THE Foss Barrier became operational for what is believed to be the first time since its £17 million upgrade, after the Environment Agency issued two flood alerts and one warning for the River Ouse.

The barrier came down at 7pm yesterday evening and is expected to be in place for 48 hours, in a bid to protect York.

This comes almost two years after the flooding disaster that hit hundreds of the city's homes and businesses in 2015.

The deployment puts the new flood protection measures to the test, at a time when people in the north west have been rescued from flooding after severe weather.

The Environment Agency recently confirmed that low level flood defence walls will be built along vulnerable stretches of the river to provide extra protection to properties.

And that by the end of the year, the eight powerful new pumps would be capable of pumping 50 tonnes of water per second out of the River Foss and into the River Ouse.

The agency is warning residents to check their flood risk at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk