Thousands of residents across York and North Yorkshire are being urged to make themselves familiar with changes to the Environment Agency’s flood warning service.

Over the next six weeks, staff from the agency’s flood teams will be delivering information to residents who are at risk of flooding from the Rivers Ouse, Foss, Nidd, Derwent, Swale and Ure.

Flood warning messages have been updated so that people who have signed up to the Environment Agency’s free flood warning service will find the alerts easier to understand.

They also provide more local information and give clearer guidance about what people need to do. Sarndra Devereux, from the agency’s flood incident management team, said: “It is vital that people know what the warnings mean, and what action to take. We have changed our messages to help people be prepared earlier.

“We are letting people know across North Yorkshire, including Thirsk, Selby, Malton, Norton, Ripon and more than 12,000 properties in York.

“We have also improved the other parts of our flood warning service to include more locally specific updates. All of this information is in the flood packs we are delivering.”

She urged everyone who received a letter or saw a poster offering them the free flood warning service to sign up to Floodline Warnings Direct.

She said: “Flooding is likely to become more frequent as our climate changes so people who are eligible shouldn’t delay in signing up for the free service because warnings can give them extra time to take vital steps which can protect their family and property.”

The agency’s warning messages and website – environment-agency.gov.uk – also carry information specific to each area, such as when flooding is expected, tide heights and what locations will be affected. These are updated at least every eight hours.

River and sea levels are also displayed on the website – at environment-agency.gov.uk/riverlevels – so that people can check what is happening in their area.

Along with the flood code information, residents will also be given information about how they and community groups can get involved in Exercise Watermark.

This national exercise, from March 4 to 11, will test the arrangements across England and Wales to respond to severe flooding, and anyone who wishes to find out more can log on to exercisewatermark.co.uk