UkWinds5353

Yowser. Look like real flooding can occur in multiple regions of the UK but the canal areas are especially potential concerns.

I can handle all types of weather phenomenon. Hurricanes, White Outs, but flooding can feel particularly shocking. Where the heck can you run in a flash flood. Being caught off guard in a vehicle only adds to the problem.

robin1234

UkWinds5353

Not sure how it is in the UK but major flood zones in the States sometime can't qualify for flood insurance to cover the property value in case of lost. In other areas the flood insurance monthly premiums is so cost prohibitive. And flood insurance is usually an additional add-on policy with home owners insurance. Insurance companies make a fortune.

jayandbill

I lived most of my long life in Sussex, since 1940 until 2009 with a break of 15 years overseas in between and now in New Zealand. I never experienced serious flooding in England although there were many times when the river banks broke and the fields were underwater . The town of Lewes, which is on a river and is quite hilly had a bad flood at one point some years ago but generally I think Sussex is fairly low risk ( you can always run to the hills, or preferably drive, although it could get a bit crowded up there)

verystormy

UkWinds5353

Glad to hear it's a unusual weather event. Can not put a price on having actual knowledge about a location before moving there. I imagine climate change is having an effect on every country in the world to some degree. Not sure if the UK has experienced much change in weather patterns. California definitely has.

UkWinds5353

Thanks Stormy.

yellowroom

This is the new normal with regards to rainfall, we can’t get complacent on “freak” rain events.

Our infrastructure to deal with excessive rainfall (U.K. standard) is actually quite poor compared to the parts of the US that gets rain - our gulleys, gutters and waste water pipes are not built to deal with current and future rainfall. And maintenance of existing infrastructure is reliant on ever decreasing/austerity hit funding. Eg, a report in the investigation into flooding in Hull in 2007 revealed it was significantly worse than it should have been due to the failure of backup water pumping stations (poor maintenance).

a lot of land in the U.K. is designated flood defences. Meadows, marshes and fields next to rivers and other water courses are natural sponges that take the excess water and release back over time. Some flooding is exacerbated by building on fields on flood plains, reducing nature’s capacity to deal with too much water and as a consequence we’re now getting flooding in places that have never flooded before.

oh, and flooding risk is usually included as standard in mainstream U.K. insurance policies. The premiums may become unaffordable if you are deemed to live in a flood risk area though.

UkWinds5353

It's really good that flood insurance and home owners policy are one in the same. That is a major plus. I spent my younger years as a Mortgage Broker and I hated informing clients the bad news that they had to pay extra due to living in a flood prone area. We're going to take our time and do a decent amount of homework.

One thing we are a little concern about is picking a area where knife crime is very low and mostly because we have young male kids. As with most young people they like to socialize and go out to various places of interest. I wonder if the media has over blown the current issue regarding aggressive crime in the UK?

And what do you think about these areas in terms of nightlife safety at pubs or clubs? And which are most and least safe?

Liverpool
Manchester
Brighton
Glasgow
Edinburgh
Oxford
Reading
Oxfordshire

robin1234

BuckinghamshireBoy

Probably my take as well considering safety matters.

Reading would imply a long and agonising death due primarily to boredom.

UkWinds5353

Busy day. You know how it is.
Brighton it should have read.

SanDiegogirl

All the cities mentioned above have areas which you would rather not be in at night ...... and, they also have areas where you would be perfectly happy to go for dinner, theatre, pubs etc. There is no-where which is perfect - you have to be careful everywhere these days.

Did you mean Oxford - Oxfordshire is the county......?

yellowroom

As others have said - every city has parts you’d avoid after dark and even every small town has an estate or even just a pub you’d avoid.

youre better off putting your time and effort in talking to your kids and teaching them strategies on de-escalating situations, not rising to provocation and situational awareness/escape strategies. May sound OTT, but a) you are coming from a different country and they may not be up to reading a situation/other people and reacting like a Brit and b) you will obviously have more money than the majority population which may lead them to attract attention - nice clothes, car, phone etc. Plus young men are the most vulnerable to crime, more so than old people. These would be great lifetime skills for them to have, regardless of location.

UkWinds5353

Excellent feedback. Sounds like every city on that list has the potential to be a great place to call home. And I mentioned both the city and county of Oxford and Oxfordshire. Was in a bit of a multi tasking moment.