Corporate report

Flood and coastal erosion risk management report: 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026

Updated 30 June 2026

Applies to England

The Environment Agency use this report to summarise activities carried out by risk management authorities (RMAs) in England. Producing this report is a requirement of Section 18 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010 (FWMA). This report is for the period 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026.

RMAs are:

• the Environment Agency
• lead local flood authorities (LLFAs)
• district councils, where there is no unitary authority
• coast protection authorities
• internal drainage boards (IDBs)
• water and sewerage companies
• highways authorities

RMAs work together to reduce the risk of flooding and coastal erosion. They also work with the regional flood and coastal committees (RFCCs).

The RFCCs:

• bring together RMAs and other local organisations to better understand flood and coastal erosion risks in their region
• make sure there are coherent plans to manage flood and coastal erosion risks across catchments and shorelines
• encourage efficient, targeted and risk-based investment that meets the needs of local communities
• assign funding through a local levy as set out in section 23 of the FWMA

1. Executive summary

2025 was the UK’s warmest and sunniest on record, with much of the country affected by significant drought. Central and north-east England had their driest March to July period since 1921. However, autumn brought a dramatic shift from warm to wet, with 6 named storms occurring between October and January. The East Midlands saw 218% of their average rainfall, their wettest since 1871, while other areas of the country saw significant rainfall too. Most areas were no longer in drought status by December 2025. In total, around 540 properties flooded, while flood and coastal defences protected around 67,000 properties.

This year saw the end of government’s record 2-year investment of £2.65 billion in flood and coastal erosion risk management (FCERM). In 2025 to 2026 we better protected just over 34,000 properties. Works by other RMAs contributed nearly 10,000 properties to this total.

This means that since April 2024, we have better protected nearly 62,000 homes, significantly above the 2-year target of 52,000. It also means that over 150,000 properties have benefited from better protection since April 2021.

The end of the 2025 to 2026 period also marks a period of change. We are now moving into a new investment programme, supported by £10.5 billion of funding through to 2036. This, the biggest floods investment programme ever, will benefit 840,000 properties. Next year, over £1.4 billion will be invested in flood and coastal defences. In November 2025, government announced a new funding policy that supports this investment. The policy:

• fully funds more projects
• encourages investment in natural flood management (NFM)
• will make it quicker and easier to build new flood and coastal defences

Government also announced funding for coastal adaptation pilots, which will help communities take practical steps to prepare for coastal change.

Working with partners, we have made significant progress towards achieving the actions in our FCERM strategy roadmap, which concludes in 2026. By the end of the year, we will have achieved or will be on track to achieve over 90% of these.

Several important reviews also concluded this year, including FloodReady and the independent water commission review of the water sector. FloodReady set out a range of recommendations which will accelerate practical and affordable flood resilience measures for homes and businesses. Government responded to the water commission review with a new vision for water which sets out how they will reform the water sector and the wider water system. The vision includes recommendations that will support improved flood risk management, including more focus on SuDS and rainwater management.

Other achievements this year include:

• nearly 62,000 properties were better protected (exceeding the target set at 52,000) from flooding by defences during the winter storms and nearly 11 million warning messages sent
• the launch of the new ‘Get flood warnings’ service
• £46 million of efficiency savings through efficient project planning, contracting and modern construction methods
• our carbon emissions being 35% below the do-nothing trajectory and a reduction in carbon intensity of our activities of over 50% since 2021
• 93% of our high consequence flood risk management assets being at the required condition against a target of 93%
• the creation or enhancement of over 2,000 hectares of habitat and the enhancement of nearly 300 kilometres of rivers
• significant progress on projects within the £200 million flood and coastal innovation programmes (FCIP)
• launching the reservoir safety reform programme in response to the recommendations set out in the independent reservoir safety review report
• launching a pioneering property flood resilience (PFR) test centre in Hull
• shared knowledge, innovation and learning with partners across the country and internationally

We couldn’t have achieved these outcomes without our local, national and international stakeholders and partners. Strong relationships and sharing knowledge and innovations provide the foundation for our work as we move into a new investment programme.

2. The year in context

This section describes:

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

2.1 Flooding between April 2025 and March 2026

Once again, we’ve seen a year of climate extremes. Records continue to be broken across the country and worldwide:

• 2025 was the UK’s warmest and sunniest on record – with Met Office data showing that climate change made this around 260 times more likely
• significant drought affected much of the country – the 2025 drought report shows that by the end of the summer, 9 million people were affected by a hosepipe ban, 20% of the canal network closed due to water shortages, and farmers and the environment faced severe challenges
• globally, 2025 ranked as the third warmest year on record, as shown in the NOAA Global Climate report, only surpassed by 2023 and 2024 – the 10 warmest years on record have all occurred since 2015
• March 2026 was the second warmest March recorded globally after March 2025 – it also had the lowest Arctic sea ice coverage on record, narrowly exceeding the previous low recorded in March 2025

Significant rainfall fell across England over the winter of 2025 to 2026. This dramatic shift from the exceptionally dry conditions earlier in the year resulted in:

• England receiving 42% above average rainfall, especially affecting southern and central regions
• southern England experiencing its fourth wettest winter on record, and the wettest in over a decade
• the West Midlands, Cornwall and Leicestershire experiencing their wettest winters on record
• England receiving 70% more rainfall in February than the long-term average.

