Flood and coastal erosion risk management report: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Question 1

1. Executive summary

Accepted Answer

This year we have seen the warmest year on record, with 2024 1.55°C above pre-industrial levels. At the same time, we’ve seen the highest average mean temperature for May, England’s fifth wettest spring and the coolest UK summer since 2015. All the events continue to reflect the climate extremes we are seeing occur with more regularity across the country.

The country experienced 7 named storms, slightly less than previous year, but significant all the same. Overall, around 5,000 properties were reported as flooded, while flood and coastal defences across the country protected around 167,000 properties.

Throughout the year, we have continued working with partners to better protect around 27,500 properties from flooding and coastal erosion through our capital investment programme. This means that since April 2021 nearly 116,000 properties have benefited from better protection.

February 2025 saw the announcement of a record £2.65 billion investment to build, maintain and repair flood defences across England. This will better protect 52,000 properties by March 2026.

We continue to make progress with the actions set out in our flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM) strategy roadmap. These actions will help us achieve the ambitions in the FCERM strategy. They recognise the importance of resilience, adaptation to flooding and working with natural processes to reduce risk.

This year, we updated our national flood risk assessment (NaFRA). Our new NaFRA is the latest picture of current and future flood and coastal erosion risk. For the first time it includes changes in risk that may occur with climate change. It shows that around 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk from flooding.

This is around one in five homes across England, which rises to one in four homes by the mid-century because of climate change. This reflects the scale of the challenge we face from a changing climate.

At the same time, we updated our national coastal erosion risk map. This shows that 3,500 properties are at risk of coastal erosion by 2055.

This updated information shows the importance of adapting and becoming more resilient and looking at new ways of managing the risks we face. In October we published the mid-programme report of our flood and coastal innovation programmes. The report highlights the programme achievements and the best innovations and learning. It shows how resilience to flooding can unlock significant wider social, economic and environmental benefits for people, places, and wildlife.

The increased risk we are facing also highlights the importance of effective flood warnings. Over the last year, we have been building and testing our new warning service, ahead of an anticipated launch later in 2025.

Our FCERM strategy also recognises the important role agriculture plays in managing water from both a flood and drought risk perspective. We have worked with Defra on 3 environmental land management schemes, which includes a suite of FCERM related options.

We continue to strengthen our planning policy and guidance. Our Flood Map for Planning Service now includes data from our new NaFRA. This means planners and developers can more effectively account for flood risk in the location and design of developments.

We couldn’t achieve these outcomes without our national and international partners and stakeholders. Sharing knowledge, research, innovations and technical expertise in flood and coastal risk management is vital.

Question 2

2. The year in context

Accepted Answer

This section describes:

significant flooding and coastal events
progress against strategic plans
government policy announcements

2.1 Flooding between April 2024 and March 2025

This year continued the recent trend of extreme weather conditions, with records broken, both across the country and globally. These included:

a new record average mean temperature of 13.1°C for the UK, set in May 2024 - significantly above the previous record of 12.1°C set in 2008
significant rainfall during spring, with England recording its fifth wettest spring - overall, nearly 302mm fell across the UK during this period, 32% more than average
the coolest UK summer since 2015, with an average mean temperature of 14.37°C – this is 0.22°C cooler than the long-term average

Significant rainfall fell across England through Autumn. This included:

Gloucestershire experiencing its wettest Autumn since records began in 1836
exceptionally heavy rainfall to southern and central England in the latter part of September
10 English counties experiencing their wettest September on record

You can read more about these record breaking events in the Met Office review of 2024.

England experienced 7 named storms in total this year:

Kathleen
Lilian
Ashley
Bert
Conall
Darragh
Eowyn

You can read more about the impact of some of these storms in the next section.

From a global perspective, 2024 was the warmest year on record at about 1.55°C above pre-industrial level. This reflects a continuing trend, with the past 10 years all in the top 10, an extraordinary streak of record-breaking temperatures.

Overall, this year, around 5,000 properties were reported as flooded across the country. An estimated 167,000 were protected by our flood defence assets.

2.1.1 Storms Bert and Conall – 21 to 27 November 2024

Storm Bert brought heavy rain and strong winds to large parts of the country, particularly affecting south-west England. Devon recorded over 150mm of rain during the storm. Approximately three-quarters of the November average rainfall fell across an area from Wiltshire to Northamptonshire. The Oxfordshire Northamptonshire border area received their whole month average rainfall, or more.

Around 1,600 properties flooded across England during Bert. Our flood defences protected around 35,800 properties.

Storm Connall followed shortly after Bert, bringing further rain to southern England. However, areas previously flooded during Storm Bert were less affected, limiting any further flooding.

2.1.2 Storm Darragh – 5 December 2024

Storm Darragh brought high wind speeds and significant rainfall across the entire west coast of England. The Met Office issued a rare red weather warning for wind, with speeds of up to 90mph affecting some coastal areas. Berry Head in Devon recorded a windspeed of 96mph.

Some parts of the UK experienced over 50mm of rain in a 24-hour period.

2.1.3 Recovery activities

Following flooding incidents, we carry out a range of recovery activities. These include:

reviews of flood forecasting and warning
inspecting assets
gathering learning from events
reviewing health, safety and wellbeing

The information we collect helps us improve how we respond to flood events in the future.

Overall, our assets have stood up well this winter. Where there was damage to an asset, we put in place mitigation measures and closely monitor it until full repairs can be undertaken. We also carried out any necessary urgent or emergency repairs.

During the most recent spending review, we reprioritised investment towards repairing and restoring critical assets. This includes:

£36 million in 2024 to 2025
£72 million in 2025 to 2026, to hold around 92% of flood risk assets in high consequence systems at the required condition

We will make longer term funding decisions during the next spending review bid.

2.1.4 Record of past flood events

Table 1: previous flood events, properties flooded, and properties protected since 2020.

Date	Flood event	Properties flooded	Properties protected
February 2020	Storm Ciara	1,350	23,000
February 2020	Storm Dennis	1,570	25,000
February 2020	Late February	520	36,000
December 2020	Storm Bella and heavy rain in Buckingham, Newport Pagnell, Northampton, Rugby	400	9,000
January 2021	Storm Christoph	680	49,000
February 2022	Storm Dudley, Eunice, Franklin	370	35,000
January 2023	Midlands and the South West	170	5,500
October and November 2023	Storm Babet and Ciaran	5,600	140,000
January 2024	Storms Henk and Gerrick	2,500	102,000
November 2024	Storms Bert and Connall	1,600	35,800
December 2024 and January 2025	Unnamed	1,600	78,000

2.2 National flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England

The FWMA states that we must develop, apply, maintain, and monitor a strategy for FCERM in England. The current FCERM strategy was adopted by Parliament and published on 25 September 2020.

The FCERM strategy:

contributes to our strategic overview role of all FCERM activities
is a statutory framework to guide those involved in FCERM to achieve its ambitions on the ground

All RMAs have a duty to act consistently with the FCERM strategy when carrying out their FCERM roles.

The FCERM strategy’s long-term vision is for a nation ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and to the year 2100.

It has 3 ambitions:

climate resilient places
today’s growth and infrastructure resilient in tomorrow’s climate
a nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change

The 3 ambitions consist of 21 strategic objectives covering the next 10 to 30 years. The FCERM strategy also contains 56 shorter term measures. These explain the immediate activities RMAs will take to achieve each objective.

2.2.1 Flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy roadmap to 2026

On 7 June 2022, we published the FCERM strategy roadmap to 2026. This sets out the practical actions we will take to achieve the ambitions in the FCERM strategy.

These actions will:

help us tackle the growing threat of flooding from rivers, the sea, and surface water as well as coastal erosion
provide a range of benefits, including local nature recovery, carbon reduction, improved water quality and more integrated water management – this will help with both flood and drought resilience

We developed the roadmap in collaboration with 31 partners across multiple sectors.

This year we have completed several important actions that contribute towards achieving the FCERM strategy ambitions. These include:

publishing new flood and coastal erosion risk information in England
enhancing our surface water forecasting capabilities
improving flood resilience
helping farmers and rural communities adapt to a changing climate
updating guidance for asset owners and asset management

These are described in more detail in the following section.

New flood and coastal erosion risk information in England

In December 2024, we published a national assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024 report. It provides a single picture of current and future flood risk from rivers, the sea and surface water for England using updated modelling and data. This is our new national flood risk assessment (NaFRA). Alongside this, we also updated our national coastal erosion risk map (NCERM).

In January 2025, we updated our ‘risk of flooding from rivers and sea’ and ‘risk of flooding from surface water’ to reflect this new assessment. You can see this information on check your long-term flood risk.

In March 2025 NaFRA flood zone data was incorporated into the Flood Map for Planning.

We also published a new national coastal erosion risk map data. You can see this on check coastal erosion risk and the shoreline management plan (SMP) explorer.

You can read more about the improvements these bring in:

section 3.1.1 – NaFRA
section 4.2 – NCERM
section 5.3 – flood map for planning

Enhanced surface water forecasting capabilities

During summer 2024, we worked with the Met Office and Flood Forecasting Centre to run a pilot to provide a Rapid Flood Guidance Service. This covers both surface water and rapidly responding rivers. The aim of this work was to support the response to surface water flooding. In summer 2025 we will run another operational trial to share more real time intelligence with responders.

Improving flood resilience

We worked with Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) and the Association of British Insurers to share information about flood resilient repair with the insurance sector. This means better information can be provided to home and business owners whose properties have flooded.

CIWEM’s Be Flood Ready property flood resilience (PFR) community of practice website was also launched in June 2024.

Helping farmers and rural communities adapt to a changing climate

We worked with the Rural Resilience Partnership to produce a work plan that will:

help rural communities to strengthen the resilience of their homes and businesses
provide evidenced solutions to the challenges rural communities face in the event of flooding
influence decision making
provide access to resources
support action on the ground
strengthen rural resilience to flooding in a changing climate

The partnership has identified 7 strategic outcomes to inform the work plan. They will use 3 frameworks to achieve the strategic outcomes.

These are:

developing the evidence base behind decision-making to increase resilience
engaging rural communities in flood resilience
ensuring communities, farmers and landowners have access to quality advice and support

Updated guidance for asset owners and asset management

We published best practice guidance for flood and coastal asset owner responsibilities. The new guide for main river riparian landowners, your watercourse: rights and roles:

clarifies roles and responsibilities
summarises guidance on how to maintain your watercourse sustainably
summarises guidance on permitting of works
show how you can work with others to reduce flood risk and protect and enhance the natural environment

We also engaged with RMAs and led on the development of flood risk asset maintenance and inspection: good practice guidance. This explains common approaches to inspecting and managing all flood and coastal defences.

