Speaker: John Curtin​, Executive Director of Flood and Coastal Risk Management, Environment Agency
This lecture will provide an overview of the scale of the flood risk in England, touching upon historical flooding and for more recent flood events the impacts, the UK’s response and the recovery from them and looking ahead to future of flood risk in this country – how do we become a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change.
Recent flood events include the winter of 2013/14 which started with the largest coastal surge in a generation and led to the wettest winter in 250 years. The winter of 2015/16, Storms Desmond, Eva and Frank brought severe and damaging weather leaving over 19,000 homes and businesses flooded in the north of England whilst Environment Agency flood defences protected over 23,000 homes and businesses during the same period. The storms recorded record rain fall and river levels which led to the wettest calendar month on record in December 2015 and new 24 hour and 48 hour rainfall records for the UK.
And not forgetting this winter – Large parts of central and eastern England had twice the normal level of rainfall in October 2019, with central parts of England receiving a month’s worth of rainfall in the early part of November.
Saturated catchments and highest ever river levels recorded on several rivers November saw the most significant impacts in Yorkshire. February 2020 was the wettest February in the UK since records began in 1862 and for the 3 storms that occurred, peak river levels were the highest or second highest on record on 13 rivers. This winter over 4600 properties flooded. We estimate that our flood risk management schemes have protected 128,100 properties in the same period.
Looking forwards, climate science is telling us flooding in England is only going to get worse, so we have been developing a new Flood and Coastal Erosion Risk Management Strategy. John will explore what needs to change if we are going to become a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and to the year 2100.