At the same time, parts of the winter were warmer and received significantly less sunshine than usual. In England, February was the fourth warmest, and fourth dullest on record. You can read more about the winter weather conditions in the Met Office summary.

The UK experienced 7 named storms between April 2025 and March 2026:

• Floris, 4 to 5 August 2025
• Amy, 3 to 4 October 2025
• Benjamin (named by Meteo France), 22 to 23 October 2025
• Claudia (named by AEMET Spain), 14 November 2025
• Bram, 8 to 10 December 2025
• Goretti (Named by Meteo France), 8 to 9 January 2026
• Chandra, 26 to 27 January 2026

Overall, this year, around 540 properties were reported as flooded across the country. Nearly 60,000 properties were protected by our flood defence assets.

The next section provides more information on the impacts of the most significant storms.

2.1.1 Storm Claudia – 14 Nov 2025

Storm Claudia brought flooding to several areas. A major incident was declared in Monmouth, due to flooding from the River Monnow, a tributary of the River Wye. Several severe flood warnings, which are the highest category, were issued. Around 70 properties flooded and more than 19,000 properties were better protected by flood defences and other Environment Agency interventions, including:

• clearing debris from trash screens
• inspecting assets
• erecting temporary defences

You can read more in the Met Office Storm Claudia summary.

2.1.2 Storm Bram – 8 to 10 Dec 2025

Storm Bram brought widespread transport disruption, power outages and some flooding. We issued widespread flood warnings, and several properties flooded in Totnes, Devon from the River Dart. This was largely due to Dartmoor receiving nearly a month’s rainfall in 48 hours.

In Plymouth, a section of the West Hoe Pier collapsed due to large waves.

Overall, nearly 20 properties flooded, and our defences better protected around 9,000 properties.

You can read more in the Met Office Storm Bram summary.

2.1.3 Storm Ingrid, Chandra and subsequent rainfall – late January and early February 2026

This period brought a procession of unsettled and very wet weather, which combined caused significant impacts in south-west England.

Storm Ingrid was not one of this winter’s officially named UK storms. It was named by the Portuguese weather service. However, on 21 January, it caused heavy rainfall and coastal damage along the Devon and Cornwall coastline. This included the loss of part of Teignmouth Grand Pier.

Storm Chandra, which occurred on 26 to 27 January, caused significant flooding in south-west England. It particularly affected:

• Devon
• Cornwall
• Dorset

We issued severe flood warnings, indicating danger to life, for:

• a section of the River Otter at Ottery St Mary, where river levels reached their highest recorded level
• the River Frome in Maiden Newton, Dorset
• the Lower Stour in Iford, Dorset

A major incident was declared by Somerset Council to help partners manage flooding on the Somerset Levels and Moors.

You can read more in the Met Office Storm Chandra summary.

Storm Chandra was followed by further rainfall in February 2026, particularly in the south and south west. A major pumping operation took place on the Somerset Levels and Moors for several weeks. Around 80% of national pumping capacity was mobilised, and supplemented where required by commercial providers.

In total, around 400 properties flooded, mostly in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, and Somerset.  Flood defences better protected around 24,600 properties from flooding.

2.1.4 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. As of mid-March 2026, we had carried out over 500 inspections on our assets, assessing the impact of the winter storms. At the end of the year 93% of our flood risk assets in high consequence systems were in the required condition.

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 urgent or emergency repairs where needed.

2.1.5 Record of past flood events

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

Flood event	Date	Properties flooded	Properties protected
Storm Ciara	February 2020	1,350	23,000
Storm Dennis	February 2020	1,570	25,000
Late February	February 2020	520	36,000
Storm Bella and heavy rain in Buckingham, Newport Pagnell, Northampton, Rugby	December 2020	400	9,000
Storm Christoph	January 2021	680	49,000
Storm Dudley, Eunice, Franklin	February 2022	370	35,000
Midlands and South West	January 2023	170	5,500
Storm Babet and Ciaran	October and November 2023	5,600	140,000
Storms Henk and Gerrick	January 2024	2,500	102,000
Storms Bert and Connall	November 2024	1,300	35,000
Storms Claudia, Bram, Ingrid and Chandra	Autumn and Winter 2025 to 2026	500	59,000

The flooding events reported in table 1, along with the smaller scale events not caused by named storms, cause significant impacts. These affect not just the owners of the properties flooded, but also the wider economy. In February 2026, the Association of British Insurers published adverse weather pushes property insurance payouts to £6.1 billion in 2025, assessing these wider impacts.

This report highlighted that in 2025, the average flood payout to a homeowner rose by 60%, reaching £30,000.

2.2 National flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy for England

The FWMA requires the Environment Agency to develop, maintain, apply and monitor a national strategy for FCERM in England.  All RMAs must act in a manner which is consistent with the national strategy.

The current FCERM Strategy was published in 2020 and sets out a long-term vision for ‘a nation ready for, and resilience to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and to the year 2100’.  

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 FCERM Strategy includes medium term strategic objectives looking out to 2050. These clarify the changes that need to happen to achieve the strategy ambitions. It also includes a suite of shorter-term measures, setting out the steps needed to achieve the strategic objectives. 

