The drought is here ... now watch out for the flash flood "As the drought in England continues, the thought of flooding may be far from people's minds," he said. But we cannot ignore the risk. Dry and compacted ground means that there is a greater risk of flash flooding if there is heavy rainfall. Stormy seas and high tides can produce floods at any time. One in six homes in England and Wales is at risk of flooding. The problem has become worse as more people pave over gardens, which prevents water sinking into the soil. The Environment Agency is urging councils to put down "permeable paving" and encouraging householders to retain gardens. This would help farmers to manage floodplains. The Government body has also set up the first social media flood warning application on Facebook. "Floodalerts" gives messages to Facebook users when flood alerts or warnings have been issued for their area. The Environment Agency hopes the new measure will complement its existing Floodline Hotline and website updates. A spokesman said floods and droughts could become a lot worse because of climate change. "The latest UK climate change data indicates that the risk of flooding will increase in future due to more frequent and heavy storms," he said. Communities should take steps to be prepared - for example by checking their flood risk on the Environment Agency website or signing up to free localised flood warnings. Greg Barker, the climate change minister, announced a £60 million grant to the Met Office to help predict the effect of climate change through modelling using a special computer. "As we face the impacts of climate change over the coming decades it is vital that we understand what the future holds and the dangers we face," he said. The Met Office Hadley Centre has helped to make Britain a world leader in climate science and I am determined that the Government continues to support their work. He added: "This investment will significantly improve their capacity to produce the groundbreaking evidence for which they are internationally renowned."