Many parts of Kent are at risk of devastating floods, with thousands of people facing weeks, sometimes months of disruption following heavy rain or high seas.

A new alert system introduced across Kent and London may at least give people notice of serious floods, allowing them to prepare for the worst or evacuate their homes.

The collaboration between the Environment Agency and mobile phone firm EE will see almost 30,000 people in the county receive flood warnings direct to their mobile phones.

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Those signed up to the service will get a welcome telephone message from the Environment Agency’s Floodline Warnings Direct service before November 12.

The scheme is the first of its kind in England and follows roll-outs in March and July this year.

Following those pilots, fewer than 1% of people added to the service decided to opt-out.

Since 2010, the Floodline Warnings Direct service has enabled the Environment Agency to automatically register and send warnings to 600,000 homes and business landline numbers, but this is first time that flood warnings will be issued directly through a mobile phone provider.

John Curtin, executive director of flood risk management at the Environment Agency, said: “We want to ensure that everyone has as much time as possible to prepare for floodingand by working with EE we’re now able to warn even more people about the risks.

"Flood warnings save lives and this ground-breaking initiative is another way to provide the public with vital time to protect their belongings and get themselves and their families out of harm’s way."

The Environment Agency is now planning to work with other mobile providers to extend the warning service and reach more people directly.

People can check their flood risk and register for free flood warnings by visiting gov.uk/flood or calling Floodline on 0345 988 1188.