FLOODING experts have called Evesham a live hot spot following recent downpours.

At a briefing in Whitehall, experts from several government agencies addressed the ongoing flooding in the north of England.

Will Lang, Head of Civil Contingencies at the Met Office said: "It has been a very wet autumn in many parts and I think what we have seen over the last weeks is the culmination of this."

"Some places are close to having their wettest autumn on record and we have two more weeks of November to go."

Mr Lang added the forecast is hopeful for the affected areas, with upcoming rain "not expected to be heavy or persistent" in the flooded parts of the country.

John Curtin, executive director of flood and coastal risk management at the Environment Agency, said the flooding "live hot spot" as of Friday was Evesham in Worcestershire.

He said: "The rain last night went through some of the smaller villages in Warwickshire and the rain is moving down towards Evesham as we speak."

River Avon at Evesham is currently at four metres, but is starting to recede after between 25 and 30 properties were flooded.

A spokesman from Greenway Landscape Architects, Worcester said: "The real problem with flooding is the lack of a strategic overview whereby all development incorporates sufficient flood detention to avoid excessive run-off. Whilst sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) are now a requirement of planning the adoption of source control measures (e.g flood detention areas, swales, pond & lakes etc) is not designed for the whole of River catchments and this exacerbates flooding lower downstream."

"The government has been too slow to react to the increase in precipitation (i.e. rain, show, hail etc) events that saturate the ground and then leads to increased run off. Building houses on land prone to flood is just idiotic, and a wholesale review of flood capacity needs to be undertaken with large anti flood infrastructure and bypass channels considered to alleviate the misery being inflicted on citizens by the lack of investment over decades.

"Dredging isn't necessarily the answer but clearing ditches, reinstating those lost and associated wetland might be a way forward in reducing the impacts and hold water in areas with low populations. Whilst this is happening to some extent it isn't nearly widespread enough and it needs co-coordinating on a catchment scale to be of any lasting benefit."