The river adjacent to our development broke its banks, overflowed the flood alleviation area and flooded the houses on our small development to depth a two fee or so.’

‘This is the second time we have been flooded. We are looking into household and area flood defences. I have bought heavy weight trestles for large and heavier furniture and I would empty and lift all the contents of the cupboards – saves cleaning time!’

‘It took us seven months to get back straight - with better advice, a bit more planning and project management on our part I reckon we could have knocked at a month off that.’

‘Our community is working together now – still not sure if we are doing the right thing but progress seems to be being made with proposed flood defences for the area.’

We live in rural Cumbria, near Carlisle in Crosby on Eden, a village of about 100 houses, and were affected in the 2005 floods. The village school, pub and restaurant along with a third of houses were flooded. The main concentration of assistance...

If your home is at risk of groundwater flooding, you will usually get some notice of the rising levels. For instance, a cellar floor might start to have damp patches which gradually join together and then become puddles which coalesce into a...

If you are unlucky enough to have been unaware that you purchased a property on a flood plain I can offer you a bit of advice, move. If you are unable to do, so then I recommend forming a local community pressure group to ensure the risk of...