This consistent approach to inspection and management of assets will improve resilience of the asset base.

2.3 Changes to government policy and announcements

This section reflects some of the new policy changes announced by the government since July 2024

Investment announcement

In February 2025, government announced that a record £2.65 billion will be invested over 2 years to build, maintain and repair flood defences across England. This covers the period from April 2024 to March 2026 and is part of government’s Plan for Change. Around 1,000 projects will receive funding which will better protect 52,000 properties by March 2026.

This funding includes £108 million that we are re-prioritising into asset maintenance. This will make sure that an extra 14,500 properties will have their expected level of protection maintained or restored.

This includes:

£36 million invested in 2024 to 2025 to carry out urgent repairs to defences damaged in last winter’s extreme flooding events
£72 million in 2025 to 2026 that will go towards maintaining and repairing high consequence assets - this will make sure they are resilient and operate as expected

Floods resilience taskforce

Protecting communities around the country from flooding is a government priority. In September 2024, government launched the Floods Resilience Taskforce. The taskforce aim is to provide oversight of national and local flood resilience and preparedness.

The taskforce brings together Defra ministers and officials with representatives from across the public, private and 3rd sectors. These include:

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)
Home Office
Cabinet Office
Environment Agency
Met Office
Local Resilience Forums (LRFs)
LLFAs
Mayoral Offices
emergency responders
National Farmers Union (NFU)

The first meeting took place in September 2024 and discussed preparedness for autumn and winter flooding. The second meeting was held in February 2025 and looked at funding and investment reform and early learnings from flooding since September.

Internal drainage board fund

In March 2025 government announced an additional £16 million to strengthen the IDB Storm Recovery and Asset Improvement fund. This increased the fund to a total of £91 million.

The fund was established to help IDBs recover from flooding events over winter 2023 to 2024 and modernise their infrastructure.

So far, the fund is supporting over 250 projects. Some of the fund achievements this year following the 2023 to 2024 winter storms include:

repairing bank slips and breaches
covering excess energy costs due to the unprecedented pumping required
fixing damaged pumps and weed screens

At the same time, projects have improved land drainage and reduced the amount of time land is inundated with flood water, supporting improved crop resilience.

In the long-term the fund will modernise and improve IDB assets. This work will include:

installation of telemetry to increase automation of pumping sites
replacement pumps/new pumping stations
installation of solar energy generation
use of natural flood risk management measures
improvements to water control structures

Asset improvement projects have extended asset life between 5 to 60 years, supporting longer term flood resilience. Overall, the fund will provide flood resilience improvements to over 400,000 hectares of agricultural land and over 91,000 properties or businesses.

You can find out more about the role of IDBs on the Association of Drainage Authorities website.

Question 3

3. Current risk and investment

Accepted Answer

This section provides information on flood risk, investment and partnership working.

3.1 Properties in areas at risk of flooding

Our new NaFRA shows that overall, around 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk from flooding. That risk can be from one or a combination of sources including:

rivers
the sea
surface water
overwhelmed drains and sewers

Some properties are at risk from more than one source of flooding.

Table 2: properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, the sea and surface water (as of 31 March 2025).

Level of risk	Annual likelihood of flooding (percentage)	Total number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea	Total number of properties in areas at risk of flooding from surface water
High	Greater than 3.3%	367,900	1,071,800
Medium	3.3% – 1%	323,300	884,800
Low	1% – 0.1%	966,500	2,644,000
Very low	Less than 0.1%	777,300	-
Total	-	2,435,000	4,600,600

3.1.1 Changes in properties in areas at risk from flooding and coastal erosion

The numbers of properties in areas at risk from flooding and coastal erosion change over time. This is shown in table 3.

This is normally due to factors including:

changes in land use
changes to the natural environment
the increasing impacts of climate change
investment in building and maintaining flood and sea defences
ageing defences that require maintenance or replacement

All these factors will influence the total number of properties in areas at risk of flooding in any given year and any given location. For this year, most of the changes between our latest assessment and previous years are largely related to an improved understanding of risk.

New national flood risk assessment

On 17 December 2024, we published the national assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024. This provides a picture of current and future flood and coastal erosion risk. For the first time, this assessment includes information on the changes in risk that may occur with climate change.

The new NaFRA shows that one in five homes are in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, sea and surface water. This rises to one in four homes by the mid-century because of climate change.

Overall:

2.4 million properties are in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea
4.6 million properties are in areas at risk of surface water flooding

Some properties are at risk from flooding from multiple sources. For example, around 750,000 properties are in areas at risk from flooding from rivers, the sea, and surface water.

In previous years we estimated that between 122,000 and 290,000 properties were in areas at risk of groundwater flooding. You can see this in table 3.

However, the new NaFRA does not include groundwater flooding, and these figures are not included as part of the new total for 2024 to 2025.

This is because:

the figures have not been updated for some time
there are too many gaps in our understanding and evidence of groundwater flood risk

We are currently working to address the gaps in our evidence and understanding of groundwater flood risk.

This means around 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are in areas at risk from flooding.

With climate change the total number of properties in areas at risk from rivers and the sea or surface could increase to:

3.1 million properties in areas at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea between 2036 and 2069
6.1 million properties in areas at risk of flooding from surface water between 2040 and 2060

This information is summarised in table 3.

Table 3: properties in areas at risk of flooding by source each year from 1 April to 31 March from 2019 to 2025

Source of flooding	Number of properties in areas at risk 2020 to 2021	Number of properties in areas at risk 2021 to 2022	Number of properties in areas at risk 2022 to 2023	Number of properties in areas at risk 2023 to 2024	Number of properties in areas at risk 2024 to 2025
Rivers and the sea	2.5 million	2.5 million	2.8 million	2.6 million	2.4 million
Rivers and the sea at high or medium risk	846,000	822,000	900,000	819,900	691,200
Surface water	3.2 million	3.2 million	3.4 million	3.2 million	4.6 million
Groundwater	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000	Not available

The new NaFRA:

allows us to track changes in flood risk more accurately than we have been able to in the past
will in time give us an improved understanding of the causes of changes in risk
allows us to better describe how risk from rivers, the sea, and surface water is changing year on year at a national and local level

For surface water flooding, the changes we are seeing in the total number of properties in areas at risk of surface water flooding doesn’t reflect a real-world increase in risk. It is almost entirely due to improvements in:

data
modelling
use of technology

For flooding from rivers and the sea, the new NaFRA data is not directly comparable with previous assessments. It is different because of:

much better data
improved modelling methodologies
improved assessment of properties, infrastructure and assets

The new NaFRA lets us continually improve data quality, which means our understanding of risk and how this is changing will improve further. Currently, we have assessed that nearly 90% of properties at flood risk in England are in areas that are suitable for the new NaFRA data and mapping.

We are continuing to refine our modelling and data with the aim of achieving 100% coverage with the new NaFRA data by Summer 2026. The new NaFRA will also support the development of new flood risk metrics. These will help us better describe the impact of flood risk investment across the country.

3.2 Investment in flood and coastal erosion risk management

The finance figures included in this report may change subject to the completion of the NAO audit of the Environment Agency’s annual report and accounts. This is due in October 2025. We will update the report once the audit has finished.

In February 2025, government announced a 2-year investment of £2.65 billion in FCERM. This covers April 2024 to March 2026. This investment is expected to better protect 52,000 homes and non-residential properties.

This year, around 27,500 properties have benefited from better protection from flooding and coastal erosion. Within this total, other RMAs have carried out works that better protect around 10,600 properties.

Almost 116,000 properties have benefited from better protection since April 2021.

This year, government invested £1,041 million of capital funding in FCERM investment programme. Of this, £783 million was capital and £258 million was resource funding supporting capital.

This includes spend on:

projects in 2024 to 2025 that better protect properties
the development of future projects
the flood and coastal resilience innovation programme

This means you should not directly compare overall spend with the number of properties protected in the same year.

Of the £1,041 million, £214 million was spent by other RMAs on FCERM projects. Other RMAs have also spent £14 million of local levy funding. Local levy funding is spent on local priority flood and coastal erosion projects. It is managed by RFCCs.

Funding for FCERM projects is allocated through the application of government’s partnership funding policy.

We review the programme of FCERM projects each year to make sure that we:

get the best value for money
better protect as many properties as possible
invest in priority areas where the risk is highest

Table 4: FCERM capital investment from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Type of funding	Investment (£ millions)
Central government	1,041
Local levy (EA & other RMA)	34
Funding from other sources	41

Government funding is used to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk across all regions of the country. We do not have any regional investment targets. All schemes are carefully assessed and prioritised to make sure they benefit the most people and property.

Table 5: government investment and properties protected in FCERM by Environment Agency area from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 in £ millions

EA Area	2024 to 2025 (£ millions)	Properties better protected
East Midlands	30	64
West Midlands	39	638
Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire	69	3,468
East Anglia	140	1,714
North East	28	664
Yorkshire	112	3,017
Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire	36	386
Cumbria and Lancashire	72	966
Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly	39	925
Wessex	134	3,111
Solent and South Downs	75	6,074
Kent, South London and East Sussex	86	5,972
Thames	21	120
Hertfordshire and North London	25	424
Nationally led capital	135	-
TOTAL	1,041	27,543

Government funding has helped areas of higher socio-economic deprivation to benefit across the country. Areas of deprivation are measured using the indices of multiple deprivation.

Between April 2024 and March 2025 FCERM work better protected:

7,900 properties (29% of the 2024 to 2025 total) in the highest socio-economically deprived areas in England (0-20% index of multiple deprivation)
8,200 properties (30% of the 2024 to 2025 total) in the next highest socio-economically deprived areas (20-40% index of multiple deprivation)

3.2.1 Other benefits of FCERM investment

The focus of our current investment programme is to better protect properties from flooding and coastal change.

However, our investment programme will also provide other benefits to support local businesses, communities and economic growth.

Table 6 shows the flood risk reduction benefits our work provides to:

agricultural land
roads
rail

Table 6: other benefits of FCERM investment from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2025

Type of benefit	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023	2023 to 2024	2024 to 2025
Agricultural land (ha)	28,000	127,000	7,000	10,000
Roads (km)	1,500	1,700	500	450
Rail (km)	90	130	75	32

3.2.2 Significant projects completed

Between April 2024 and March 2025, we worked with other RMAs to better protect around 27,500 properties from flooding and coastal erosion through around 145 FCERM capital projects.

