New flood defences will be built across the UK using funds from an increase in insurance premium tax, chancellor George Osborne has announced.
Noting that the UK is facing "increasing extreme weather events", Mr Osborne said the kind of extra defences the government wants to build would not be affordable within existing budgets, but a half percentage point rise in the tax will raise £700 million.
He added that while the environment secretary and the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster would decide where much of the money is spent in the longer term, the cash can be used immediately for a number of proposed schemes.
These will start promptly in York, Leeds, the Calder Valley, Carlisle and across the county of Cumbria.
Hundreds of jobs will be created by the measures, which could include higher flood barriers, channels and reservoirs to divert water, plus the planting of more trees near flood-prone rivers to soak up water and reduce soil erosion.
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