Environment Secretary Owen Paterson has announced that an extra £100,000 in government funding will be allocated to pumping operations on the Somerset Levels each week to clear flood-hit areas.

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According to the Environment Agency, up to 2.9 million tonnes of water are being pumped off the Levels every day – the equivalent of three Wembley Stadiums.

However, life remains difficult for those hit by flooding in the South West. Thieves have reportedly taken advantage of the disruption this week; around 600 gallons of domestic heating oil was reported stolen from a farm in the village of Moorland and Somerset and Avon police warned that there have been rumours of potential looters roaming the area.

On Monday, speaking in Parliament for the first time since flooding in the South West and the government's handling of the situation became major political issues, Mr Paterson faced questioning from MPs on his chosen course of action for the Somerset Levels. Confronted with questions from the opposition benches as to why the Levels had flooded when lowlands in Gwent, geographically similar and faced with the same weather conditions, had not, the Environment Secretary responded that he is no expert on Gwent's landscape.

Newport West MP Paul Flynn suggested that the reason for flooding lies in differences in land use along the flood plain in the two areas. Whilst in Wales the flood plain remains largely forested, in Somerset he said woods had been denuded, drastically affecting the area's ability to hold back and deal with inundations of water. However, although he refused to comment on the specifics, Mr Paterson did reiterate in part an earlier pledge to look into holding water on higher ground.  

Although the Defra Secretary had initially said, "Dredging is often not the best long term or economic solution and increased dredging of rivers on the Somerset Levels would not have prevented the recent widespread flooding," during his visit to Somerset on Monday 27th January, he appeared to go back on this statement later in the week, when he acquiesced to calls to dredge rivers on the Levels.

The Environment Agency and other green groups have warned that dredging would be an inappropriate course of action, which would disrupt wildlife and incur massive costs, whilst having little effect on the Levels and potentially leading to worse flooding elsewhere.   

Peter Smith, Chief Executive of the Wildwood Trust in Kent is inclined to agree. He said, "Along the Rhine in the Netherlands and Germany they have already addressed this issue by re-creating wetlands, while at the same time providing safety for homes and communities. It took the death of school children in a catastrophic flood event to shock the Dutch authorities to really tackle flooding on the Rhine; one of their answers was to stop farming on flood plain and to create a giant natural wetland, managed by wild horses, to prevent this tragedy from happening again."

Both the Defra Secretary and Environment Agency chair Lord Smith have said they recognise the benefits of attempts to hold more water in uplands regions.

Smith continued, "With no wetlands, trees or undeveloped flood plains to stop this water, it rushes off fields into drainage systems, maintained at the taxpayers' expense, and is funnelled into rivers where it creates the devastating problems witnessed this winter."

Although the South coast was hit by tidal flooding on Monday, none of the three Severe Flood Warnings put in place by the Environment Agency over the weekend remain in force. The Environment Agency warned at the beginning of the week that further heavy rain and high waves, winds and tides could lead to more flooding throughout Southern England and areas of the Midlands this week.

There is still a danger of flooding around the Rivers Severn and Thames.  

A Spokesperson for the Agency said on Monday, "Since early December, the country has faced an extraordinary period of weather and flooding. However, flood schemes have defended more than 1.1 million homes and businesses, and protected nearly 2,500 square kilometres of farmland across England."