The FCERM Strategy is supported by the FCERM Strategy Roadmap to 2026. This sets out the practical actions that we have been taking towards achieving the ambitions in the FCERM Strategy.

2.2.1 Flood and coastal erosion risk management strategy roadmap to 2026

Working with partners, we have made strong progress in achieving the actions in the Roadmap. Over 90% of the Roadmap actions are complete or on track to be completed by the end of 2026. As 2026 is the final year set out in the Roadmap, the next sections set out the main successes achieved since the Strategy was first published. This means some of the outcomes listed were achieved prior to March 2025.

Ambition 1 – climate resilient places: achievements

To bolster resilience and adapt to climate change we:

• have made great progress on 25 partnership projects in the £150m Flood and Coastal Resilience Innovation Programme (FCRIP), working with local authorities (LAs) – we are applying this learning elsewhere
• completed the first full review and update of the 10-year review of the Thames Estuary 2100 plan​
• are making significant progress on 4 adaptation pathway pilots in the Thames Estuary, Humber, Fens and River Severn​

To manage coastal flood and erosion risk we:

• have made strong progress helping some of the most vulnerable communities to adapt and transition away from parts of the coast that cannot be defended in the long term via the Coastal Transition Accelerator Programme
• have worked closely with coastal groups to refresh the Shoreline Management Plans (SMPs) and update the SMP guidance​
• launched Shoreline Management Plan Explorer, which is an online tool that makes shoreline management plans easier to access and use
• embedded SMPs in the national pipeline of FCERM projects
• published a new digital coastal handbook for RMAs on the Supporting Flood and Coast Projects site
• made available more training opportunities for spatial planners on the coast​
• carried out habitat compensation and restoration projects on the coast

To support NFM, we:

• have made excellent progress on the £25m NFM programme, supported by a national NFM benefits tool which makes it easier to present business cases for NFM projects
• published the working with natural processes evidence directory​, bringing together evidence from NFM studies since 2017

To strengthen rural and lowland resilience, we:

• created the rural flood resilience partnership (RFRP)​, published the RFRP work plan and continued to support rural partners to implement better rural resilience​
• influenced environmental land management schemes (ELMs) and catchment sensitive farming (CSF) opportunities that support flood resilient farming practices​

To better manage surface water flooding, we:

• have improved surface water flooding forecasting and warning​
• streamlined project business cases for surface water flood risk projects​
• have created more training for spatial planners on sustainable drainage systems​ (SuDS)

Ambition 2 – today’s growth and infrastructure resilient in tomorrow’s climate: achievements

To enable sustainable growth, we:

• have encouraged better asset owner responsibilities through new guidance and tools​
• have updated our asset management strategy​
• have approved several large strategies and schemes, including the Thames Estuary 2100 major update, Bridgwater Barrier and the Oxford flood alleviation scheme ​
• invested a record £2.65 billion in FCERM between April 2024 and March 2026, better protecting 62,000 properties ​

To improve PFR, we:

• created a PFR supplier framework​
• developed a new PFR testing facility​ at the University of Hull in partnership with Flood Re
• co-developed ‘Be Flood Smart’ and supported Flood Re’s a ‘one year on’ campaign​​
• helped the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM) to provide technical training to the PFR industry and RMAs​
• worked with CIWEM to launch the Be Flood Ready PFR Community of Practice

To help achieve environmental outcomes, we:

• worked with developers and planners to find suitable and proportionate biodiversity net gain opportunities from new developments and Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects (NSIPs)
• have worked with partners to provide training for planners and local planning authorities on biodiversity net gain

Between April 2021 and December 2025, we have created or improved 4,706 hectares of habitat and enhanced 603km of rivers.

To improve infrastructure resilience, we:

• published a joint approach with Ofwat on how water and sewerage companies should tackle flood resilience
• supported water companies to complete the first cycle drainage and wastewater management plans (DWMPs)
• put in place the reservoir safety reform programme following the Balmforth review
• are working with National Highways to develop a future pipeline of resilience measures, following their £30 million investment across 12 schemes
• continue to work with Network Rail

To strengthen spatial planning and reduce flood risk, we:

• provided advice on flood risk which made sure over 99% of new homes proposed in planning applications complied ​
• have worked to make sure more new developments are being built with SuDS and PFR
• updated our Flood Map for Planning and created new ​supporting guidance ​for planners and developers
• published free e-learning materials​ to support planners and developers to consider flood and coastal resilience when developing their sites.

Ambition 3 – a nation ready to respond and adapt to flooding and coastal change: achievements

To improve preparedness and response, we:

• ​have made sure 109,000 more properties are now covered by a flood warning since 2019
• launched a new flood warning service which provides the agency with an improved operating model to modernise how we manage incidents
• worked with the Met Office to develop a new surface water rapid flood guidance service

To support recovery, we:

• produced new research and development and guidance to inform community resilience, including working together to adapt to a changing climate
• co-produced and published HM Government’s PFR Flood Ready Report which encourages more uptake of PFR
• developed stronger and broader partnerships with third sector groups pioneering resilience work with communities, for example with Communities Prepared and British Red Cross​

To develop education and skills, we:

• produced Springpod, a new virtual work experience programme that attracted over 1600 enrolments
• broadened our graduate training scheme offer to include environment and science skills alongside engineering skills
• created a new FCRM skills academy to support RMAs​
• sponsored the development of digital tools to raise awareness in children, for example Coastcraft
• positively influenced the Department for Education to place more focus on flood resilience in the National Curriculum​

We have also entered the Times Top 100 graduate employers list for the first time in 2025.

