Flood Forecasting and Early Warning: An Example from the UK Environment Agency

Abstract

The frequency and severity of floods have increased in England in recent years and is expected to increase in the future due to climate change and land-use change. It is neither technically feasible nor economically affordable to prevent extreme events, such as floods. The UK government has invested more resources to build engineering defences and developed a hydro-meteorological forecasting system by bringing the latest scientific and engineering knowledge to protect the public and property from floods. The Environment Agency (EA) in England has advanced flood warning dissemination systems as a part of their flood risk reduction and adaptation strategy. In addition, more focus has been given to inform people and to influence their decision and behaviours in times of extreme events. Together with the advancement of their early warning system for hazard detection and forecasting, the EA is also making efforts to provide effective and appropriate information to trigger and influence the behaviours and actions of the communities at various levels so that they can be prepared to respond to extreme events and disaster situations. More importantly, the government has embedded disaster risk reduction in its development planning. For example local planning authorities must now consult with the EA on the planning application for any proposed development, especially if the proposed development is at risk from flooding. This chapter briefly describes the process of issuing flood warnings in England.