Flood every five days in 2012 as Shropshire endures second wettest year

It comes after Shropshire endured its second wettest calendar year on record in 2012, with rivers bursting their banks and flood barriers erected in parts of the county.

However the Environment Agency also revealed one in four days was spent in drought, with hosepipe bans imposed for 20 million people across a swathe of England early in the year after two dry winters in a row.

Rivers went from record low levels to experiencing their highest flows since records began, in the space of four months, the Environment Agency said.

There was flooding on 78 days of the year.

In January homes and streets in Market Drayton, Whitchurch and Ellesmere flooded when snow began to thaw. A sheep was rescued in the Oswestry area and Environment Agency officials were forced to put up flood defences along the banks of the Severn in Shrewsbury and Ironbridge. Last summer bridges and roads in south Shropshire were washed away in floods.

Meanwhile there were 95 days of official drought declared for some areas last year.

Met Office analysis suggests that the UK could experience a 1976-style drought every 10 years, and the Environment Agency said that with the population of London and the South East set to grow by 23 per cent by 2035, action should be taken now.

The Environment Agency called for an increase in small-scale reservoirs.

Environment Agency chairman Lord Smith said: "The extremes of weather that we saw last year highlight the urgent need to plan for a changing climate.

"In 2012 we saw environmental damage caused by rivers with significantly reduced flows, hosepipe bans affecting millions and farmers and businesses left unable to take water from rivers.

"But we also saw the wettest year on record in England, with around 8,000 homes flooded.

"Interestingly 2007 – which also saw some of the most severe flooding in recent memory – also started with hosepipe bans."