These projects better protected people and properties from:

sea and tidal flooding – 14,968 properties from 30 projects
river flooding – 6,849 properties from 73 projects
surface water flooding – 1,254 properties from 35 projects
coastal erosion – 4,472 properties from 7 projects

A project can provide improved protection from more than one source of flooding. The number of properties protected by a project depends on the size of the project and the type of flooding it is providing protection from. For example, surface water projects are often lower cost and provide protection to fewer properties.

Case study 1 – Cockett Wick sea wall improvement scheme

The Cockett Wick seawall improvement scheme is an important part of the Essex and Suffolk SMP. This plan aims to sustain the viability of seaside communities.

This scheme provides long-term flood resilience, supporting aspirations for further growth and regeneration of seaside towns.

Completing in August 2024, the scheme has better protected over 3,000 homes and businesses from tidal flooding.

With a £12 million investment, the works include:

the placement of 14,000 tonnes of Norwegian granite
150 steel piles
330 metres of reinforced concrete footpath and seawall

The new wall is designed to account for sea-level rise and climate change, accommodating a further wall raising in 50 years’ time.

The design was amended to use 152 recycled steel tube piles rather than new steel sheet piles, saving approximately 1,000 tonnes of carbon.

3.2.3 Partnership funding

Funding for FCERM projects is allocated in line with government partnership funding policy. The amount of funding a project is allocated depends on the damages avoided because of the project plus the benefits it will provide.

This is based on 4 measures:

the overall benefits provided by a project less those valued under the other measures listed below – this could include damages avoided to hospitals, farms or transport infrastructure
households moved from one category of flood risk to a lower category
households better protected against coastal erosion
environmental benefits provided through FCERM activities

Some projects will be fully funded by FCERM grant-in-aid, while others will need partnership funding contributions to go ahead. These contributions usually come from those benefiting from the project, including:

local partners
the local community
other organisations or businesses

Partnership funding contributions allow more communities to benefit from local FCERM measures than could be funded directly by central government alone.

Table 7: Partnership funding spent between April 2021 and March 2024 on projects better protecting properties in 2021 to 2027 programme

	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023	2023 to 2024	2024 to 2025	Total
Partnership funding spent	£52 million	£53 million	£85 million	£150	£340 million

3.2.4 Asset management

There are around 265,000 assets that have a FCERM purpose in England. Just under 262,000 manage risk from flooding. The remainder manage coastal erosion risk.

Of the flood risk management assets:

around 165,000 are third party assets maintained by riparian owners who own the land next to the river – 95,000 of these are in high consequence systems
around 90,000 are managed by the Environment Agency – 65,000 of these are in high consequence systems

High consequence systems are those where the assets protect a high concentration of properties. A system is where several different types of flood defences work together to reduce risk and better protect an area.

We allocated £214 million towards maintaining FCERM assets between April 2024 and March 2025.This included a reprioritisation of £36 million from the capital investment programme. This money was used to increase maintenance to reduce deterioration and target asset repairs. This helps make sure assets are as resilient and reliable as possible and operate as expected during flood events.

Work carried out using this funding includes:

inspecting assets and checking that they are operational
clearing weeds and debris from assets to help ensure the free flow of water
protecting embankments from erosion
maintaining assets that support the free movement of eels and fish along watercourses
clearing assets of invasive non-native species (INNS) which can harm other species, damage habitats and increase flood risk

The Environment Agency inspects and reports on 195,000 flood risk management assets. This includes our own and third-party assets. We inspect all flood risk assets that work together to protect people and property.

We do not maintain third party assets. However, many form part of our schemes and connect to assets we do maintain. It is important we inspect, inform and monitor these to understand their condition. This makes sure of the performance of the overall flood risk management system. We work with the third parties to make sure they are maintained and operated when required.

Inspection frequency is based on risk and varies from 6 months to 5 years. This means not all assets are inspected each year.

Our long-term aim, with the appropriate level of investment, is for 98% of our high consequence assets to be at their required condition. On 1 April 2025, 92.8% of our flood risk assets in high consequence systems were in the required condition

We publish details of planned maintenance activities in the river and coastal maintenance programme.

3.3 Public sector cooperation agreements

The FWMA requires RMAs to cooperate with each other when carrying out FCERM activities. RMAs should work together to provide flood risk maintenance and other activities.

One example of partnership working is through public sector cooperation agreements (PSCAs). These allow 2 public sector bodies to set out how they will work together to achieve public tasks of mutual benefit. The benefits of partnership working are well established.

We use PSCAs for a wide variety of work including:

routine maintenance
small improvement works
incident response

Table 8: summary of Environment Agency PSCAs on 31 March 2025

Risk Management Authority	Number of PSCAs in place
Internal drainage boards	34
Lead local flood authorities	3
Navigation authorities	4
Total	41

3.4 Efficiency savings

We report to government about the efficiencies achieved through our FCERM investment programme. This is so that we achieve the best possible value for the investment of government funds.

We can achieve efficiencies through:

national initiatives that allow operational improvements
project specific activities

Savings are achieved through:

innovation
value engineering
longer-term planning and packaging of work

We aim to achieve 10% efficiencies in the current investment programme. These efficiencies are then reinvested in our investment programme.

Between April 2024 and March 2025, we achieved £92 million in efficiency savings. We have done this mainly by using different contract methods to gain greater value and risk sharing from our supply chain.

Case study 2 - Stallingborough sea defence improvements project

Stallingborough is a village located in north east Lincolnshire, south of Immingham and close to the mouth of the Humber Estuary. The village itself is set back from the frontage. However, parts of the village and the surrounding area are at tidal flood risk from the estuary.

The project will improvement 4.5km of coastal defences along part of the Humber Estuary’s south bank.

The defences will benefit:

2,300 properties
nationally important infrastructure
vital industry
areas outlined by North East Lincolnshire Council for future development

The overall economic benefits from the project are valued at £1.2 billion over 25 years.

Works include the placement of granite rock onto the seaward side of around 3.5km of revetment and repairs to the remaining 1km. Traditionally, work of this type needs a skilled machine operator and banksman to check the placement.

The project instead used machine-controlled software to achieve an accurate and efficient placement and density of rock to the slope profile.

The software helps the operator position the machine according to the design and provides a live digital representation of the progress. This made the operation more efficient, and in this case saved £224,000.

Question 4

4. 
FCERM strategy ambition 1 - climate resilient places

Accepted Answer

This section looks work to help achieve FCERM strategy ambition 1. It covers how RMAs are working together to increase resilience to flooding and coastal change, both now and in the future.

4.1 Climate change

Our climate is changing, sea levels are rising, and we are experiencing more extreme weather. We are already seeing these changes.

Long term records show that in the UK:

temperatures are rising
more rainfall in winter is falling in intense rainfall events
sea levels are rising more rapidly than in the past

The scale of potential future flooding and coastal change is significant. 1 in 5 properties are already in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, sea and surface water. The risks will only increase with rising sea levels, more frequent and severe floods and storm surges. 1 in 4 properties will be in areas at risk of flooding from rivers, sea and surface water by mid-century with climate change.

There are 2 main ways we can tackle climate change:

mitigation – reducing or limiting the effects of greenhouse gases to reduce the impacts of a changing climate
adaptation – changing lifestyles, economy, and infrastructure to adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change

We need to prepare for the changes that are already happening. We need to take greater action to both mitigate and adapt to minimise risks from climate change.

The climate of the future depends on the actions we take now.

4.1.1 Mitigation

In May 2021 the Environment Agency set out our plan to achieve net zero. In January 2024 we updated our net zero goal to be consistent with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) definition of net zero.

We kept our original goal to reduce emissions by 45% and committed to increase our emissions reduction target to 90% between 2045 and 2050.

In FCERM, we remain committed to our pledge to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030. We have continued our work to achieve this, including:

cross-sector collaboration to reduce carbon in our infrastructure - for example, we have made low carbon concrete a minimum requirement and business cases for any new flood schemes must contain a carbon assessment
working on new innovations - for example, low carbon steel reinforcement bar alternatives and using modelling to minimise the embedded carbon of our infrastructure schemes by design

We have also reduced our direct operational emissions by more than a third since 2019. We have done this by:

switching a significant portion of our fleet to electric
reducing the amount we travel
investing in more efficient infrastructure

We have an action plan to support our net zero road map. This contains 92 actions which we track and report progress on every quarter.

In 2019 our work on FCERM projects accounted for around 54% of our corporate carbon emissions. This was the equivalent of around 148,000t CO₂e.

Investment in FCERM projects has doubled since the last programme, which ran from 2015 to 2021. This increase comes with an increased potential for more emissions. Currently, we estimate emissions from our construction are around 65% of our overall carbon footprint.

However, our flood risk management projects also avoid using carbon. We estimate 268,000t CO₂e of carbon will be avoided through the operational life of FCERM projects completed between April 2021 and March 2023. This is through properties not flooding and livelihoods being protected.

We continue to prioritise reducing carbon during the construction of our flood risk management projects. The choices we make about the construction materials we use are very important.

For example, over 80% of our carbon emissions from construction are contained in materials we use such as concrete and steel. To reduce this, we have changed our technical requirements for suppliers. We now specify low carbon concrete by default where suitable.

In March 2025, we became a signatory to the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) Five Client Carbon Commitments. This is a public commitment to reduce carbon across the lifecycle of infrastructure delivery, which aligns with our corporate net zero targets. Signing up demonstrates our dedication to act and work with other leading UK infrastructure organisations to embed sustainability and achieve net zero.

Our Net Zero Carbon for Infrastructure (NZC4I) programme is a transformational change programme. We set it up to support rapid carbon reduction across all our infrastructure assets.

The programme has:

introduced several projects ranging from research and experimental development to implementation and continuous improvement
a dedicated change management team which provides a people-centric approach to decarbonisation as well as ensuring the best probability in achieving net zero

In February 2025 NZC4I won programme of the year at the Defra project delivery profession awards.

The programme has a project dossier which contains a summary of all projects included. It shows that together, through their combined outputs, they will achieve the required infrastructure decarbonisation to meet our net zero goal.

This year these projects included:

modelling and evidence for investment in net zero carbon, an economic analysis of the cost effectiveness of different decarbonisation incentives - this year we have developed two evidence-based MACC models
digital and continuous improvement of the carbon management system - embedding carbon in decision-making across the business and improving data quality and compliance
roadmap for whole-life carbon management in the asset management system - a roadmap of net zero interventions for carbon reduction and removal for whole-life carbon emissions of assets covering operations, use and end of life carbon and using circular economy principles
net zero carbon through innovation and technology - a rolling programme of pilots and trials of new and novel low carbon technologies

Case study 3: Lydd Ranges sea defences

Lydd Ranges sea defences are a £30 million investment on the south coast of Kent. They provide protection from flooding for:

1,780 homes
over 300 businesses
an MoD firing range
Dungeness Nuclear Power Station
prime agricultural land

The Lydd scheme involved rebuilding 1.8km of concrete roadway. Concrete accounts for over half of the carbon emissions from Environment Agency construction work. This means low carbon alternatives are essential to achieve net zero carbon.