To continue our world leading research and development, we:

• have produced internationally commended research to support the FCERM Strategy implementation over the past 5 years
• have made stronger links between academia and our outcomes and strengthened collaborations with international partners, including the United States, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan and Ukraine ​

We have also:

• published a new national assessment of flood risk and supporting digital tools to assist planners and the public at risk
• built green finance capabilities and worked towards developing a green finance skills practice guide ahead of the new investment programme

2.3 Changes to government policy and announcements

This section reflects some of the new policy changes announced by the government since April 2025 which have a direct implication for FCRM.

In October 2025, government announced at least £10.5 billion investment until 2036 to construct new flood and coastal erosion schemes and repair existing defences. This is the biggest floods investment programme in history. It will benefit 840,000 properties, protecting communities across the country from the devastating impacts of flooding. At least 20% of future investment will also be set aside to help protect the most deprived communities in England over the next 10 years.

At the same time, government announced major changes to its flood and coastal erosion funding policy, following a period of consultation. The reforms will make it quicker and easier to provide the right flood and coastal defences in the right places by simplifying our funding rules. This will:

• increase investor confidence
• close funding gaps
• reduce administrative burdens on local communities

The new rules will optimise funding between building new flood projects and maintaining existing defences. They ensure that deprived communities continue to receive vital investment. Government will also invest at least £300 million in NFM over 10 years – the highest figure to date in the flood investment programme.

This funding is now also available to non-RMAs, including:

• non-governmental environmental organisations
• charities
• landowners

Also in October 2025 the FloodReady report was published. This identified gaps and opportunities to grow the PFR market. It resulted in a new action plan for all relevant parties to take forward. The report sets out 22 recommendations and a large number of supporting actions across 6 themes, from:

• trusted products and services
• to regulatory reform
• to research and innovation

It includes actions for industry stakeholders, with government support, to accelerate practical and affordable flood resilience measures for homes and businesses. It provides a clear roadmap for boosting resilience and helping people recover faster from floods.  

In January, government set out its new vision for water through a White Paper. This explores opportunities to embed more integrated water planning linked to local growth priorities. This should help achieve better flood and coastal erosion outcomes for communities. 

Also in January, government announced £30 million for the 3-year Coastal Adaptation Pilots initiative. Up to £18 million of this will fund advanced adaptation actions such as selective property purchases and the development of long-term financing solutions. It will cover:

• East Riding of Yorkshire
• Norfolk
• Suffolk

An additional £12 million will also be made available to RFCCs to select projects that can provide smaller scale adaptation readiness actions. These projects will help communities take practical steps to prepare for coastal change. This includes:

• moving community buildings away from at-risk areas
• testing early warning systems
• improving beach access and coastal tourism infrastructure

In March 2026, government announced that £1.4 billion will be spent on flood and coastal defences between April 2026 and March 2027, the first year of the new flood investment programme. This includes more than 600 flood schemes covering every region of England.

In March 2026 government also published the land use framework. This sets out

• a vision for England’s future landscapes, informed by sophisticated land use change analysis
• a set of principles to inform how decisions are made about land
• actions we will take to support land use change, in partnership with others

It incorporates a range of flood risk management related mandates.

2.3.1 Floods resilience task force

Established in September 2024, the aim of the Floods Resilience Taskforce is to advise Defra ministers on:

• flood risks
• flood resilience and preparedness nationally and locally
• important learnings from previous major flood incidents
• flood and coastal erosion strategy

The Taskforce brings together:

• Ministers from Defra, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Cabinet Office and Department for Transport
• experts and decision makers from Environment Agency, the Met Office, Local Resilience Forums, LLFAs, Mayoral Offices, emergency responders and the National Farmers Union, among others.

This year, members of the taskforce have achieved a range of improvements. These include supporting the:

• Met Office and Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) improved the National Flood Model – it now provides a 30-day outlook compared to only 7 days in 2024
• FFC Rapid Flood Guidance service between June and October to rapidly alert responders to flood risk, with a focus on surface water flooding
• Environment Agency launching the new Check for Flooding service
• FFC training over 1,500 responders on flood warnings and issuing new national guidance on flood risk to caravan parks, which often have vulnerable populations
• response to this year’s named storms and providing an Environment Agency expert to support Northern Ireland in January to help with their recovery
• cross-government exercise to test how national response structures would respond to an extreme rainfall event
• National Police Chiefs Council to develop arrangements to enhance co-ordination of mutual aid arrangements through the National Police Coordination Centre, to allow national police deployments to flood hit areas
• MHCLG to amend the Flood Recovery Framework to enable faster identification of eligible areas that could benefit from the Flood Recovery Framework schemes and created a toolkit to help LAs with implementing this scheme
• launch of the FloodReady – an action plan to build the resilience of people and properties

3. Current risk and investment

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

3.1 Properties in areas at risk of flooding

Overall, around 6.3 million homes and businesses in England are at risk from flooding. That risk can be from one or a combination of sources including:

• rivers
• the sea
• rising groundwater
• 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 2026).

