Our Community Resilience Officer Lucy Eccles writes:
This week, 12th - 18th October 2026, isFlood Action Week , and we’re inviting you to join us in raising awareness and supporting communities at risk from flooding. Flood Action Week is an annual campaign to raise public awareness of flood risks and the actions people can take to prepare for flooding and protect themselves and their property.
Flood Action Week is run by the Environment Agency , and brings together key national partners, agencies and communities to improve public preparedness ahead of the winter flood season.
Britain's weather is changing. The UK was built for a climate that's now changing rapidly and we're already feeling it: hotter summers, heavier downpours, drought, flooding, and growing pressure on our water supplies and natural environment. Summer 2026 has been marked as the hottest on record. This summer’s drought might feel reassuring, people may think it rules out the risk of flooding, but it doesn't, that's exactly why we can't afford to be complacent.
Right now, 6.3 million properties in England are in areas at risk of flooding, and nearly 11,000 properties in Gloucestershire face a 1% annual risk of river flooding (a 1 in 100-year event). Between April 2025 and March 2026 alone, the EA issued over 3,400 flood alerts, around 1,000 flood warnings, and 3 severe flood warnings. Yet most people don't see the danger on their doorstep. Polling shows almost 50% of the public have not looked up the flood risk for their home . That's a big gap between risk and readiness.
Everyone deserves to know their risk, and what to do about it.
What are we doing in Gloucestershire?
Volunteer Flood Warden Schemes
GRCC coordinates the volunteer flood warden schemes in Gloucestershire , where there are currently over 100 flood wardens. Volunteer flood wardens are key community assets, helping to raise awareness of flood preparedness action, monitor local flood risk, and report concerns to appropriate agencies. If you would like to know more about the volunteer flood warden schemes, or are interested in volunteering, get in touch with us today.
Case study: The Churn Natural Flood Management Project
As well as volunteer flood wardens, GRCC have recently been involved in a project that aims to promote an exciting Natural Flood Management scheme along the River Churn near Cirencester. Natural Flood Management (NFM) is a key way of managing flood risk, and GRCC is helping to engage communities along the River Churn to understand NFM and get involved.
On Saturday 26th September, GRCC hosted our first ‘Explore Your River Day’, alongside the Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (South West) , as part of the Churn NFM Community Engagement. We had a brilliant day bringing volunteers together to explore the River Churn and carrying out river naturalness surveys whilst learning more about the Natural Flood Management happening in the upper catchment of the River Churn upstream of Cirencester.
One volunteer said: "The river surveys on such a super early autumn morning were a real treat. It was a really enjoyable and worthwhile experience - so thank you both very much."
We are looking forward to running more events like this! For more information, please contact cdt@grcc.org.uk or call the GRCC office.