We trialled three different concrete options. The scheme used Earth Friendly Concrete (EFC). This:

replaces traditional cement binder with an ultra-low carbon option
offers significant carbon savings over a standard concrete
provides higher flexural strength, which allowed the thickness of the roadway slab to be reduced from 250mm to 200mm – this saved a further 20% on the amount of carbon and materials and 20% on costs

Concrete slabs also contain reinforcing bars to prevent cracking. These emit considerable carbon during manufacture. The Lydd Roadway used ‘BasTech’ steel-free reinforcing bars. These are made at lower temperatures from Basalt rock and resin. Overall, they:

are 4.5 times lighter than steel
are 2.5 times stronger
are resistant to seawater
emit 60% less carbon than traditional steel
saved a further 252 tonnes of carbon

Overall, the project benefits included:

saving 798 tonnes (73%) of the carbon compared to a traditional concrete roadway
a reduction in the total volume of concrete required because Basalt FRP bars do not require concrete cover to protect against corrosion – this achieved cost neutrality compared to the traditional design
increased construction speed as the Bastech reinforcement meshes were light enough to move into place by hand

This approach has huge potential for many of our projects, especially at coastal locations where resistance to saltwater corrosion is critical.

4.1.2 Adaptation and resilience

We are planning for a 2˚C global temperature increase by 2100 in our FCERM strategy. However, it is also important that we prepare for more extreme climate change scenarios and assess a range of climate impacts. This will make sure our approach to FCERM can adapt to a range of climate futures.

We’re doing this in both our planning advice for new developments and for the design of new FCERM projects, schemes and strategies. Our guidance reflects the latest climate science.

Guidance for RMAs on how to account for climate change in FCERM projects, schemes and strategies fits with our partnership funding and appraisal guidance.

Flood and coastal innovation programmes

We manage the flood and coastal innovation programmes (FCIP) funded by Defra. This encourages innovation in flood and coastal resilience and adaptation to a changing climate. We’re investing £200 million to test and develop new ways to create a nation resilient to flooding and coastal change.

We’re doing this across 3 programmes:

Flood and coastal resilience innovation programme (FCRIP)
Adaptive pathways programme (APP)
Coastal transition accelerator programme (CTAP)

In October 2024, we published a mid-programme report. This mid-programme report provides more details of the work of project teams across the country.

This includes:

what has been achieved so far
examples of the best innovations and learning
the challenges encountered by project teams in delivering resilience and adaptation to flooding and coastal change

The mid programme review identified 5 main themes drawn from project learning, successes and challenges. These are:

flood and coastal resilience can unlock significant wider social, economic and environmental benefits for people, places, and wildlife
a lack of understanding and evidence hinders the coordination and delivery of groundwater flood risk management
continual monitoring of flood and coastal resilience is vital to measuring performance and evaluating benefits over time
flood and coastal resilience requires strong local leadership and governance, including community and political engagement
third sector organisations are often critical to the effective delivery of flood and coastal resilience projects

You can read more about some specific examples and achievements across each of the 3 programmes in the next section.

Flood and coastal resilience innovation programme

£150 million of the FCIP funding is being used by 25 local authority led projects.

Each project will show how practical innovative actions can help to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion. The projects will test and implement practical and innovative resilience actions to improve resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.

Case study 4 - FloodAI

In Northumberland, there are 6 catchments that do not have access to the regular Environment Agency flood warnings. This means communities have no warning to protect their property, or even their safety. This is because when it rains, the water levels in these small to mid-sized catchments rise very quickly. Existing hydraulic models cannot predict the flooding with enough time for communities to act on the information.

The FloodAI project is attempting to alleviate this problem, by providing a means of flood warning to these “rapid response” catchments. This is being done through the development and testing of an artificial intelligence (AI) model to better predict flash flooding.

FloodAI is being developed with features to make it attractive to both future adopters and end-users. These features include:

transparent AI
predictions with sufficient warning and information for local stakeholders to act
a wireless sensor network with optimised power consumption

To encourage uptake of the model, the project is determining the costs and benefits of the flood warning service. This will help:

understand the skills and capacities required to deliver the service
develop an operational and technological framework that can be shared, repeated or scaled nationally for other communities facing similar flooding risks

Adaptive pathways programme

£8 million of the FCIP funding is being used to develop adaptation pathway plans for managing flooding and coastal change to 2100 and beyond.

The plans cover strategic locations including the:

Thames Estuary
Humber Estuary
River Severn

They also include 2 locations in Yorkshire:

a catchment scale project in South Yorkshire
a community scale surface water project in West Yorkshire

We are working with partners to develop and explore:

different resilience actions – these could help to better plan for, protect, respond to, and recover from flooding and coastal change over pathways to 2100 and beyond
local land use and development choices – these could allow for more flood and climate resilient places
better coordination of planning and investment cycles with infrastructure and utilities – these could unlock investment in flood resilient infrastructure and services
integrated water level management – which could improve flood and coastal resilience whilst also enhancing water quality and the natural environment

These will help us achieve:

the maximum benefit for people and places at the right time
strategic objectives and measures in the FCERM strategy

We have tested:

citizen’s panels in each of the locations to gain insights from local people and gather recommendations on complex issues
rapid adaptation pathways assessments with LAs - this is an approach to develop high level ‘rapid’ adaptation pathways through a one-day workshop

We have developed an adaptation pathway knowledge hub which contains information and tools to help RMAs develop adaptation pathways.

Coastal transition accelerator programme

£36 million of the FCIP funding is being used for the Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme.

CTAP:

covers 5 coastal areas at significant risk of coastal erosion
covers the coastal areas with property most at risk of significant coastal erosion in the next 20 years
is producing adaptation plans
is trialling practical actions that will support the long-term resilience of coastal communities to adapt and transition away from areas of coastal change

North Norfolk District Council and East Riding of Yorkshire Council were selected to receive £30 million of the funding in phase 1 of the project. This is because data at the time showed up to 80% of the homes at risk in the next 20 years are within those two areas.

The £6 million of additional funding for phase 2 of the project will help support communities at risk of coastal erosion in the South West to transition and adapt to coastal change. This is for projects in Bude in Cornwall and Charmouth and Swanage in Dorset.

The councils are working with residents, businesses and asset owners to prepare for the long term.

They are doing this through:

rolling back property and facilities at short term risk of coastal erosion
improving and replacing damaged community infrastructure such as steps and ramps to the beach
repurposing land where property has been removed for community and nature benefit
working with the finance and property sectors to explore innovative finance and funding mechanisms to help move communities away from rapidly eroding areas
using the local planning system so it supports and facilitates managed transition of existing development
enables new adaptable development where it is appropriate and restricts unsustainable development in areas at risk from coastal erosion

The programme will run from 2022 to 2027 in East Riding of Yorkshire and North Norfolk and from 2024 to 2027 in Bude, Charmouth and Swanage.

We will share lessons and embed learning from the programme with coastal practitioners in RMAs. We will do this through:

existing groups
networks
workshops

Some examples of the work being carried out by the CTAP projects includes:

transition planning to understand what adaptation might look like for communities at risk
assessing support package options for householders at risk
gathering data and evidence that may help inform funding decisions such as quantifying costs and benefits of managing the impacts of coastal erosion, which could be avoided through adaptation
building community resilience by enhancing coastal literacy on adaptation and coastal change through community engagement

4.2 Coastal change

The new national coastal erosion risk map

In January 2025 we published the updated NCERM on ‘Check coastal erosion risk for an area in England’ and SMP Explorer. We worked closely with local authorities who supplied local data and verified outputs.

The new NCERM:

is available as open access data on data.gov.uk
provides the most up to date picture of current and future coastal erosion risk or England
uses the best available evidence from the National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes
includes climate change impacts on coastal erosion risk, and allowances for sea level rise
includes new information on areas of land instability at the coast caused by rainfall and rising groundwater levels which can contribute to cliff erosion and landslides
makes erosion information more accessible to coastal managers, planners and the public by providing clearer online visualisations

The NCERM shows that 3,500 properties are at risk of coastal erosion by 2055. This assumes all current SMP approaches and actions are carried out.

Coast protection authorities (CPAs) lead on coastal erosion management. They have permissive powers, which allow them to carry out FCERM works.

Some CPAs in England use NCERM to develop local planning mechanisms. These include coastal change management area (CCMAs).

These mechanisms:

ensure new development takes account of the changing coast
support the transition of communities and infrastructure away from areas at risk of coastal erosion

4.2.1 Shoreline management plans

SMPs set out the local approach to managing coastal flood and erosion risk into the next century. They identify the most sustainable management approach for each stretch of coastline in England.

The management approaches cover the:

short-term (0 to 20 years)
medium term (20 to 50 years)
long-term (50 to 100 years)

We are currently in the medium term which runs from now until 2055.

During 2024, we have worked with coastal practitioners to update information on SMP Explorer and establish the ‘SMP Next Steps; Refresh into Action Project’. This project will run for 2 years and will include:

supporting delivery of some priority actions and revisit SMP management approaches needing change
establishing and embedding governance (including assurance) and exploring resource to maintain SMPs
further improving the access to, understanding and use of SMPs by coastal communities and wider coastal interests

The project will contribute to actions within the FCERM strategy.

Coastal erosion assistance grant

The coastal erosion assistance grant (CEAG) is a grant of £6,000 per property to support the prompt and safe demolition of homes at greatest risk of loss from erosion. Local authorities can apply for the grant to help with the initial transitional costs associated with loss of a residential property. In January 2025 we published information on the grant and its eligibility criteria.

4.2.2 Coastal habitats

We work with other RMAs to find opportunities to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk through nature-based solutions. These are solutions that also create or enhance coastal habitats.

This can include:

working with natural processes
natural flood management (NFM)
making space for wildlife by incorporating appropriate features into the design of FCRM projects

FCERM activities may also contribute to the deterioration or loss of protected intertidal habitat such as saltmarsh. The majority of losses happen due to coastal squeeze. This is where FCERM structures, for example seawalls, prevent the natural landward migration of intertidal habitats in response to sea level rise.

