At risk Lancashire mobile users get early flood warnings

Free flood warnings will now be sent to EE mobile phone customers in at risk areas of Cumbria and Lancashire, thanks to a new partnership between the Environment Agency and the digital communications company.

By The Newsroom

Published 15th Jul 2015, 10:08 BST- 1 min read

The scheme, which launched this week, will send messages from the Environment Agency’s Floodline Warnings Direct service, giving people more time to prepare.

Although the Floodline Warnings Direct service has been used to send warnings to 600,000 homes and business landline numbers since 2010, this is the first time flood warnings will be issued directly through a mobile phone provider.

Jason Rees, EE’s director of New Business, said: “This new service clearly demonstrates the positive contribution that mobile technology makes to our everyday lives. The Floodline Warnings Direct service offers our customers a free and essential service.”

Craig Woolhouse, flood risk manager at the Environment Agency, said: “We want to ensure that everyone has as much time as possible to prepare for flooding and by working with EE we’re now able to warn even more people about the risks. Flood warnings save lives and this ground-breaking initiative is another way of raising awareness of flood risk.”