THE summer floods amounted to little more than a week or so of inconvenience for the vast majority of people in Worcestershire.

The waters receded and their lives went back to normal.

For a significant minority, however, the deluges of June and July were the beginning of a nightmare that is unlikely to end for months.

They are the forgotten victims of the floods. Living in caravans or in upstairs rooms as their homes are repaired and refurbished, or desperately trying to piece their ruined businesses back together.

Many of us are simply not aware of the hardships such people are suffering.

Most are insured so the hardship is not financial but born out of stress and worry and an overwhelming desire to get their lives back to normal.

Now their worries have been increased by dire warnings from insurance companies about the future prospects for people who live in houses prone to flooding.

Massive hikes in premiums or a flat refusal to provide insurance are likely outcomes of this summer's floods.

And yet homes continue to be built on flood plains.

For those who live in homes at risk there must be an acceptance that insurance will become more costly but also a determined effort by the authorities to find ways of alleviating flood risk.

And for the future there must be an acceptance by this and future governments that climate change and the development of flood plains are incompatible bedfellows.