The effects of Storm Bert

Our teams are continuing to lead the clean-up efforts after the storm, and we need your help.

West Midlands

Fallen trees were reported on the Market Harborough Arm, at Bugbrooke on the Grand Union Canal and quite a few other locations.

At Stoke Bruerne, as rain continued into the evening, there were fears that the canal might overtop the towpath. The on-call team arrived onsite at 9 pm and, over the next five hours, carefully managed the water levels. The on-call supervisor and regional operations manager stayed until nearly 2 am to get the water levels back under control again.

South

On the southern end of the Grand Union, choppy waters and exceptionally strong winds cast boats adrift. Our regional on-call team rescued them. More trees were blown down – notably at Lower Heyford on the South Oxford Canal. Many locks had water flowing around and over them, and there was flooding at Banbury.

North West

In the North West, the main area of concern was at Northwich, where, in the early evening of Sunday, the Environment Agency deployed additional flood defences. Multi-agency meetings followed, at which we were able to confirm that all of our available assets were set to convey as much water as possible away from the at-risk areas.

Wales & South West

Despite our teams working day and night, there was overtopping on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal in multiple places. And over on the Kennet & Avon Canal, it was much the same. Most locks to the east of Great Bedwyn had water going over or around them – in a lot of cases, both.

The Llangollen Canal rose three inches when the historic culverts – not designed to cope with such extreme weather caused by climate change – failed, flooding a nearby hotel car park. Elsewhere, the River Severn in Worcester rose over three metres in 24 hours, the most significant one-day increase in recent years. Trees suffered as well, blowing over and blocking navigation.

Yorkshire & North East

At the opposite end of the country, overtopping was an issue on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. The local on-call team spent their Saturday evening managing water levels.

As waters rose throughout the evening in Doncaster and on the South Sheffield & Yorkshire Navigations, they shut the Don Doors floodgates. The next day, water needed to be drained from the rising Stainforth & Keadby Canal into the River Trent.

Responding to emergencies

Our teams have been responding to the damage caused by Storm Bert, working tirelessly through the night to manage water levels across the country. It’s a relentless task to manage the impacts of the devastating storm, and as a charity, we need your support.

How you can help

Unfortunately, storms like these aren’t uncommon. Our teams work tirelessly to keep everybody safe. Mitigating damage and keeping our towpaths and network safe and accessible is a costly job. As a charity, we urgently need your donations to ensure the nation’s canals survive and prosper.