AN ENVIRONMENT chief has warned that North Wales could be in for torrential downpours similar to monsoons experienced in tropical countries.
Lord Smith, chairman of the Environment Agency, claimed Britain is experiencing a "new kind of rain", which could cause widespread flooding if action is not taken and climate change is not tackled by world leaders.
To cope with the extreme rainfall the head of the Environment Agency said the county will have to develop flood defences such as open drainage ditches beside roads, porous pavements and storing water in reservoirs under car parks.
In a recent speech to insurance bosses, Lord Smith described the new monsoon-style downpours as deluges in which lots of rain falls quickly in one place - with the potential for massive impact on people.
This year Flintshire has been hit with a number of flash floods which have seen homes ruined in a matter of hours and in October 2000 major storms brought exceptionally heavy and persistent rainfall across the UK with Mold and Ruthin taking the brunt of the bad weather.
Today the Director General for the Department of Irrigation and Drainage in Malaysia, Dato' Ir. Hj. Husaini Sulaiman, was in Wales to share his experiences of dealing with tropical monsoon downpours with staff from Environment Agency Wales.
The drainage systems of the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur were originally designed during the British colonial period but have been drastically expanded and improved since then.
It is hoped his knowledge can add to the work carried out over the last few years in the Dee area of Flintshire to cope with similar bursts of intense rainfall.