au

all along the servern towns and villages were cut off. 10,000 homes and businesses were inundated.as flooded that day. this is the village of uckinghall and i remember coming to this house. it was flooded up to those first—floor windows and for a time you could only get into the village by boat. even though they were used to flooding, that day was exceptional. now it is protected by flood barriers, but ten years ago it was not. we got caught out, it was just too quick. it was an extreme event that had happened before, but not in our living memories. in upton upon severn temporary flood barriers were stuck elsewhere and its historic waterfront went under water. now the town has permanent defences. we are light years ahead from where we were in 2007 and it isn't just the flood defences, it is the way that we plan, the way that we work with the met office in terms of looking at the weather forecast well in advance, the way that we work with professional partners like the police and fire and local authorities, and the way that we issue flood warnings. they have all come on so much sinc