Overview

• Storm Babet was inaccurately forecasted due to an unusual southerly direction of rain, leading to the deadliest storm in the UK since 2007 with seven reported deaths and hundreds displaced.
• Residents in Suffolk and Nottinghamshire claim they were unprepared for the severity of Storm Babet due to inaccurate forecasting which led to significant damage and displacement in these areas.
• The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Environment Agency (EA) are set to conduct a 'rapid review' to analyze their response to the storm and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Met Office services director, Simon Brown, acknowledged the difficulty in predicting the localised high-intensity rainfall in Suffolk and pledged to conduct a review of the agency's forecasts and warnings related to the storm.
• Continuous heavy rain and further flooding is expected in the wake of Storm Babet, leading to ongoing weather warnings and potential further disruption, particularly in areas already impacted by the storm.