Every Leeds area where defences are being overhauled to save residents from flooding

Leeds residents have been urged to take action to prepare for flooding and it's a stark reminder of the devastation caused by the Boxing Day floods of 2015.

The deluge that resulted from Storm Eva battered homes and businesses, costing Leeds an estimated £36.8million.

But major plans to drastically cut the risk of flooding in Leeds are well underway and work has already been completed in some parts of the city.

There is hope that the long-called-for flood defences which are currently being built will make flooding a one in two hundred year event.

A £112.1million scheme to better protect the A65 Kirkstall Road corridor and areas of Apperley Bridge will protect 1,048 homes and 474 businesses.

The Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme (FAS) Phase 2 is now using traditional engineering and natural flood management techniques to reduce risks.

Step one will see flood defence walls running along an 8km stretch upstream of Leeds Train Station and will reduce the risk of flooding to a one per cent chance of occurring in any given year, including an allowance for climate change.

Step two, subject to planning permission, will reduce the risk of flooding further to a 0.5 per cent probability (1 in 200) and will be made up of a flood storage area between Horsforth and Rawdon, alongside flood defence walls, embankments and a new pumping station at Apperley Bridge.

The work follows completion of the first phase of the Leeds Flood Alleviation Scheme in October 2017, where flood defences were installed along the River Aire in the city centre for the first time.

These are the Leeds areas where flood defence work is already complete:

- City Centre (phase one)

Work to help protect Leeds city centre from the risk of flooding has been completed. Improvements include moveable weirs, merging the river and canal and building of flood walls, glazed panels and embankments stretching more than 4.5km.

- Kirkstall valve (Kirkstall Bridge Shopping Park)

- Redcote Lane (Gotts Bridge)

- Stourton

- Mickletown

These are the areas where work is well underway under Phase 2 of the FAS:

- Leeds Train Station to Wellington Road

- Wellington Road to Viaduct Road

- Armley Mills Industrial Museum

- Viaduct Road to Redcote Lane Bridge

- Redcote Lane to Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve

- Kirkstall Valley Nature Reserve to Kirkstall Bridge

- Kirkstall Bridge to Kirkstall Forge

Work set to begin in these areas in Spring 2021:

- Horsforth Vale housing development and Cragg Wood

- Apperley Bridge

- Otley