To meet our legal obligations, we create new habitat to replace what is predicted to be lost due to coastal squeeze. We do this through the Habitat Compensation and Restoration Programme (HCRP). The programme carries out large-scale habitat creation projects, such as:

Steart Marshes in Somerset
Lower Otter in Devon

4.2.3 Intertidal saltmarsh and mudflats

Intertidal habitat includes saltmarsh and mudflats. Our knowledge of the restoration of these habitats and the benefits they bring has improved significantly over time. The restoration of these habitats can:

reduce coastal flood and erosion risk
store carbon
filter out excess nutrients
support fisheries
provide health and well-being benefits

In total, the HCRP has created approximately 1,600 hectares of intertidal habitat.

4.2.4 Freshwater and other coastal habitats

Other protected habitats may also be lost due to coastal change and FCERM activities. These habitats include:

reed beds
freshwater grazing marsh
saline lagoons
vegetated shingle

If these habitats are lost through our legal obligation to create intertidal habitat, we replace them elsewhere.

In total, the HCRP has created approximately 760 hectares of other freshwater and other coastal habitats.

4.2.5 Working together on the coast

Coastal handbook

In November 2024, we published a new digital coastal handbook on the Supporting Flood and Coast Projects site. The handbook supports practitioners carrying out FCERM work on the coast.

The handbook:

builds consistency and capacity
helps practitioners use and access updated risk products and digital tools
embeds and operationalises learning from new initiatives, projects and programmes

The content of the coastal handbook is relevant to:

all members of coastal groups in England
all other operating authorities and bodies that have a role in coastal flood and erosion risk management

The site is managed by the Environment Agency. However, all RMAs can contribute and add content.

Coastal practitioners conference

The Coastal Practitioners Conference is an annual event hosted by the Environment Agency and the Coastal Group Network. It is attended by a range of organisations that have a role in managing the coast.

The 2024 conference was held in Blackpool on 15 and 16 May 2024. It brought together over 180 coastal practitioners and provided a range of perspectives from:

local authorities
universities
private companies
non-governmental organisations

The aim of the event was to promote collaboration to improve our coast.

The event highlighted the move towards coastal nature-based solutions, innovative research and how working alongside communities can build a stronger and more resilient north-west coast for future generations.

4.3 Natural flood management

Nature-based solutions have an important contribution to play in achieving climate resilient places.

NFM describes interventions that reduce flood risk by using natural techniques. NFM can manage flood and coastal erosion risk by protecting, restoring and emulating the natural processes of:

catchments
rivers
floodplains
coasts

NFM also provides a range of wider benefits, including:

carbon capture
increasing and improving habitats and biodiversity
increasing water quality
improving water resources
improving health and wellbeing

There are 17 different NFM measures described in the updated working with natural processes evidence directory, which was first published in 2017. These measures are shown in table 9.

Table 9: 17 NFM measures by category

Category	NFM measure
River and floodplain management	River restoration, Floodplain and wetland restoration, Leaky barriers, Beavers – new measure, Offline storage areas
Woodland management	Catchment woodland, Cross-slope woodland, Floodplain woodland, Riparian woodland
Run-off management	Soil and land management, Headwater drainage management, Run-off pathway management
Coast and estuary management	Saltmarsh and mudflat management, Beach nourishment, Sand dune management, Reefs – new measure, Submerged aquatic vegetation – new measure

We can better manage flood risk for communities by using a combination of nature-based solutions and engineered flood and coastal defences.

4.3.1 Natural flood management programme

The £25 million NFM Programme launched in September 2023.

It aims to:

reduce local flood risk using NFM
provide wider benefits to the environment, nature, and society
accelerate new and existing opportunities for NFM delivery and financing
further improve evidence of NFM by filling knowledge gaps

The 40 successful packages of work were announced by ministers in February 2024. Three have subsequently withdrawn from the programme. The remaining 38 will be carried out by a range of stakeholders including:

landowners
farmers
RMAs
non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
other community organisations

The projects will carry out a mixture of NFM measures at a range of scales and across a variety of communities and landscapes.

Thirty-six of these projects have had their business cases assured. The remaining 2 are expected to have completed this stage by mid-May 2025. Projects are now moving into their delivery phase.

All projects have installed required monitoring and are collecting baseline data and meeting the programme monitoring requirements. Stations are being set up on the Environment Agency database WiSKI. This is where data will be stored and made available through Open Government Licence, and used for national analysis.

The programme is providing learning which is supporting our ambition to mainstream NFM. Through the development phase, this has focused on how we give grants to non-RMAs.

Mainstreaming NFM

We want people and places to make greater use of nature-based solutions to enhance flood and coast resilience and nature recovery.

This ambition is reflected in the aims of the:

FCERM strategy
FCERM Strategy Roadmap to 2026

At present there are:

101 projects in the 38 NFM programme packages of work - 3 are currently in assurance within two packages
15 FCRIP projects that include NFM measures
53 projects in the FCRM Investment Programme that include NFM measures to date

4.4 Improving the environment

We work with other RMAs to look for opportunities to create and improve habitat as part of our FCERM work. We also form partnerships with groups such as wildlife and rivers trusts.

Between April 2021 and March 2025 we have:

created or enhanced 2,636 hectares of habitat
enhanced 494 kilometres of rivers

Case study 5 - Billingham Beck

Billingham Beck is a £1 million habitat restoration project located in Stockton-on-Tees. The work aimed to restore ecological connectivity between the beck and its floodplain after decades of modification.

The project was a partnership between:

Environment Agency
Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council
Tees Rivers Trust
National Highways

Works included:

removal of a weir to enhance fish passage and migration
created scrapes, or dips in the ground that can fill with water
landscaping to enhance Billingham Beck country park for both visitors and wildlife
improved drainage systems, newly installed pathways, stairs, benches and gates, as well as the planting of 5,000 trees
the construction of two ‘woody debris’ dams

Completed in December 2024, the project has:

restored wetland habitat
opened up 55km of river for fish
introduce NFM measures at Billingham Beck

4.5 Agriculture and land management

The FCERM strategy recognises the important role agriculture plays in managing water from both a flood and drought risk perspective. Good land management practices have a distinct role in helping improve resilience by mitigating local flood risk across catchments.

The Environment Agency has been working with Defra to develop the 3 Environmental Land Management (ELM) schemes. In December 2024, Defra announced the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) options. These include a suite of FCERM-related options that will be available to landowners and land managers from Summer 2025.

Between April 2024 and March 2025, we better protected around 10,000 hectares of Grade 1, 2 and 3 agriculture land from flooding. This work was carried out through the FCERM investment programme.

Catchment sensitive farming

Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) is a partnership programme. It was expanded in April 2022 to include the provision of advice for NFM practices. In 2023, the Forestry Commission joined the partnership. Existing organisations are:

Natural England
Environment Agency
Defra

This advice provided by CSF advisers (CSFAs) includes both established and expanded CSF practices. These include:

soil management to improve infiltration
buffer strips to slow flow
run-off attenuation features to store and slowly release water

CFSAs provide broad NFM advice as well as focused support in partnership to projects which are likely to have the greatest impact. These projects are prioritised using a catchment-based, nationally guided and locally determined approach.

The partnership has provided guidance and 3 training courses to CSFAs. We have also carried out a series of outreach webinars to raise awareness of this work and facilitate collaboration.

We have developed an evaluation strategy to assess the uptake and impact of NFM advice. The strategy builds on the established approach used in the CSF Water Quality evaluation. It will collect information on:

outreach
implementation
barriers to uptake
farmer attitudes toward NFM and flood risk

This work is overseen and supported by a CSF National Operations Group.

CSF has engaged with more than 70 partners on more than 60 projects nationally, providing:

targeted farm advice
joint farm visits
support for CS-specific options to benefit NFM
contributions to project steering groups

This includes CSF NFM advice to three FCRIP projects:

Cumbria innovative flood resilience (CiFR)
Devon Resilience Innovation Programme (DRIP)
Ousewem

Between April 2024 and March 2025, CSF farm advisors have provided one-to-one NFM advice more than 1,000 times to over 500 holdings.

Since CSF expanded its scope to include NFM advice in April 2022, it has provided this advice one to one more than 5,000 times to more than 2,000 holdings.

Question 5

5. Ambition 2 – today’s growth and infrastructure resilient in tomorrow’s climate

Accepted Answer

This section looks work to help achieve FCERM strategy ambition 2. It covers making the right investment and planning decisions to secure sustainable growth and environmental improvements. It also supports infrastructure resilient to flooding and coastal change.

5.1 Promoting safe development resilient to flooding and coastal change

Our Long Term Investment Scenarios are being updated. The new scenarios will describe ranges of investment levels and sensitivities. This will help inform realistic expectations about outcomes for different futures.

Climate change will increase the:

size of flood risk areas
frequency and severity of flooding
complexity of the flood risk issues needing to be tackled

Spatial planning plays a crucial role in steering development to areas of lowest risk. It is also essential for ensuring that, where development is necessary in flood risk areas, the risks to people and property are minimised.

The national planning policy framework (NPPF) makes it clear that we should avoid inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding.

Development that takes place in flood risk areas should:

be designed to be safe throughout its lifetime
not increase flood risk elsewhere

Development design should be flood resistant and resilient. This will minimise flood damage and speed up recovery in the event of flooding.

We have an important role as a statutory planning advisor to local planning authorities (LPAs). We support sustainable development by engaging with, and advising, developers and planners. By doing this, we help to support sustainable development in the right places.

Investing in flood risk planning advice makes good economic sense. For every £1 we spend providing advice, around £12 of future flood damages are avoided.

We comment on development proposals:

in areas that are currently at medium or high risk of flooding from rivers and the sea
in areas with critical drainage problems
within 20 metres of a main river

We are not a statutory consultee:

on development in flood zone 1 which we expect to be at risk of flooding from rivers or the sea in the future
when proposed development could be at risk from other sources of flooding such as groundwater or surface water

LLFAs play a vital statutory role in planning applications, by providing technical advice to local planning authorities on surface water drainage. As statutory consultees on major development, LLFAs review applications. They do this to make sure surface water runoff is sustainably managed and development will not increase flood risk elsewhere.

We respond to approximately 8,300 planning applications each year. We provide detailed flood risk advice for around 5,700 planning applications. We know our flood risk planning advice this year has helped to avoid at least 55,000 homes from being permitted in potentially unsafe ways or locations.

Between April 2024 and March 2025:

over 96% of all planning decisions were in line with our advice on flood risk
over 99% of new homes proposed in planning applications complied with our advice on flood risk
we are aware of planning permissions for 301 homes that were granted against our advice on flood risk

We record a sample of planning application outcomes. This:

gives us an overview of how effective our advice is
helps us focus our efforts on positively influencing development proposals

We recorded decisions for 2,673 planning applications where we lodged flood risk objections. These cases totalled 55,528 homes overall. Between 1 April 2016 and 31 March 2025, we recorded the LPA’s final decision for around 68% of the applications we objected to on flood risk grounds.

