'National wake-up call' Tewkesbury gets sense of deja vu as waters rise

Standing at the top of Tewkesbury Abbey tower, the Rev Canon S Nick Davies is talking about the flood. But this is no sermon, the vicar is not reading from the Book of Genesis.

- Jamie Grierson

He is discussing the vast expanse of water before his very eyes, stretching far into the distance and besieging this medieval market town once again.

And while Davies usually spreads the word of God, yesterday he wanted to convey another message; he wanted to talk about the climate emergency.

"Tewkesbury has been flooded since Roman times," he says, looking over the deluge that has swamped dozens of homes, the cricket ground, park and car parks. "But what we're seeing now with climate change, is that those extreme weather events are becoming more frequent.

"And for me, this isn't just about floods in Tewkesbury. It's a wake-up call for the nation. We cannot be surprised every time there is a storm that does this.

"It's about our carbon footprint.