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%	319,700	1,014,100
Medium	3.3% – 1%	336,200	884,700
Low	1% – 0.1%	979,400	2,648,800
Very low	Less than 0.1%	786,700	Not available
Total	Not Applicable	2,422,000	4,547,600

Due to the complexity and nature of groundwater flooding, we are not able to assign a likelihood to it.

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 as shown in table 3.

This is often a result of:

• changes in land use
• changes to the natural environment
• 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 at risk of flooding in any given year and location.

The numbers in table 3 are also affected by any changes in how we count properties at risk. For example, in January 2025 we introduced our new national flood risk assessment. Most of the change between 2023 to 2024 and 2024 to 2025 were due to:

• much better data and improved modelling methodologies
• an improved assessment of the risk to properties, infrastructure and agricultural land

Table 3: properties in areas at risk of flooding by source each year from 1 April to 31 March from 2022 to 2026

Source of flooding	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	Number of properties in areas at risk 2025 to 2026
Rivers and the sea	2.8 million	2.6 million	2.4 million	2.4 million
Rivers and the sea at high or medium risk	900,000	819,900	691,200	691,200
Surface water	3.4 million	3.2 million	4.6 million	4.5 million
Groundwater	122,000 – 290,000	122,000 – 290,000	Not available	Not available

3.2 Investment in FCERM

The finance figures included in this report are provisional, as of April 2026 and may change subject to the completion of the National Audit Office (NAO) audit of the Environment Agency’s Annual Report and Accounts. This is due in October 2026. We will update the report once the audit has been completed.

In February 2025, government announced a record 2-year investment of £2.65 billion in FCERM. This covers April 2024 to March 2026. We are now at the end of the period.

This year, 34,355 properties have benefited from better protection from flooding and coastal erosion. Within this total, other RMAs have carried out works that better protect 9,930 properties.

This means that since April 2024, we have better protected nearly 62,000 homes. This is significantly above the 2-year target of 52,000. It also means that over 150,000 properties have benefited from better protection since April 2021.

This year, government invested £982 million of funding in FCERM as follows:  

• projects in 2025 to 2026 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 this £982 million, £220 million was spent by other RMAs on FCERM projects. Other RMAs have also spent nearly £29 million of local levy funding. Local levy funding is spent on local priority flood and coastal erosion projects. It is managed by RFCCs.

This year, government’s IDB storm recovery and asset improvement fund closed. The fund initially allocated £75 million to IDBs, followed by a further £16 million in March 2025. The fund will help IDBs:

• modernise assets
• improve flood resilience
• manage water levels across English farmland

Government grant in aid 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 2025 to 31 March 2026

Type of funding	Investment (£ millions)
Central government	98
Local levy (EA and other RMA)	29

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 on a case-by-case basis to make sure they benefit the most people and property.

Table 5: government investment and properties protected in FCERM by EA Area from 1 April 2025 to 31 March 2026 in £ millions.

EA Area	2025 to 2026 (£ millions)	Properties better protected
East Midlands	58	300
West Midlands	39	763
Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire	66	5,213
East Anglia	80	7,067
North East	22	427
Yorkshire	76	1,793
Greater Manchester, Merseyside, and Cheshire	41	2,690
Cumbria and Lancashire	78	3,216
Devon, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly	38	528
Wessex	145	322
Solent and South Downs	65	5,666
Kent, South London and East Sussex	65	6,073
Thames	17	140
Hertfordshire and North London	19	153
Nationally Led Capital	176	0
TOTAL	982	34,355

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

Between April 2025 and March 2026 FCERM work better protected:

• 8,400 properties (24% of the 2024 to 2025 total) in the highest socio-economically deprived areas in England (0-20% index of multiple deprivation)
• 11,200 properties (33% 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 also provides other benefits to support local businesses, communities, the environment 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 2026.

Type of benefit	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023	2023 to 2024	2024 to 2025	2025 to 2026
Agricultural land (ha)	28,000	113,000	7,000	10,000	15,000
Roads (km)	1,500	1,470	500	670	500
Rail (km)	90	100	75	60	24

3.2.2 Significant projects completed

Between April 2025 and March 2026, we worked with other RMAs to better protect 34,355 properties from flooding and coastal erosion through 144 projects.

These projects better protected people and properties from:

• sea and tidal flooding – 25,818 properties from 28 projects
• river flooding – 5,683 properties from 54 projects
• surface water flooding – 1,333 properties from 49 projects
• coastal erosion – 984 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. 

Some significant projects completed across the 2-year funding period include:

• Canvey Island southern shoreline revetment replacement in Essex, which has better protected 6,432 properties
• Saltfleet to Gibraltar Point beach management scheme on the Lincolnshire coast, which better protected 5,808 properties
• Wyre beach management scheme in Lancashire, which better protected 3,000 properties
• Lutton Leam Sluice refurbishment project in Lincolnshire, which has better protected 301 properties
• Fulbeck pumping station refurbishment project in Lincolnshire which has better protected 200 properties

3.2.3 Partnership funding

Funding to carry out FCERM projects in 2025 to 2026 was allocated in line with government’s previous partnership funding policy. This ran until April 2026. The amount of funding a project was allocated depends on the damages avoided because of the project plus the benefits it will provide.