We recognise that both the quality and the timeliness of our planning advice is important. As a result, we publish an annual:

list of all applications where we’ve lodged initial objections on flood risk grounds - often, the issues are resolved before a final decision is made
report showing our planning consultation response timelines

Table 10: planning applications reviewed by the Environment Agency between 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Type of Action	Total
Planning applications responded to	8,292
Planning applications which required detailed flood risk advice	5,742
Number of planning decisions recorded that related to flood risk objections	2,673
Number of homes granted planning permission contrary to our flood risk advice	301
Number of planning decisions recorded in line with our advice	2,571
Number of planning decisions made contrary to our flood risk advice	102
% of planning applications determined in line with our advice	Over 99%
% of residential properties in planning applications in line with our advice	Over 99%

5.1.1 Planning policy, guidance and research

In December 2024 we published an updated national assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024. Following this, in January 2025, we updated our ‘risk of flooding from rivers and sea’ and ‘risk of flooding from surface water’ to reflect this new assessment, and in March 2025 we launched our updated Flood Map for Planning service.

The service:

is aimed at planners and developers
is designed to help inform decisions about the location and design of development

Alongside updated Flood Zones, we now:

provide supporting data, helping users understand the possible effects of climate change on river and sea flooding in future
display surface water flood risk information for the first time

We provided comprehensive support to practitioners in the build-up to the publication of the updated service. We worked with the Town and Country Planning Association (TCPA) to provide:

a webinar to an audience of around 900 LPA and LLFA officers in February 2025
tools and guidance to help developers and flood risk assessment consultants understand and use the new data

We also:

shared a suite of tools and guidance via SharePoint for RMAs, including a questions and answers document
provided additional guidance on how to use the rivers and sea data on the Flood Map for Planning

We provided clarity for practitioners on the use of the new data by publishing updates to:

national flood risk standing advice for local planning authorities
preparing a flood risk assessment: standing advice
flood risk assessments: applying for planning permission
flood risk assessment: Flood Zones 1, 2, 3, and 3b
how to prepare a strategic flood risk assessment

5.1.2 Building skills and capacity on planning policy and guidance

We have worked in collaboration with the TCPA to develop an online learning hub for planners, developers and flood risk assessment (FRA) consultants. Its aim is to develop knowledge and understanding of the key principles of national policy and guidance on flood risk, coastal change and sustainable drainage. Learning modules are freely accessible from TCPA learning and currently include:

an introduction to planning for flood risk in England
applying the sequential and exception tests to decision making
flood risk assessments for planning applications
applying the sequential and exception tests for plan preparation
strategic flood risk assessments and flood risk evidence for plan making
a series of video tutorials on technical elements of development management such as functional floodplain, climate change allowances and flood risk standing advice

We expect to add new modules on managing coastal change and on sustainable drainage systems early in 2025 to 2026.

We have also continued our work with several CIRIA projects to support practitioners to provide sustainable drainage systems.

During 2025 to 2026 we expect publication of:

getting sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) right from the start – this aims to encourage consideration of SuDS at the earliest stage of land acquisition or assessment for inclusion in the local plan
producing a SuDS strategy template – this aims to help developers know what SuDS information should be included with planning applications
updates to the SuDS Manual – this will update the guidance to reflect the latest evidence and best practice and make it more accessible

We remain a member of CIRIA Susdrain - a community that provides a range of resources for those involved in SuDS.

These resources include:

tools such as the Benefits Estimation Tool (B£ST)
guidance such as the SuDS manual
training
case studies
celebrating SuDS - the Susdrain SuDS awards 2024

We intend to publish a flood risk assessment (FRA) template later in 2025. This will help improve the quality and consistency of the FRAs we receive with planning applications.

5.1.3 Reform to planning legislation, policy and guidance

We provided advice to Government on several planning reforms which were the subject of public consultation. These all had potential implications for flood risk and coastal change.

These included proposed reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework and other changes to the planning system.

We also provided advice to Government on proposed SuDS technical standards, as a member of its advisory group.

5.2 Property flood resilience

Just under 350 properties were better protected by PFR measures between April 2024 and March 2025, as part of the FCERM investment programme.

In August, we started a project to provide an additional facility which can test the effectiveness of PFR products. We are working in partnership with:

the University of Hull
Flood Re

Once completed, the new, independent test tank will be capable of testing products against the requirements of the British Standard.

This is important because:

manufacturers need to demonstrate that their product is capable of withstanding flooding
property owners require confidence that the products they are installing will work
the PFR code of practice recommends products are used which meet the British Standard

We expect the facility to open in summer 2025.

In January 2025 the Environment Agency commissioned ‘Floodproof: an action plan to build the resilience of people and properties’. This is an independent review of PFR.

The review will:

consider progress since the 2016 PFR action plan
identify gaps and opportunities to grow the PFR market
provide a new action plan for all relevant parties to take forward

The review will report to the Environment Agency and Defra in Autumn 2025.

In February and March, we took the FloodPod to 12 flood awareness events in 6 counties. The FloodPod is an interactive trailer where members of the public can learn about ways to make their home more resilient to flooding.

The events were held in places which had recently experienced flooding and were organised by us or local authorities. Experts were on hand to provide those who attended with information about PFR and how to prepare for flooding.

In March 2025, the CIWEM launched a specialised register of PFR professionals. This builds on the PFR training which we commissioned CIWEM to develop and was launched in 2023.

A PFR professional can join the register if they:

complete the required training
have been assessed as having the appropriate competence by independent assessors

The register will enable property owners to find competent and trustworthy PFR professionals who have proved their experience, skills and knowledge of PFR.

5.3 Reservoir safety

We regulate large raised reservoirs (LRRs) in England. These are reservoirs that store an escapable volume of more than 25,000m³.

In April 2025, there were 2,146 registered LRRs.

This regulation is a requirement of the Reservoirs Act 1975, which aims to ensure that dams and reservoirs are safe. Flooding from reservoir dam failure, although rare, can be very serious, putting lives at risk. Responsibility for the safety of reservoirs lies with their undertakers who are the owners or operators of the reservoir. 

As the enforcement authority, we must make sure undertakers follow the legal safety requirements. We report on our enforcement action in our biennial report.  

Owners and operators must report incidents at LRRs. Reservoir owners have 12 months following an incident to provide a full and comprehensive post incident report.

Twenty-six incidents were reported to us between April 2024 and March 2025, an increase from 5 last year.

We may see more incidents reported in the future because we are working to raise awareness of the benefits that incident reporting brings. This does not necessarily mean more incidents are occurring, but that we have more awareness of the incidents that are happening.

Case study 6 – compliance action plan at Mitford Reservoir

The Environment Agency’s Reservoir Regulation Team introduced Compliance Action Plans (CAPs) in 2024. We use a risk matrix to assess the severity and likelihood of risks to decide if using one instead of immediate enforcement is the right decision.

This method:

balances risk management and realistic timeframes
establishes clear milestones
mitigates critical risks and allows time for solutions
means we focus on resolving the most pressing issues without compromising safety

Mitford Reservoir, an Environment Agency asset was identified as non-compliant. It had measures in the interests of safety that had not been completed by the deadline set by the inspecting engineer.

The measures had not been completed due to:

contractor availability
weather events
a Category 1 white-clawed crayfish mortality incident – this required strict biosecurity protocols and licensing for crayfish rescue

We decided to implement a CAP. The interim measures helped to reduce immediate risks.

The reservoir operator praised the CAP for its proactive engagement and regular communication. They noted that building a strong relationship with the Reservoir Regulation Team was invaluable. Developing the CAP early allowed the team to explain their situation and create a plan. He emphasised that this collaborative approach worked well and welcomed future engagement.

The CAP:

successfully secured compliance without formal enforcement action
set clear milestones with defined actions and deadlines which kept progress on track
supported ongoing engagement between the Reservoir Regulation Team and the Environment Agency which fostered transparency and accountability
allowed interim measures which addressed urgent risks while permanent solutions were developed

This case highlights how proportionate regulation and effective risk management can encourage progress.

5.3.1 Environment Agency reservoirs

The Environment Agency own and operate 220 LRRs throughout England. The vast majority are for flood risk management purposes.

Most Environment Agency reservoirs are dry most of the time. They are used to store water during flood events to limit the flow downstream to help protect communities from flooding. Stored water is released in a controlled manner once the flood peak has passed so that the reservoir is ready to store water again during the next flood.

Flood storage reservoirs are a vital tool in managing flood risk. This is because they can hold water upstream in the catchment and reduce the amount in the towns and villages downstream.

5.3.2 The Balmforth review

In August 2019, Toddbrook Reservoir was severely damaged during flooding, and hundreds of residents downstream of the dam had to be evacuated. This incident led to the independent review of reservoir safety, which consisted of:

Part A, which looked at the causes of the incident
Part B, which looked at reservoir safety in England

We are developing and carrying out the Reservoir Safety Reform Programme, in response to the recommendations set out in the Independent Reservoir Safety Review. We will carry the work out in a phased way over several years.

The proposals being developed include:

a lowering of the threshold for regulation to 10,000m³
a new hazard classification for reservoirs
new reservoir safety management plans

We are preparing for the expected changes now. We are doing this by:

identifying our smaller raised reservoirs that could be subject to regulation in the future
carrying out actions now to improve them ready for the new legislation

We are undertaking risk assessments on all our reservoirs. We do this following the Risk Assessment for Reservoir Safety Management (Environment Agency, 2013) methodology. This makes sure we understand and address any risks with our reservoir assets.

We are also training up our own technical staff to become reservoir supervising engineers. This will allow them to apply for membership of the Supervising Engineers Panel which will improve our in-house reservoir expertise.

5.4 Surface water management

Our new NaFRA shows that around 4.6 million properties in England are in areas at risk of surface water flooding. About 1.1 million properties are in high-risk areas. This is 3 times as many properties at high risk of flooding from surface water than there are from flooding from rivers and the sea. We know that this risk will increase over time due to climate change and population growth unless we act.

LLFAs have the principal role in managing flood risk from local sources. These include:

surface water
ground water
ordinary watercourses

The Environment Agency has a strategic overview role for all sources of flooding, which includes surface water. We show strategic leadership by playing an active role in supporting local authorities and other partners. We help them plan and adapt to current and future surface water flood risk.

