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Caerphilly County Borough Council has received more than £800,000 of Welsh Government funding this year to help with flood protection.

In total, 24 flood protection schemes will be supported by the funding, with the council adding some of its own money towards the initiatives to bring the total to £1m.

The funds will be used to mitigate flooding and to create a local network of monitoring and warning services.

It comes after the Welsh Government’s climate change minister, Julie James, recently announced £75m of funding for flood defences.

A large chunk of this £75m will go to Natural Resources Wales to support their works on larger rivers, with more than £10m being split among Wales’ 22 local authorities.

A further £3.7m will go towards smaller schemes to address localised flooding from surface water, groundwater and smaller watercourses.

Ms James also announced a £5m investment over a longer-term to manage and maintain existing flood risk infrastructure.

Cllr Julian Simmonds, council cabinet member for highways and transportation, said: “In 2019 the council declared a climate emergency and predictions suggest that we’re likely to see more frequent and more intense storms.

“Managing this risk comes with a number of technical challenges in Caerphilly as the steep valleys mean that water levels in streams and rivers change very quickly in response to localised rainfall.”

Cllr Simmonds welcomed the Welsh Government funding, which he said will “enable us to invest in monitoring and warning systems to help track and respond to changing conditions”.

He added: “We’re also investigating ways to help slow the flow of water across the landscape and higher up in catchments, reducing the risk of flooding.”