BBC News, on Climate, 2 November 2026

3.0out of 10Minor

New support for people to protect flood-hit homes in Bradford on Avon

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New support for people to protect flood-hit homes Image source, Getty Images Image caption, The Environment Agency has funding in place to survey homes and make them "more resilient" to floods By Kirsten Robertson Wiltshire Published 8 hours ago New support is to be offered to help people protect their homes in a town repeatedly hit by flooding. The Environment Agency (EA) said surveys of homes in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, will begin in 2027, when the authority will assess what kind of support and how much funding is needed.

The EA said it had also identified potential funding routes for a new pedestrian bridge to be built as the current Town Bridge can become impassable during heavy flooding. A town council spokesperson said the update is "welcomed", adding: "Since the 2024 floods, we've been pushing for more support to help Bradford on Avon prepare for future flooding." They added that a new bridge "could help keep the town connected during periods of severe flooding, when the historic Town Bridge may be cut off".

More from Wiltshire Police hunt for three men after Halloween stabbing Published 7 hours ago Dog wedding chauffeurs and doggy roasts: The rise of the puppy experience economy Published 1 day ago In Pictures: Tiger cubs, AI bat hunt and pumpkins Published 1 day ago Initial EA surveys will assess how homes are exposed to flooding and what protections could be put in place, as part of a wider project known as Property Flood Resilience.

Image caption, MP Brian Mathew wants the EA to help businesses as well as homes MP for Melksham and Devizes, Brian Mathew, has urged the EA to consider introducing the same protections to local businesses as the homes will get. "I know how frustrating this situation is for residents and businesses who have repeatedly suffered from flooding," he said. "While there are no easy answers, that cannot be an excuse for inaction." Get in touch Tell us which stories we should cover in Wiltshire Contact form Contact form Follow BBC Wiltshire on Facebook , external , X , external and Instagram , external .

Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630 . Related topics Environment Agency Floods Bradford-on-Avon Flood defences More on this story Clean-up continues for areas hit by Storm Bert Published 26 November 2024 Flood-hit residents advised to 'use gaffer tape' Published 15 July 2025 Flood-hit town 'not being abandoned' after review Published 27 July 2025 Related internet links Property Flood Resilience (PFR) Flooding advice - Bradford on Avon Town Council

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What we found (1)

BBC News reports that the Environment Agency will survey flood-hit homes in Bradford on Avon from 2027 and has found possible funding for a new pedestrian bridge, with comment from the town council and the local MP. The article describes a town repeatedly and severely flooded, and asks how to prepare for future flooding. It never says that warming is making heavy rainfall and flooding like this more frequent or severe. That is a gap in an adaptation story rather than a false claim.

  1. Leaves out the climate link

    Minor

    “Bradford on Avon was severely flooded in January 2024 before being devastated by Storm Bert later that year.”

    Why this matters
    These words give the reason the town needs new protection: two severe floods in one year, one from Storm Bert. No sentence anywhere in the article links that repeated flooding to the warming climate.
    The impression it gives
    A reader takes the repeated floods as bad luck or local geography. They do not learn that flooding of this kind is becoming more likely, which is why homes and a new bridge are being planned for.
    The context
    Human-caused warming has made heavy rainfall more frequent and more severe. The article's own talk of preparing "for future flooding" rests on that, yet the words climate and warming appear nowhere in the piece. One short line would have done.

    How we know

    • On the recordThat warming has made hot extremes, heavy rainfall, agricultural and ecological drought, fire weather and intense tropical cyclones more frequent or more severe.ipcc.ch (opens in a new tab)
    • Elsewhere in the article“help Bradford on Avon prepare for future flooding”
    • Checked against the whole articleIt never uses the words “climate” and “warming”.

    Show it in the article

What it gets right

  • “The Environment Agency (EA) said surveys of homes in Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, will begin in 2027”

    The article attributes the plans and the timetable to the Environment Agency rather than stating them in its own voice.

  • “the current Town Bridge can become impassable during heavy flooding”

    It tells the reader plainly why the new bridge matters to people in the town.

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