New 'flood alert' app to be trialled in Aylesbury Vale and Bucks to help residents plan for flooding

The Groundwater Flood Alert App is one of several new measures to be tested in the Chilterns as part of fresh “flood resilience measures”.

The government announcement is part of its new Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme, which will also see ‘spongy roads’ brought to Slough.

The flood defence system, which hails from China, features permeable road surfaces that soak up water.

“The project will take the innovative Chinese ‘sponge city’ concept to address the challenges of surface water and river flooding in a heavily urbanised environment,” according to a government website.

In addition to the new app, which will also be trialled in the Berkshire Downs, plans to tackle groundwater flooding in Bucks will also include “flood resilience measures” in up to 200 homes, and “gulley sensors”.

Several areas in Bucks, including Marlow and Buckingham, experienced severe flooding earlier in the year, following ‘exceptionally high levels of rainfall and resulting groundwater’, according to Bucks Council.

Overflowing river water was also a major factor.

These projects will be led by the local authority and managed by the Environment Agency, according to a government website.

“The innovation programme is extremely exciting as it begins to put new aspects of the national flood and coastal erosion risk strategy to the test,” said Environment Agency chairman Emma Howard Boyd.