Flood-damaged Dorset roads set for major repairs after surge in potholes
Dorset Council says repairs to flood-damaged roads will begin later this year after a significant rise in highway problems
Flood-damaged roads across Dorset are set for priority repairs later this year after a surge in potholes and emergency highway callouts triggered by one of the wettest starts to a year on record.
Dorset Council says it saw a significant increase in reports of road damage between December 2025 and February 2026.
During that period the authority recorded a 92% rise in reported potholes, a 54% increase in other road defects and an 83% jump in emergency callouts compared with the same months a year earlier.
The equates to the council receiving nearly 10,000 highways-related enquiries, responding to 862 emergency callouts and repairing 5,508 highway defects. More than 3,000 potholes were fixed in January and February alone.
The spike follows months of persistent rainfall and flooding across the county which accelerated the deterioration of already fragile roads.
Weather data highlights the scale of the problem. According to the Met Office, the weather station at Hurn recorded its wettest January day in 74 years.
In response, councillors approved an additional £5 million for highway recovery at the last full council meeting.
The funding will target the worst affected routes, with surveys now under way to determine which roads require urgent work.
Jon Andrews, the council’s cabinet member for place services, noted the scale of the damage reflected the severity of the winter storms.
He said: “Since the start of 2026 Dorset has faced some of the most persistent and disruptive flooding we have seen in many years.
“Our priority now is to repair the damage these storms have inflicted – our rural roads have taken a battering.”
However, we need dry conditions before this work can go ahead but we will be doing this at the earliest opportunity,”
To keep up with demand, the council temporarily redeployed staff from other departments to assist with urgent repairs.
Cllr Andrews said the extra funding would not only repair damage but help future-proof Dorset’s roads.
“Over the longer term, it’s clear we must prepare for increasingly frequent extreme weather,” he said. “This investment will help improve our resilience to flooding as well as tackle the worst damage.”