Research involving the UK 皇冠体育国际娱乐 for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) has greatly enhanced flood risk management across Great Britain, says the Environment Agency.
Our scientists produced the most comprehensive and detailed to date of the impacts of different climate change scenarios in the 2020s, 2050s and 2080s on peak river flows throughout England, Scotland and Wales. There are estimates for every 1km section of Britain鈥檚 river network, available via an interactive free UKCEH , to guide planning decisions and authorities鈥� action to limit flooding.
The Environment Agency has cited the work in a newly published , saying the research has had 鈥渟ignificant implications for flood risk management鈥� and enabled it to update its on peak river flows for building developers, councils and government agencies.
Previous research used older climate models and was based on projections for a limited number of locations. The UKCEH , published in 2023, used the latest advanced modelling and discovered varying factors among catchments 鈥� enabling scientists to better predict how different regions would respond to climate-induced rainfall changes. The research team included Alison Kay, Ali Rudd, Matthew Fry and Gemma Nash from UKCEH.
Improving the data
The work was one of several impact case studies from the Environment Agency鈥檚 Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management research and development programme.
The agency also highlighted the 25-year , to which UKCEH is a key contributing organisation. This is a UK-wide plan of action to improve ways of working, data, methods and scientific understanding in hydrology so information on risks is robust, and then informs effective action to safeguard communities, infrastructure and the natural environment from the escalating risks of flooding.
Further information
The Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management鈥檚 is a collaborative partnership between the Environment Agency, Defra, the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales, involving partners from academia, industry and across government. It is collating evidence to guide sustainable building development and investment in action to mitigate risks of flooding and coastal erosion.