This was 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

Following the publication of government’s new FCERM funding policy in October 2025, all new projects will:

• be eligible for 100% for the first £3 million
• require at least 10% partnership funding contribution on costs above £3million

This policy came into effect from April 2026. It does not apply to projects that are already in construction.

These contributions usually come from those benefiting from the project, including:

• local partners
• the local community
• other organisations or businesses that benefit from the project

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 2026 on projects better protecting properties.

	2021 to 2022	2022 to 2023	2023 to 2024	2024 to 2025	2025 to 2026
Partnership funding spent (£ millions)	52	53	85	150	83

3.2.4 Asset management

There are around 271,000 assets that have a FCERM purpose in England. Just under 259,000 manage risk from flooding. The remainder manage coastal erosion risk.

Of the flood risk management assets:

• around 164,000 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 95,000 are managed by the Environment Agency – 68,000 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 or assets work together to reduce risk and better protect an area.

We allocated £262 million towards maintaining FCERM assets between April 2025 and March 2026. This includes £72 million that was reprioritised from the investment programme into maintenance. 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. Overall, the additional funding over the last 2 years has stabilised our asset deterioration.

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 and animal activity
• 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 181,0000 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 are 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. On 1 April 2026, 93% of our flood risk assets in high consequence systems were in the required condition.

We remain focused on maintaining and stabilising asset performance. In recent years, we have seen a slight improvement in asset condition through targeted investment. This investment includes the repurposing of £108 million into repairs and refurbishment over the last 2 years.

We face a range of challenges, including:

• ongoing funding pressures
• severe weather made worse by climate change factors
• inflation

However, we are adapting to these challenges by changing how we work. This includes:

• prioritising investment where it reduces risk the most
• using improved data and asset health insights
• applying modern methods of maintenance and inspection
• increasing efficiency and value for money in every project, maximising the money allocated to us by government to maintain our assets
• inspecting other RMA assets and advising when we believe they may need repairs
• working with our partners such as IDBs and LAs, navigation bodies and water asset managers to ensure maximum resilience across organisations in the interest of the public

We are carrying out a transformation programme that aims to prepare us to carry out the new flood investment programme and transform our approach to asset management. Through this approach, we are confident we can continue to manage the network effectively and maintain protection for communities.

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 directly support Section 13 of the Flood and Water Management Act and allow 2 public sector bodies to set out how they will work together to achieve public tasks of mutual benefit. They are often used so that one authority can carry out flood risk management activities on the behalf of another.

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 2026.

Risk Management Authority	Number of PSCAs in place
Internal drainage boards	30
Lead local flood authorities	3
Navigation authorities	3
Total	36

3.4 Efficiency savings

We aim to make sure our FCERM investment programme is as efficient as possible. Doing this means 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 – optimising programmes
• repeatable asset design
• longer-term planning
• packaging of work

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

Between April 2025 and March 2026, we achieved £46 million in efficiency savings. This has been achieved through efficient preparation and planning, contract implementation and utilising modern methods of construction.

Efficiencies vary from year to year.

They depend on:

• the FCERM funding allocation for that year
• individual project completion dates

Table 9: annual efficiencies achieved.

Year	Total efficiency saving (£ millions)
2020 to 2021	69
2021 to 2022	5.5
2022 to 2023	17
2023 to 2024	46
2024 to 2025	92
2025 to 2026	46

It is important to note that the last few years have been challenging for many organisations involved in construction. Some of the challenges we, and our partners have faced include:

• significant inflationary pressures
• faster deterioration of assets due to extreme weather events
• greater demand for skilled workers across the sector

Case Study 1: Gooseum Rhyne Reservoir efficiencies

The Gooseum Rhyne Reservoir project near Bristol has been awarded the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) South West 2025 project award for collaboration. This award recognised the team’s:

• exceptional commitment to working closely with the local community
• a willingness to rethink its approach based on community feedback

The local community provided strong feedback when improvement works would have impacted the:

• neighbouring properties
• youth club
• basketball court
• Millennium Green memorial trees

Throughout the planning process, the Environment Agency catchment engineer for the project:

• championed thoughtful stakeholder engagement
• built strong relationships with the community
• made sure their views shaped the project’s direction

Through extensive public consultations and drop-in events, the team listened to community priorities and worked collaboratively to explore solutions.  

This dialogue inspired an innovative breakthrough. They legally ‘deregulated’ the reservoir by reducing its storage capacity while maintaining its flood defence function. This was an approach that better aligned engineering requirements with community values.

The solution:

• preserved the Millennium Green as a public amenity
• maintaining woodland, river access, footpaths, and memorials
• improved accessibility

This achieved an efficiency of £8 million and cut the amount of carbon resulting from the work by 98%.  

The next section of this report takes a deeper look at the FCRM Strategy Ambitions and the work we are doing collectively as an industry to achieve these.

4. FCERM strategy ambition 1 - climate resilient places

This section explains 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 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. With climate change, 1 in 4 properties will be at risk of flooding from rivers, sea and surface water by mid-century.

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

Mitigating climate change remains one of our main priorities. It is central to achieving climate resilient places. In May 2021, we set out our plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions. We then updated this in January 2024 to align with the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) definition of net zero.

