Regional Profiles: Environment - East of England, 2012

Annual Rainfall, 2011

Notes:

1. The regions of England shown in this table correspond to the original nine English regions of the National Rivers Authority (NRA); the NRA became part of the Environment Agency
2. 2011 rainfall calculated from data supplied giving rainfall as a percentage of average for 1971 to 2000

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The ‘Anglian’ region is the driest area in the UK. The East of England recycles or composts the highest proportion of household waste in England.

The ‘Anglian’ region of the former National Rivers Authority (NRA) covers the majority of the East of England as well as parts of the East Midlands. It has the lowest regional rainfall in the UK, averaging 600 millimetres a year during the period 1971 to 2000. In 2011 the estimated annual rainfall was 440 millimetres, 73 per cent of the long-term average.

The region had the highest household recycling and composting rate, 48.9 per cent, in England in 2010/11. A higher proportion of local authority collected waste was sent to landfill, 47.3 per cent, compared with the England figure of 43.3 per cent.

More than 15,000 permanent dwellings were completed in the East of England in 2010/11, a 4.6 per cent decrease compared with 2009/10. A lower than average proportion of new dwellings were built on previously developed land in 2010, 68 per cent compared with 76 per cent in England as a whole.

Between 2001 and 2011, the total stock of dwellings in the region increased by 9.2 per cent, the second highest increase among the English regions.

The East of England had one of the highest average daily motor vehicle flows on major roads in rural areas, at 18,100 vehicles per day in 2010, compared with the England average of 13,700. However, the region had one of the lowest urban major road vehicle flows, at 17,700 per day, compared with England at 20,100.

The East of England produced 7.2 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions per resident in 2010, one of the lowest of the nine English regions. At local authority level this varied from 4.4 tonnes per resident in Castle Point near Southend to 14.2 tonnes in St Edmundsbury.

Source: Office for National Statistics

Background notes

1. Notes and sources:

   Rainfall data are from the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology based on Met Office records.

   Waste and recycling data are from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

   Numbers of dwellings built on previously developed land, including conversions of existing buildings, are from the Department for Communities and Local Government based on Ordnance Survey records. Estimates for 2010 are provisional.

   Total housing stock estimates between 2002 and 2011 will be adjusted once the 2011 Census dwelling count is available. Dwelling stock and house building data are from the Department for Communities and Local Government.

   Average daily motor vehicle flow is annual traffic divided by road length and number of days in the year. Data are from the National Road Traffic Survey, Department for Transport.

   Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are measured according to the point of energy consumption. CO₂ emissions data are from the Department for Energy Climate and Change.

2. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available by visiting www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/assessment/code-of-practice/index.html or from the Media Relations Office email: media.relations@ons.gsi.gov.uk

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