Updates to national flood and coastal erosion risk assessment in England

The Environment Agency’s latest data shows 6.3million properties are threatened by flooding from rivers, oceans and surface water. 

New numbers published on Tuesday 17th January show more addresses across England than ever before are now considered to be at risk. 

While the data emphasises the increased threat posed by climate change and coastal erosion, poor planning decisions and pressure to solve the housing crisis, high tech methods used to conduct the study also mean this is the most accurate picture of flood likelihood ever produced in the UK. 

Of those properties considered at risk, 4.6million are directly threatened by surface water – where drainage is liable to be overwhelmed by rain leading to runoff and sewerage overflow. Flash flooding ‘danger zones’ have increased by 43% since the last Environment Agency assessment, largely due to the improvement in technology used in the analysis.

Meanwhile, 2.4million are considered to be at risk, a figure that includes an uplift of 88% for the highest risk category. This applies to any property with more than a one-in-30 chance of flooding in any given year. 

Coastal erosion is also a rising threat. The Environment Agency currently considers 3,500 properties to be at risk from tidal patterns between now and 2055. But this is then set to leap to 10,100 by the end of the century. Combined, rivers, seas and surface water will pose a threat to 8million people in the UK by 2o50. 

‘More detailed flood and coastal risk information, which takes climate change into account, is essential for local authorities to be able to plan effectively, to protect their local communities and to start to build resilient infrastructure for the future,’ said Hannah Bartram, Association of Directors for Environment, Planning and Transport [ADEPT].

‘Local authorities are keen to understand the implications of the updates the Environment Agency is making to its flood and coastal erosion risk products and services,’ she continued. It’s a great example of the importance of working together to improve the data we can use to inform local communities on the risks posed by flooding and coastal erosion.’

The message was echoed by a number of campaign groups, including Friends of the Earth, which described the report as a ‘stark warning’ about the growing threat of climate change to homes and communities. 

‘Labour agrees that the previous government ‘have left Britain badly exposed’. Now it needs to fix it by strengthening the National Adaptation Programme in consultation with the communities most impacted by the climate crisis,’ said Friends of the Earth’s Alison Dilworth. Alongside two co-claimants, the organisation recently submitted papers to the Court of Appeal over the National Adaptation Programme claim, with one plaintiff seeing their home destroyed by sea level rise. 

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Image: Ali Gooya via Unsplash