Flash-flooding of the kind that washed across large swathes of Worcestershire on Tuesday night used to be a once-in-a-decade event. But as roads, gardens and homes across the county are left under water once again, it's time to confront a new reality.

Our weather is changing, and the kind of downpours that dump a month's normal rainfall in the space of an hour or two are becoming ever more common - as people up and down the country are discovering.

Scientists have long predicted that global warming would bring more extreme weather events and a warmer, wetter climate to this part of the world, and now we could be seeing the effects on the ground.

We need to get used to it. But while flash-flooding is often unpredictable, there are ways to reduce the effects - and it's time we started thinking about them.

First, planners at both national and local level need to take flood risks more seriously when deciding what to build where. It stands to reason that if large areas of land are concreted over so that water has nowhere to go, the risk of flooding will be greater.

We also need to think about the design of our buildings. That's not to say houses should be on stilts, but perhaps the template should be Worcester's new climate change-ready' Red Hill Primary School, officially opened this week, which boasts, for example, wider guttering to cope with intense rain.

Perhaps block-paved, concrete or gravel front gardens will become less fashionable as people realise they prevent water soaking away, while highways agencies should also look at more effective road drainage.

If we are to cope with climate change, we must start planning now.