This year we have:

published our updated national assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk in England 2024 and risk of flooding from surface water map
updated the Flood Map for Planning so it displays surface water flood risk information for the first time
supported Defra in producing guidance for practitioners on carrying out investigations and reports under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.
trialled a Rapid Flood Guidance service through the Flood Forecasting Centre as part of the Surface Water Flood Forecasting Improvement Project
raised awareness of surface water flooding during Flood Action Week through a video with East Sussex County Council on what to do during a surface water flood
worked with Defra and Ofwat to produce new guidance for water and sewerage companies when preparing their statutory Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans
added surface water assets to our Data Requirements Library
published Flood risk asset maintenance and inspection: good practice guide which sets out good practice on local asset maintenance and management

5.5 Flood risk activities – environmental permitting

We regulate work on or near main rivers using environmental permits.

Our aim is to ensure our customer’s journey is positive and they get their permits in a timely and organised manner. Between April 2024 and March 2025, we issued 1,559 bespoke permits and 47 standard rules permits. There were also 1,410 registered exemptions.

We continue to monitor and take enforcement action against unauthorised activity in rivers and floodplains. This can include illegal ground filling in the floodplain or taking material from within the river without the necessary permissions.

Late in 2024 we centralised the way we administer permits through our permitting service. The transition has resulted in some business disruption (delayed timeframes) but we expect these to recover throughout the year.

Defra are currently consulting on an Exemption Reform. This will help simplify and speed up the process for regulators to create, amend and remove exemptions from the need to hold an environmental permit. We await the outcome of this consultation.

5.6 Water companies’ contribution to reducing risk

Under the FWMA, water companies are RMAs. This means they:

must act in a manner consistent with the National FCERM strategy for England
have a duty to cooperate with other RMAs

Several water companies are active members of their LRFs and are starting to become more involved in wider emergency planning. These partnerships add to the work the companies are doing with RFCCs to strategically manage flood risk.

This year water and sewerage companies have:   

responded to flood incidents, including participating in multi-agency responses
worked with partners to reduce flood risk and deliver wider benefits for communities, including water quality and amenity benefits
used strategic partnerships, including with RFCCs to align investment planning and funding
completed their Asset Management Plans (2020 to 2025) and submitted their plans for the next period to Ofwat – these demonstrate their commitment to increasing resilience to climate change
continued to innovate and share good practice

Between April 2024 and March 2025, water companies invested:  

£111.4 million to reduce the risk of sewer flooding to properties
£127.6 million to maintain the public sewer system to prevent blockages and flooding
£6.1 million in property-level protection and mitigation measures to reduce the likelihood of customers’ homes experiencing sewer flooding

This year water companies submitted their business plans and received a final determination from Ofwat. Ofwat has agreed £104 billion of funding for water companies for the period 2025 to 2030. This is the largest water industry investment programme since privatisation. It is a step change in funding for environment and resilience from the previous period’s £51 billion. 

The plans show a commitment to:

reduce incidents of internal sewer flooding by 27%
invest £3.3 billion in nature-based solutions

Around £300 million has been allocated for water companies to improve resilience to climate change, in particular resilience to power interruptions and flooding.

There will also be significant investment in the environment through the Water Industry National Environment Programme (WINEP). This includes benefits for flood and coastal risk management.

Examples include:

Northumbrian Water continuing with the Northumbia Integrated Drainage Partnership to deliver catchment flood alleviation schemes
Wessex Water’s catchment partnership action

There is also additional investment for looking at innovation through the Advanced WINEP.

This includes:

£26.3 million for Anglian Water to create a partnership centre of excellence – this will bring together stakeholders including the water industry, partners, and local government to improve river and coastal waters through nature first solutions
£231 million for United Utilities to put in place 58,000m³ of equivalent storage through rainwater gardens, swales, permeable paving and natural flood risk management – this will reduce storm overflow discharge

We have worked with Ofwat to support innovation. We are doing this through our respective programmes:

the Environment Agency Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme
Ofwat’s Water Breakthrough Challenge

Some examples include:

Doncaster, Immingham and Grimsby surface water resilience project between local councils and Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water – this is seeing the use of rain gardens and SuDS to attenuate water before it enters the sewer network and highway drainage system reducing flooding
Northumbrian Water’s Pipebot Patrol, a project funded by the Ofwat – this will develop, build and test an autonomous sewer robot that lives in the sewer, constantly inspecting and raising alerts to the precise location of blockages. This proactive approach will allow our maintenance teams enough time to plan and then react before sewer flooding occurs, reducing flood risk

Case study 7 - Southern Water’s SuDS in schools

SuDS in Schools is a £3 million match-funded pilot project by Southern Water and the Department for Education (DfE). It champions nature-based solutions to manage surface water and reduce the problems it causes for schools, including:

damaged equipment
lost schoolwork
risk to children and staff
loss of education

Schools are particularly prone to surface water flooding, as they often have large roofs and impermeable areas like playgrounds. In 2024, SuDS systems in the form of planters were installed in 12 schools across the water companies’ region.

The completed work provides between 2,500m³ to 56,000m³ of attenuation per school, depending on school size. In total, the installed SuDS systems will result in approximately 120,000m³ of increased attenuation per year.

We have secured a further round of funding which means we can continue to provide benefits for more schools over the coming years.

5.7 Working with other organisations

We continue to maintain strong relationships with a range of departments and organisations across England. This helps these organisations become better prepared for, and more resilient to, the impacts of flooding.

This year, we have:

built a relationship with the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS teams – we have shared flood risk data and approaches to adaptation and reviewed flood risk assessments, helping them improve healthcare outcomes and reduce waiting times by maintaining services throughout a flood
continued our work with the DfE to help keep schools open and allow learners to achieve and thrive - DfE regularly invest in our capital programme and have their own programme of flood interventions
had staff seconded into the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ) climate change and sustainability unit – helping them create their flood framework and reduce risk to prisons, courts and probation sites. They regularly invest in our flood programme. We also linked them up with Severn Trent Water to deliver a SuDS solution to help Surface Water flooding at Mansfield Court.
supported the Ministry of Defence’s (MoD) climate change risk assessment programme helping ensure that their infrastructure is safe, secure and resilient - this will enable the armed forces to live, work, train and operate to protect the nation and help it prosper
strengthened our relationship with the Department for Transport (DfT), sharing flood data and identifying where we can help deliver their ‘Fit for a changing climate’ adaptation strategy
developed a relationship with Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to look at synergies where our schemes plan to reduce the flood risk to sports facilities - we are aware that there are wide-ranging impacts from flooding for communities where key community assets such as sports facilities are damaged, we are creating new guidance, training and ways of working to increase the effectiveness of current ways of working with partners and the third sector
worked with the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government to identify where flood risk and our schemes overlap with their investment areas – this includes securing investment into our Paignton and Preston sea defence scheme
worked with other departments including Cabinet Office and Department for Work and Pension - to support their climate change work and enable resilient growth
strengthened our relationship with OpenReach – this is leading to quicker incident response to fix critical communications equipment and reduced costs on cable diversions at flood schemes
developed relationships with the energy sector, including National Grid and Cadent, to identify partnership opportunities and efficiencies for service diversions
continued to work closely with National Highways identifying a pipeline of investment opportunities into our flood schemes from their road period 3
broadened our relationship with Network Rail working with their weather resilience and climate change adaptation leads to identify partnership opportunities and share data on the impact of flood on the railway
worked with Tesco to explore how we can mutually support each other – this will not only help Tesco with their climate resilience plans but also potentially help provide long term benefit the communities we operate in

Question 6

6. Ambition 3 - a nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change

Accepted Answer

This section looks work to help achieve FCERM strategy ambition 3. It covers activities to help make sure local people understand:

their risk of flooding and coastal change
their responsibilities
how to take action

6.1 Skills and capacity in lead local flood authorities

Other RMAs are delivering a large part of the FCERM investment programme. It is important that they (and their suppliers) have the capacity and capability to lead the projects that achieve this ambition.

We are supporting them by:

streamlining processes
improving access to guidance, tools and training

This means that projects are approved more quickly and can access grant-in-aid funding more easily.

In April 2023 we launched the Supporting flood and coast projects SharePoint site. This is for all practitioners as a ‘one-stop-shop’ for:

guidance
support
training
access to a community of practice

In November 2024 we launched improvements which have:

improved the site navigation to make it easier to find the information you need
brought together a range of tools, guidance and a community for expert support

At the same time, we launched the FCERM Skills academy on the SharePoint site to improve access to training and learning for all subscribers. We will continue to add learning and resources to the SharePoint site to improve delivery of capital projects.

6.2 Using digital technology to warn and inform

The way we use digital technology continues to evolve. We have developed and improved our services in several ways, including:

how we warn the public about expected flooding through our flood warning service
our flood risk information services on GOV.UK
making our flood information available as open data

6.2.1 New flood warning service

Over the last 12 months our teams have been working alongside our supplier Leidos to build and integrate our new warning system. We have been working closely with our suppliers and engaging with stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition to the new system.

In February 2025, the project entered the testing phase. We invited citizens, organisations and duty officers to register for the new service and test the main features. The feedback provided by this process is allowing the project team to address any access, technical or accuracy issues ahead of implementation.

The project team are working towards a full launch of the new system later in 2025. Once completed, the warning system will:

be scalable to meet the increased demands of managing incidents for the next 10 years
produce a lower carbon footprint, aiming to be net zero

Emergency Alerts, which is a central government-led capability, has been available since March 2023. We successfully used this new capability for the first time in May 2024 to warn the public of risk to life from severe flooding in Cumbria. We will continue to work with the Cabinet Office to further develop this service for the future.

6.2.2 Flood warnings issued and number of properties registered for them

Being prepared helps reduce the impacts of flooding and enables faster recovery. We encourage people to register for our free flood warning service. Alerts and warnings enable the public to take action to protect themselves and their possessions.

Our flood warning service covers:

flooding from rivers and the sea
some properties in areas at risk of groundwater flooding

The flood warning service does not cover surface water flooding. This is because it can be difficult to predict:

where sudden rainstorms will occur
their intensity and duration
the effect the rain has on the ground

Our trial of the Rapid Flood Guidance will help enhance our capabilities in this area in future.

As of March 2025, there were over 1.5 million properties registered to receive free flood warnings. This includes phone numbers registered in areas at risk from flooding that are automatically opted-in.

6.2.3 Flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings issued

Between April 2024 to March 2025, we issued:

3,989 flood alerts
1,864 flood warnings
4 severe flood warnings

Find out what to do in a flood and what the different types of warnings mean.