We have retained our commitment to reduce carbon emissions by 45% by 2030. We have also strengthened our long-term ambition to achieve a 90% reduction in emissions between 2045 and 2050.

FCERM activities are a significant contributor to our overall emissions. In 2019, FCERM projects accounted for around 54% of corporate emissions, equivalent to approximately 148,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO₂e). This reflects the carbon-intensive nature of infrastructure work, particularly in materials and construction.

Our infrastructure emissions targets are aligned to the Environment Agency’s net zero trajectory. We have:

• a target for 2025 to 2026 of 198,916 tCO₂e – this is measured against a 2019 to 2020 baseline of 249,005 tCO₂e
• a longer-term target of 140,009 tCO₂e by 2030

Current forecasts show that our emissions in 2025 to 2026 were 207,620 tCO₂e. This reflects the scale of the expanded capital programme.

Since the baseline was set, the FCERM capital programme has approximately doubled in size. Both the number and scale of schemes completed to better protect communities has increased. While this has driven an increase in absolute emissions, performance against a ‘do nothing’ baseline shows substantial progress. The programme is currently achieving emissions 35.1% below the do-nothing trajectory based on live data from authorised budgets.

We are also making strong progress in reducing the carbon intensity of our activities. Carbon intensity has reduced from 4.17 tCO₂e per £10k spend in 2021 to 2022 to 2.00 tCO₂e per £10k spend in 2025 to 2026. This is a reduction of more than 50% over 5 years. This demonstrates that schemes are being completed increasingly efficiently from a carbon perspective, even as the overall programme expands.

We are including mitigation across the FCERM programme through a combination of policy, innovation and work practice.

Important measures include:

• setting minimum requirements for low carbon construction materials, such as low carbon concrete and steel
• requiring whole-life carbon assessments within business cases for all new schemes
• using design optimisation and modelling to minimise embedded carbon
• driving innovation in materials, including low-carbon steel alternatives
• embedding carbon reduction requirements within supply chain plans

Construction emissions are largely driven by materials and earthworks. 80% of construction emissions come from:

• soil
• steel
• concrete
• stone

This rises to around 90% when aggregate and plastics are included. These materials are predominantly used in core asset types such as walls, embankments and channels. These make up around 80% of whole-life carbon emissions from FCERM infrastructure.

We are seeing increasing adoption of low-carbon solutions across our construction partners. For example:

• cement replacement in concrete is forecast at 68%, exceeding the 40% assumption
• 13% of concrete is expected to be ultra-low carbon, with 8% zero carbon concrete emerging in work plans
• the use of hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is projected at 53% of construction fuel use, compared to a 15% assumption
• electric and hydrogen plant are expected to reach 10% deployment in 2025 work plans

These trends indicate that decarbonisation is accelerating faster than originally planned in important areas, particularly through material substitution and fuel switching. Where new principles and low-carbon technologies are shown to be successful, we integrate these into our operations to replace standard, high-carbon practices.

We track progress through a comprehensive net zero action plan containing 92 actions, which are monitored and reported on a quarterly basis. Emissions reporting is supported by established Environment Agency systems. These include:

• live carbon dashboards
• whole-life carbon assessments
• carbon intensity metrics

Emerging analysis from verified data provides further evidence of progress. Early findings indicate a downward trend in emissions per unit of important materials, particularly concrete and steel. This suggests that decarbonisation measures are starting to reduce emissions at source.

Looking ahead, further emissions reductions will be pushed by:

• continued uptake of low-carbon materials
• use of alternative fuels
• innovation in design

A strategic shift towards maintenance, refurbishment and nature-based solutions could reduce emissions by up to 30%, while continuing to provide flood and coastal resilience.

4.1.2 Adaptation and resilience

In line with advice from the Climate Change Committee to Government, we already plan 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 do this in both our planning advice for new developments and for the design of new FCERM projects, schemes and strategies.

4.1.3 Flood and coastal innovation programmes

We manage the 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
• Coastal transition accelerator programme

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 2: Making Space for Sand (Cornwall Council)

The Making Space for Sand project is managing natural coastal barriers across 40 locations in Cornwall using nature-based solutions.

This year, the project launched its Minecraft Education game, CoastCraft. CoastCraft teaches students about coastal erosion, flood resilience and climate adaptation through hands-on learning and play.

Set in a seaside town in Cornwall, UK, the game challenges players to:

• protect the coast from rising sea levels and extreme weather
• make difficult choices about infrastructure, budgets and nature-based solutions

CoastCraft has been promoted by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) through several social media posts.

‘CoastCraft has managed to capture the politics of coastal management in an immersive experience. This is an impressive achievement, showing gameplay can be relevant and educational and still fun.’

Quote from: Elliot Honeybun-Arnolda, UNDRR

Case study 3: Resilient Roch – combined property flood resilience survey model

In Rochdale, many residents live in older terraced housing that is vulnerable to:

• flooding
• damp
• poor insulation
• wider environmental and health challenges

These issues often overlap in the same homes, making it difficult for households, particularly those facing multiple disadvantages, to address them individually. Traditional approaches require several separate property visits for surveys, causing disruption for residents and inefficiencies for contractors.

