The shadow expressed condolences for those affected by Storm Darragh, commended the work of emergency services and utility workers, but highlighted concerns over thousands still without electricity in rural areas. He questioned how residents could receive emergency information or call for help during power outages and urged a review of current arrangements, including whether the priority services register is adequate to address needs during widespread power outages.

Echoing sentiments about those affected by flooding from Storm Darragh, Toby Perkins asked what the Government is doing to improve the reliability of warnings from the Environment Agency and ensure that the public are better educated about their limitations.

I applaud the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) for asking this urgent question. He asked some very detailed questions about communication and connectivity that are vital for rural areas. Can the Minister commit to writing to him and to putting that letter in the Library? There is important information that needs to be put on the public record.

Storm Darragh has had and continues to have terrible impacts across the UK. Our thoughts are very much with the loved ones of those who tragically lost their lives in recent days, and with the people whose homes and businesses have been devastated and those who continue to feel the effects of the storm. We must not forget that for at-risk communities, the mental health consequences can remain long after the storms and floods have abated and the blue lights have left. The Opposition pay tribute to the emergency services, the Environment Agency, local authorities and volunteer groups for their efforts to help people in these challenging and dangerous circumstances.

In the coming hours and days, the Government need to focus on quickly reconnecting those without power and giving help to those who have been driven out of their homes, on the repair and reopening of buildings and schools and on the process for insurance claims so that residents can return home as soon as possible. What conversations are being had across Government to ensure that all that happens?

What discussions did the Minister have with ministerial colleagues across Government and with the Environment Agency and the Met Office before the latest storm hit? The Government’s flood resilience taskforce was set up to improve flood preparedness. It has met once, and its next meeting is next year. Should it not be stood up more frequently and meet more regularly?

The previous Conservative Government committed a record £5.2 billion from 2019 to 2027 to provide significantly improved flood defences across the country. Will the new Labour Government continue that investment? The farm recovery fund, initiated by the previous Conservative Government to support farmers, is vital. Will this Government provide new money now, after recent storms like Bert and Darragh? Finally, can the Government confirm their ongoing commitment to the communities hit by these increasingly common extreme weather events?

I thank the Minister for the statement, and express my sympathies for those affected and my thanks to emergency and utility workers for all their efforts over the weekend. The storm was of great significance in constituencies such as mine. I appreciate what the Minister has said on the efforts and conversations between the UK Government and the Welsh Government. Can she say any more on that, and assure us that the lessons to be learned from this storm—on resilience and dealing with any future storms—will be shared with all of us in this House, as well as our colleagues in Wales?

I thank the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake), who asked an excellent question and raised this important issue today. My thoughts also are with those who tragically lost their lives this weekend and with all the communities who have been so terribly affected by the storm.

We were affected in Westmorland, although not as badly as the constituents of many Welsh Members present. Last week was the ninth anniversary of Storm Desmond, which we remember and still bear the scars from, and we stand in solidarity with all those deeply affected right now.

The storm reminds us of our duty to protect homes, communities, farmland and businesses. In the Budget, the Government agreed to funding for flood defences up to March 2026, with the potential threat of reduced funding thereafter. Will the Minister take this opportunity to guarantee, as a minimum, the current level of funding for flood defences beyond March 2026?

So much farmland has been affected by the storm, yet farms are key to successful flood management, storing water and slowing the flow to protect villages and towns downstream, such as Appleby and Kendal in my constituency. Will the Minister now agree to increasing the environmental land management scheme budget to help our farmers be our first and best defence against flooding?

Finally, will the Minister confirm that the Government will expand eligibility for the farming recovery fund? Will they publish an up-to-date water management strategy to set out a plan for urgent maintenance and upgrades to flooding defences to protect homes, farmland and businesses at risk?

I thank the Minister for coming to the House to explain what has been going on in relation to Storm Darragh. Like everyone I thank the emergency services, and I also thank Monmouthshire county council for all the work it did this weekend. Over 2 million households lost power this weekend, including a group of constituents in Llangybi, one of whom was extremely vulnerable. Will the Minister share with us how many households have been reconnected?

I join the House in paying tribute to the emergency services, including Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service and Dyfed-Powys police, as well as Powys county council in my constituency, which have been working tirelessly to keep people safe over the past few days. Communities across Wales, including in my constituency, have been battered by this storm only a few weeks after already taking significant damage from Storm Bert. Many of my constituents in the Swansea valley were left without power for over 48 hours and some may not have power restored until Thursday. Likewise, many water supplies have been disrupted and towns such as Builth Wells have experienced significant flooding.

I thank my neighbour the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) for asking the urgent question. Let me add my voice to the chorus of voices thanking the emergency services, and also pay tribute to communities and local businesses such as the Hand in Llanarmon Dyffryn Ceiriog, in my constituency.

These storms are becoming more frequent, and we in Scotland probably have more experience of them than most, but there is a prevailing sense that we are lurching from one storm to the next. In the case of Storm Bert, for example, it was felt that the Met Office did not issue enough warnings early enough.

Will the Minister please give us an update on the extent of the floods that resulted from the storm? Rural constituencies such as mine experienced a double whammy: we were battered by the storm, and then we were deluged once again by flooding. That double problem is also much more sustained.

Electricity supplies have yet to be restored to some Gwynedd communities, more than 72 hours after the red weather warning. The switch from copper to digital technology means that all landline telephones will need electricity to work in the future, as do mobile phone masts. These matters are reserved to Westminster—they are not devolved—so will the Minister speak to her colleagues in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, and commit to a Government assessment of the resilience of mobile and landline communication in Wales and the adequacy of the support given by BT and EE to elderly and vulnerable people during the switchover process?

