Flooding affects canal network

Flooding affects canal and river network

Hi Charles,

It’s been a devastating week for boaters, and the network, as downpour after downpour has fallen on already saturated ground. Hundreds of flood warnings have been issued, with around 150 still in place, by the Environment Agency. If there is flooding where you are then please only move your boat when it is safe to do so.

Storm Gerrit lashed the country after Christmas with gale force winds and torrential rains.  Within a week, on 2 January, Storm Henk did the same only this time there was far heavier, and persistent, rain.

As well as this massive influx of water, the strong winds have brought down many trees, along with damage to waterway infrastructure across the country – there’ll be a comprehensive round up of the damage so far discovered in this Friday’s Boaters’ Update.

As you’d expect, it’ll be some time before we know the full extent of the damage and, in the meantime, we ask for your patience. It’d also be helpful if you report any damage you see via our web contact form (scroll to bottom of page).

It’s too early to say if, or how, this will affect our winter stoppage programme but, as always, you’ll find the latest stoppage notices here.

There are challenging days and weeks ahead. Your support, and patience, is vital as we work to repair the damage and return normal, safe, navigation to affected waterways as soon as possible. If you’re able to, we’d appreciate your support for this work by donatingor joining our team as a volunteer.

Stay safe,
Matthew Symonds
Head of Customer Service Support
[email protected]