New research institute to boost national flood and drought readiness

Flood and drought warnings will get a hi-tech boost under plans unveiled by the government.

A new £40m Floods and Droughts Research Institute, led by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) will be set up to act as the first UK-wide network focused on understanding the impact of extreme weather conditions across the country, pinpointing where incidents are likely to occur and planning to limit their impact.

Researchers will use the latest technologies including sensors and real time computer monitoring, plus a huge bank of data including river profiles and near real-time monitoring of information including on atmospherics, ground saturation, water movement, abstraction and storage. The government said that, taken together, this will form a clearer impression of where and when extreme weather will strike.

Findings from the project will be shared with key bodies like the Environment Agency to steer the UK response to extreme weather. It will also act as a hub for researchers to pursue new innovations with plans for discoveries to be shared across the world.

The government added that it will also shortly launch a new Flood Resilience Taskforce “to turbocharge the delivery of new flood defences, drainage systems and natural flood management schemes, which will ensure we’re prepared for the future and help grow our economy”.