Will the Minister join me in paying tribute to our fantastic volunteers who worked around the clock in difficult circumstances, playing a critical role in protecting people and homes? Will she visit my constituency to meet some of those volunteers, including some from Lowdham, Rainworth and Hucknall, who continue to face the threat of flooding?

This morning, 2,500 people in my constituency were still without power. That is down from 8,000 yesterday morning, and I am grateful to all the engineers who have worked so hard to get those people back online. Water booster pumps also lost power on Sunday, so those in a large area of the constituency experienced low water pressure. In the sizeable town of Wem, there were large areas with no water at all, despite there having been only a yellow weather warning. It seems that that the resilience of the utility companies is not where it needs to be to respond to an event of this nature. Can the Minister reassure me about what she is doing with those companies to ensure that we are more resilient in future, given that these events will be increasingly frequent as the impact of climate change worsens?

In Ironbridge gorge, a world heritage site in my constituency, the river fills up with water from Wales in the days after these storms. Will the Minister commit to ensuring that the Government pay attention to secondary areas such as mine, and will Government Departments ensure that the economic hammer blow that flooding causes in communities such as mine is considered in any future grant applications by the local authority?

I am incredibly concerned about the news that funding for organisations that co-ordinate multi-agency responses in the event of emergency, such as the Sussex resilience forum, is set to end in April next year. Will the Minister commit to long-term statutory funding for crucial organisations that plan emergency responses?

Northumberland has been battered by storms in recent years, most dramatically and devastatingly by Storm Arwen. Can the Minister assure me that she and her colleagues are taking proactive steps to protect communities in some of the most isolated places in my constituency from the devastating impact of these storms?

Storm Darragh brought 96 mph winds, flooding and power outages, and it came hot on the heels of Storm Bert, which brought severe rainfall and terrible flooding. Given the strong evidence that links increasing frequency and severity of storms with climate change, may I ask for the Minister’s response to the comments of Emma Pinchbeck, the new chief executive of the Climate Change Committee, who said at the weekend that the UK was “not ready” for these increasingly severe impacts of climate change? What are the Government doing, and what will they do, to make adaptation an urgent national priority?

As the Minister and Members from across the House have done, I commend our local authorities and our emergency services for the hard work that they did to make people safe. The storm caused so much damage; communities in my constituency, such as Northop, were without power for several days. Sadly, many of us had to change our plan to go out on Small Business Saturday and support our local high streets, which are struggling. There is a palpable commitment in this Chamber to preparedness. What conversations were had with the Welsh Government prior to the storm to ensure that we were ready to tackle it?

Let me thank the emergency services, Carmarthenshire county council, which is the local authority, and National Grid engineers for working tirelessly to help residents who were without power in Caerfyrddin. I also want to give a shout out to the farmers who helped clear the roads with their chainsaws. Given that many areas are on their fourth day without electricity—most have not been promised a connection until Thursday, and some do not have water or connectivity either—it is clear that we need additional help. The 105 line is not working. It is not its fault; it is just overwhelmed by the number of calls. What advice does the Minister have for people living in rural communities such as Trelech, Brechfa, Blaenwaun and Llanarthne, who are in desperate need of generators for their village halls and community centres, so that they can provide hot water, hot meals and a place to charge a mobile phone? Can we do something about that?

In Harpenden and Berkhamsted, much of the impact of Storm Darragh was wholly preventable, such as Flamstead village being cut off because Trowley Bottom and Chequer Lane were flooded, as well as the flooding on Station Road in Harpenden, and in Puttenham. Next to the Hospice of St Francis is Shootersway, which has repeatedly flooded, and there are worries about ambulance access. What are the Government doing to work with local authorities, and what is the long-term strategy to prevent repeated damage from storms such as Darragh?

While the damage from Storm Darragh was thankfully limited in North Norfolk, a number of properties in my constituency suffered power cuts, which lasted well into Monday. That has once again highlighted the problem caused by poor mobile phone signal in rural parts of North Norfolk. As hon. Members have mentioned, many people did not receive updates and cannot access real-time SMS information. What discussions has the Minister had with colleagues in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology about ensuring that we fix the notspots and keep my constituents safe and connected when the next big storm hits?

Storm damage in Holyhead has led to severe disruption, including ferry cancellations and the closure of the Britannia bridge. The vulnerability of Ynys Môn’s connection to the mainland is a concern, especially for access to healthcare facilities. What assurance can be given that island communities will be safeguarded from extreme weather in the future?

Storm Darragh is the second serious storm to hit Thornbury and Yate recently; it caused significant flooding disruptions. These storms, exacerbated by climate change, are likely to worsen. A clear framework for local authorities on when and how they will receive support from central government is needed. Can the Minister provide clarity on this matter?

Residents of Bersted, Pagham, and Chichester live in fear of storms that cause severe localised flooding, isolating communities for months. Funding cuts by West Sussex county council are exacerbating the issue despite worsening conditions. How can communities be expected to build resilience if funding is being reduced?

Villages along the Thames in Hurley and Cookham have been repeatedly hit by storms. What work is being done to protect these communities from flooding days after a storm passes?

Storm Darragh caused numerous train and flight cancellations, resulting in financial losses for constituents. What steps will be taken to ensure airlines and rail companies provide adequate compensation to those affected by such disruptions?