Britain Under Water

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This summer's floods devastated more than 40,000 homes in Yorkshire, Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire. Fourteen people died, thousands were evacuated, many were left without electricity and drinking water.

The floods caused more than £3 billion pounds of damage and resulted in the biggest emergency operation ever mounted in peacetime Britain. And only three weeks ago thousands were evacuated from their homes in Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft and elsewhere along the East Coast as authorities feared a massive storm surge in the North Sea would lead to devastation.

With experts predicting a future where much of the country is at increasing risk of flooding, Dispatches investigates what the authorities are doing to protect the public from such disasters in the future and questions whether adequate resources are being spent on flood defences.

Reporter Antony Barnett discovers increasing numbers of new homes being built on flood plains and mounting concerns about the vulnerability of Britain's dams and energy installations.

Dispatches reveals the towns in Britain most at risk of flooding and reveals how homeowners are all going to have to pay more to keep flood waters at bay.

The report also features computer modelling to simulate the catastrophic impact a dam collapse could have on one of Britain's major cities. Barnett travels across the country to revisit some of the thousands of forgotten victims from the summer floods who face a miserable Christmas living in caravans and other forms of temporary accommodation. Their old properties remain in a state of ruin - and residents fear their homes have become uninsurable and unsellable.

Dispatches Late Night & Live - The Flooding Debate

Tonight Mary Dhonau, seven time victim of flooding and coordinator of the National Flood Forum, will go head to head with Malcolm Tarling, of the Association of British insurers to discuss if the British insurance industry responded adequately to this summer's flooding crisis.

Join the debate from 10pm

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