Table 11: number of flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Month and Year	Number of Flood Alerts	Number of Flood Warnings	Number of Severe Flood Warnings
April 2024	392	150	0
May 2024	223	54	1
June 2024	6	2	0
July 2024	96	5	0
August 2024	155	32	0
September 2024	513	238	0
October 2024	579	213	0
November 2024	460	340	2
December 2024	517	203	0
January 2025	740	567	1
February 2025	187	38	0
March 2025	121	22	0

Table 12: comparison of flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings issued 1 April to 31 March each year between 2018 and 2025

Years	Number of flood alerts	Number of flood warnings	Number of severe flood warnings
2018 to 2019	1,844	366	0
2019 to 2020	4,834	2,455	27
2020 to 2021	2,843	1,176	10
2021 to 2022	2,129	653	14
2022 to 2023	2,473	547	0
2023 to 2024	5,126	2,613	7
2024 to 2025	3,989	1,864	4

6.2.4 Messages sent

Between April 2024 and March 2025 we sent over 8.8 million messages to the public, partners and the media. These messages informed them of flooding in their area and the flood warning service they can receive. This includes messages sent via text, email and automated telephone call.

Table 13: number of messages sent for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025

Month and year	Total number of messages sent and attempts to send
April 2024	104,5027
May 2024	639,900
June 2024	74,348
July 2024	156,785
August 2024	285,715
September 2024	1,053,239
October 2024	1,047,201
November 2024	1,142,103
December 2024	1,008,020
January 2025	1,637,565
February 2025	301,166
March 2025	438,382

Table 14: comparison of messages sent 1 April to 31 March each year between 2018 and 2025

Year	Number of messages sent
2018 to 2019	2,987,759
2019 to 2020	10,713,780
2020 to 2021	6,882,140
2021 to 2022	4,935,396
2022 to 2023	4,741,047
2023 to 2024	12,539,218
2024 to 2025	8,829,451

6.3 Flood risk information service

Between April 2024 and March 2025, we continued to improve the 3 main flood risk information services on GOV.UK.

These are:

Table 15: Flood information / Check for flooding service user totals each year from 1 January to 31 December between 2018 and 2024

Year	Total number of users	Total page views
2018	1.6 million	18 million
2019	5.0 million	48 million
2020	6.2 million	65 million
2021	3.2 million	37.3 million
2022	794,000	8.7 million
2023	1.2 million	33 million
2024 (see note)	1.6 million	31 million

Note: 2024 user data and page views based on users who have accepted cookies on their internet browser. Actual usage and views are estimated to be 5 times higher.

A new webchat has been operational on our Floodline service for 12 months since its launch in March 2024. This service provides an additional channel for the public to interact with and seek advice regarding our flood warning services. Operating from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, our Floodline advisors have been addressing public queries alongside handling calls at Floodline.

During this period, the service received 1,960 chat requests, with only 10 chats unanswered. The overall satisfaction score for the year was 79%, with 176 positive and 47 negative feedback responses provided.

Webchat advisors have gained proficiency in managing webchat interactions. This has:

allowed them to handle multiple concurrent chats during busy periods, particularly during heightened flooding activity
improved the efficiency of the service

We will review the success measures for the service in the coming year. This will allow us to:

carry out continuous improvements
decide whether to integrate chat into the next Floodline retender

6.4 FCERM research and development programme

The FCERM research and development programme is a collaborative partnership between:

Environment Agency
Defra
Welsh Government
Natural Resources Wales

Our research activities support FCERM in England and Wales. We carry out our own research and work in partnership with academia, industry, and across government.

Through our research, we:

provide the evidence to support policy and practice in partner organisations and FCERM authorities
support FCERM strategy ambition 3
support the FCERM Strategy Roadmap – that world leading research and international best practice will underpin flood and coastal risk management

This year marks 20 years of the FCERM Research and Development Programme.

6.4.1 Research publication highlights

Our areas of research interest guide our research from 2023 to 2028. These focus our work on the pressing research issues and outcomes we need to achieve, helping us undertake FCERM.

In 2025, we published a collection of case studies demonstrating where research has had an impact in flood and coastal risk management.

The collection:

includes case studies of work funded and delivered by UK researchers as well as our own research
demonstrates the positive impact research has on FCERM
increases the visibility of FCERM research
will help inform future investment
will help to disseminate good practice with FCERM stakeholders

This year, we have completed and published the following studies:

In July 2024 we published information on removing or repurposing redundant reservoirs. The report and tools are for reservoir owners, reservoir managers, undertakers and panel engineers. It supports them in making decisions on discontinuing, abandoning or repurposing UK reservoirs.
Also in July 2024 we published our review of how different types of eel pass are working in England. The aim was to explore any problems with installed passes and consider how to improve the design and performance of existing and future passes.
In November 2024 we published our report on the total economic damages for all floods between January 2016 and November 2019 in England and Wales. This research will help inform future flood risk management funding and investment decisions in England and Wales.
In January 2025 we published evidence and insights on how to effectively communicate climate change information about flooding and coastal erosion risks to the public. The findings were used to support the release of the National Flood Risk Assessment and will help risk management authorities create and communicate risk information effectively.
Also in January 2025, we published our research into future cliff recession around the coastline of England and Wales. This helped our understanding of how sensitive cliffed coasts are to sea level rise and was used to create the new National Coastal Erosion Risk Maps (NCERM).
In February 2025 we published a major update to our working with natural processes evidence directory. We reviewed new research from 2017 to 2023 which we used to update the directory and create summaries for 17 types of natural flood management (NFM) measures. These will help RMAs to understand and apply the evidence in their decision making.
In March 2025 we published example approaches and practical information on how to transfer or decommission flood and coastal erosion risk management assets. Our report is aimed at asset managers in RMAs who have already decided to ‘do something different’ with their FCERM assets.
in March 2025 we published our review of approaches for estimating probable maximum precipitation (PMP) and probable maximum flood (PMF) which are used to check the safety of our highest risk reservoirs. The review investigated options for alternative approaches to estimating PMP and PMP and provides recommendations for future research which will take several years to carry out.

6.5 International learning

We continue to have strong links and good relationships with several international organisations and agencies:

These include the:

Dutch flood agency, Rijkswaterstaat (RWS)
Dutch regional water authority, Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier
United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Australian Bureau of Meteorology

We have worked with these organisations for many years, exchanging knowledge, research, innovations and technical expertise in flood and coastal risk management.

The topics and issues covered include:

flood assets
nature-based solutions
coastal processes
incident management and response
sustainability

Question 7

7. Looking ahead

Accepted Answer

This section lists some of the activities that we, government and other RMAs will be carrying out beyond March 2025.

Spending Review 2025

In June 2025 government will announce the outcome of the 2025 spending review. It is anticipated that investment will be prioritised to support the government’s Plan for Change.

Flood funding consultation

Government launched a consultation on 3 June 2025 to review the existing funding formula for allocating money to proposed flood defences. This will make sure the challenges facing all communities are adequately considered when providing flood protection.

The changes to funding rules will support a strategic approach to identifying a pipeline of project opportunities based on the Environment Agency’s new NaFRA. This brings together key national and local evidence.

Government aim to implement the new investment framework from April 2026, the start of the next 10-year flood and coastal erosion investment programme.

Government has also opened a call for evidence on identifying alternative sources of funding for flood defences and opportunities for English devolution to support flood resilience.

Floodproof: an action plan to build the resilience of people and properties

In January 2025, the Environment Agency commissioned an independent review of PFR, ‘Floodproof: an action plan to build the resilience of people and properties’.

The review will report to the Environment Agency in Autumn 2025.

Next warning service launch

The Environment Agency is making improvements to the flood warning service in 2025, introducing a new system to issue the warnings and a new interface for people to register to receive them.

Asset health metric

The Environment Agency is developing a new asset health metric. This would provide a more rounded view on the health of an asset compared to the current metric which looks at visual asset condition. The new metric would take into consideration:

asset condition
current usage
failure mode effect analysis and criticality

The metric would look at each factor and model a single score.

Cookies on GOV.UK

Applies to England

1. Executive summary

2. The year in context

2.1 Flooding between April 2024 and March 2025

2.1.1 Storms Bert and Conall – 21 to 27 November 2024

2.1.2 Storm Darragh – 5 December 2024

2.1.3 Recovery activities

2.1.4 Record of past flood events

2.2 National flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England

2.2.1 Flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy roadmap to 2026

New flood and coastal erosion risk information in England

Enhanced surface water forecasting capabilities

Improving flood resilience

Helping farmers and rural communities adapt to a changing climate

Updated guidance for asset owners and asset management

2.3 Changes to government policy and announcements

Investment announcement

Floods resilience taskforce

Internal drainage board fund

3. Current risk and investment

3.1 Properties in areas at risk of flooding

3.1.1 Changes in properties in areas at risk from flooding and coastal erosion

New national flood risk assessment

3.2 Investment in flood and coastal erosion risk management

3.2.1 Other benefits of FCERM investment

3.2.2 Significant projects completed

Case study 1 – Cockett Wick sea wall improvement scheme

3.2.3 Partnership funding

3.2.4 Asset management

3.3 Public sector cooperation agreements

3.4 Efficiency savings

Case study 2 - Stallingborough sea defence improvements project

4. FCERM strategy ambition 1 - climate resilient places

4.1 Climate change

4.1.1 Mitigation

Case study 3: Lydd Ranges sea defences

4.1.2 Adaptation and resilience

Flood and coastal innovation programmes

Flood and coastal resilience innovation programme

Case study 4 - FloodAI

Adaptive pathways programme

Coastal transition accelerator programme

4.2 Coastal change

The new national coastal erosion risk map

4.2.1 Shoreline management plans

Coastal erosion assistance grant

4.2.2 Coastal habitats

4.2.3 Intertidal saltmarsh and mudflats

4.2.4 Freshwater and other coastal habitats

4.2.5 Working together on the coast

Coastal handbook

Coastal practitioners conference

4.3 Natural flood management

4.3.1 Natural flood management programme

Mainstreaming NFM

4.4 Improving the environment

Case study 5 - Billingham Beck

4.5 Agriculture and land management

Catchment sensitive farming

5. Ambition 2 – today’s growth and infrastructure resilient in tomorrow’s climate

5.1 Promoting safe development resilient to flooding and coastal change

5.1.1 Planning policy, guidance and research

5.1.2 Building skills and capacity on planning policy and guidance

5.1.3 Reform to planning legislation, policy and guidance

5.2 Property flood resilience

5.3 Reservoir safety

Case study 6 – compliance action plan at Mitford Reservoir

5.3.1 Environment Agency reservoirs

5.3.2 The Balmforth review

5.4 Surface water management

5.5 Flood risk activities – environmental permitting

5.6 Water companies’ contribution to reducing risk

Case study 7 - Southern Water’s SuDS in schools

5.7 Working with other organisations

6. Ambition 3 - a nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change

6.1 Skills and capacity in lead local flood authorities

6.2 Using digital technology to warn and inform

6.2.1 New flood warning service

6.2.2 Flood warnings issued and number of properties registered for them