Diolch, Llywydd. Over the last two weeks, many communities throughout Wales have suffered devastating effects from storms Ciara and Dennis. I want to say again that my thoughts, and those of my Cabinet colleagues, are with all those who have been affected.

These two storms are two of the most severe and widespread flooding incidents we have experienced in Wales for many years. At the peak of storm Dennis, there were 61 flood alerts, 89 flood warnings and two severe flood warnings in force. This is more than Natural Resources Wales has ever issued. The rivers Taff and Usk reached their highest levels in more than 40 years and, at its peak, 900 tonnes of water per second was flowing down the River Taff.

As a result of these two storms, we have seen severe and widespread flooding in communities in north, mid and south Wales. There are confirmed accounts of more than 1,000 homes suffering internal flooding and more than 300 businesses being directly affected. The threat has not yet passed. Yesterday, a severe flood warning was issued in Bangor-on-Dee and we saw flash flooding in Dolgellau over the weekend following further heavy rain. We do not yet know the full extent of damage. Teams on the ground are continuing to verify the damage and likely cost of repairs as they start the clean-up. The Welsh Government wants to thank everyone involved in the response to the flooding, from the emergency response to the ongoing recovery. The emergency services, local authorities, Natural Resources Wales and volunteers have worked around the clock to address the immediate impact of the flooding.

I have seen first-hand some of the devastation caused as I visited communities across Wales, in Llanrwst, Tylorstown, Pontypridd, Llanhilleth, Crickhowell and Mountain Ash. But many more communities have been affected. I have spoken with people who saw for themselves the incredible response from their local community as schools, halls and centres opened their doors to help those in need. There were incredible acts of kindness and generosity as people came together to help and there were powerful and humbling levels of resilience. One example, Llanhilleth Miners Institute in Blaenau Gwent, provided shelter, advice and three meals a day to all those who needed it.

These floods have had a significant and financial impact on councils, businesses and individuals. Last week, the First Minister chaired an emergency summit, announcing a £10 million fund to help meet the costs of the initial response, including support for those affected by the flooding. However, this of course will not be enough to cover the full costs to repair the damage caused by storms Ciara and Dennis.

The emergency flood relief scheme is now available. Households affected by flooding will be able to claim £500 each with a further payment of £500 available to those without flooding insurance. Support will also be available for businesses and high streets. Business Wales is ready to support affected businesses. Any business affected should contact their helpline, who can provide practical advice, including help with recovery plans.

I've heard from many home owners who lost everything and who have previously been declined flood cover. Since 2016, Flood Re has been in place to enable home owners to access affordable insurance, but there is a lack of awareness about the scheme. I want to work with the insurance sector to ensure Flood Re is publicised more effectively.

Emergency funding for repairs to flood infrastructure was immediately made available after storm Ciara, and extended to cover storm Dennis. Urgent works to assets, including defences and culverts, will be 100 per cent funded by the Welsh Government. This applies to both NRW and local authorities.

The number of properties affected and the damage caused has been devastating. But we know this could have been a lot worse without the network of flood defences. Across Wales, more than 73,000 homes were protected from flooding by this network of flood defences. This is a reflection of the £350 million we've invested in flood risk management since 2016. Going forward, we will work with local authorities and NRW to identify whether more schemes will be needed to further reduce risk. I also want to increase financial and practical support to local authorities to accelerate the development of new flood projects.

My officials are exploring ways to better support the development of new schemes and maintenance works, including providing 100 per cent funding for all preparatory work prior to construction. This would include all costs of modelling and design. We will also explore practical ways on how to progress more natural solutions, and wider catchment management to reduce both the amount and the rate of run-off, to reduce peak flows and help address the quick onset of flooding.

These storms have once again raised the issue of the safety of coal tips for communities living in their shadow. Many of us will have seen images of the dramatic landslip at Tylorstown. There are more than 1,200 of these tips across the former mining areas of south Wales. They are a legacy of our industrial past. Many of these tips were abandoned more than a century ago, and we have been working since devolution to address the issue of tips, and some of the sites have undergone work to transform them. The First Minister met the Secretary of State for Wales yesterday to discuss the safety of these. As a priority, we are working closely with the UK Government and partners—including the Coal Authority, Natural Resources Wales and local authorities—to ensure we have a full picture about the current checks and monitoring systems in place.

All the evidence suggests that we will see more storms as a result of climate change. Later this year, I will publish our new national strategy for flood and coastal erosion, which sets out how we will manage the risk over the coming decade. But flood risk management is more than just building higher and stronger defences. We cannot prevent all flooding. We need to be more resilient, we need to prevent flooding from happening and we need to be better at raising awareness about the risk of flooding so better decisions can be made.

We are promoting wider catchment projects, adaptive measures to respond to climate change, better information provision to communities and the sharing of ideas to do things better. We will continue to support people to recover from these storms and the flooding they caused. I commend and sincerely appreciate the work of all those who continue to work on the recovery effort, supporting people, businesses and communities alike.