The Resilient Roch project is tackling this by developing a coordinated model that brings multiple surveys together into one streamlined visit. This integrated approach helps identify and achieve opportunities to improve:

• flood resilience
• energy efficiency
• building condition

This will create more sustainable and healthier homes across Littleborough and Wardleworth.

The Resilient Roch model is designed with features that make it easy for both residents and future adopters to use and replicate. These include:

• a combined survey model covering property condition, energy performance and PFR
• a single point of contact to simplify communications with residents
• integrated recommendations that join up interventions across climate resilience, safety and energy use
• strong community partnerships, including long-standing relationships with trusted local groups

To support wider uptake of this model, the project is also building an evidence base. This will help to understand the benefits of coordinated surveys and the resources required to achieve them. It will:

• identify the skills and contractor capacity needed for integrated home assessments
• develop a repeatable approach that can be shared with other authorities
• inform future funding decisions on energy efficiency and PFR measures

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 promote 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:

• citizens’ panels in each of the locations, which allow residents to directly engage with experts, understand uncertainty in climate projections, and help shape local strategies to manage future hazards
• rapid adaptation pathways assessments with LAs - this is an approach to develop high level ‘rapid’ adaptation pathways through a one-day workshop

This year, we have:

• published the Rapid Adaptation Pathways Assessments Toolkit in collaboration with the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport (ADEPT). This enables development of high level ‘rapid’ adaptation pathways through a one-day workshop
• developed adaptation pathways for 2 sub-catchments of the River Severn; the Warwickshire Avon and Upper Severn
• provided workshops for partners and communities in South and West Yorkshire, to inform the development of adaptation pathways in 2026/7
• seen the adaptation pathways approach used outside the APP, supporting the development of local FCERM strategies in various coastal areas

We continue to maintain the 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).

CTAP covers 5 coastal areas at significant risk of coastal erosion:

• North Norfolk
• East Riding of Yorkshire
• Bude in Cornwall
• Charmouth and Swanage in Dorset

The programme covers the coastal areas with property most at risk of significant coastal erosion in the next 20 years.

It will:

• produce adaptation plans
• trial practical actions that will support the long-term resilience of coastal communities to adapt and transition away from areas of coastal change

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 beach access
• 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
• working with communities to co-create community transition plans to shape what adaption actions are required in those areas

We are already sharing lessons and embedding learning from the programme with coastal practitioners in RMAs.

We are doing this via:

• the Coastal Handbook
• coastal groups and networks
• conferences and webinars

Sharing and embedding this learning will be the main focus in 2026 to 2027, the final year of the programme.

4.1.4 Coastal Adaptation Pilots

On 28 January 2026 Minister Emma Hardy announced a new £30 million investment to launch the Environment Agency’s Coastal Adaptation Pilots (CAP).  

This 3-year initiative runs from 2026 to 2029. It is designed to help England’s most vulnerable coastal communities prepare for the long-term impacts of coastal erosion, which will be worsened by climate change.

It will build on the foundations of FCIP. The £30 million investment is split between 2 work areas:

• advanced coastal adaptation
• adaptation readiness actions

Advanced Coastal Adaptation

Up to £18 million of the investment will be shared between FCIP projects in:

• East Riding of Yorkshire
• Norfolk and Suffolk
• Great Yarmouth

These areas have been at the forefront of, and have a proven ability to carry out, coastal adaptation, most recently as part of FCIP. Funding will support complex actions like selective property purchases for homes at imminent risk from erosion. 

Adaptation Readiness Actions

Up to £12 million of the investment will be prioritised by RFCCs for smaller-scale readiness actions in line with local priorities and needs. This includes:

• testing early warning systems
• relocating community infrastructure like car parks
• improving beach access and tourism infrastructure

This funding is open to all areas at risk of coastal erosion in England.

4.2 Coastal change

The National Coastal Erosion Risk Map (NCERM) provides the most up to date picture of current and future coastal erosion risk for England. It shows that 3,500 properties are at risk of coastal erosion by 2055. This assumes all current shoreline management plan (SMP) approaches and actions are carried out.

NCERM can be found on:

• Check coastal erosion risk for an area in England
• Shoreline Management Plan Explorer
• open access data on data.gov.uk

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)

SMPs set out the local approach to managing coastal flood and erosion risk around the coast of England to 2105. 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 2025 until 2055.

The ‘SMP Next Steps; Refresh into Action Project’ will run to the end of 2028. We are currently working with coastal partners to bring together similar approaches between SMP groups. This includes:

• SMP leads
• coastal groups

The project will:

• help achieve SMP action plans and revisit SMP management approaches
• further improve the access, understanding and use of SMPs by coastal communities and wider coastal interests

4.2.2 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. LAs can apply for the grant to help with the initial transitional costs associated with loss of a residential property.

The Environment Agency administers and assures the coastal erosion assistance grant (CEAG) on behalf of Defra.

In March 2026 the EFRA committee published Erosion of trust: the impact of coastal erosion on communities. This noted that Defra and the Environment Agency should review the current 2009 property purchase qualifying date and value of the grant.

4.2.3 Coastal habitats

Coastal habitats can include:

• shallow subtidal habitats
• intertidal habitats
• freshwater habitats
• terrestrial habitats

Examples include:

• seagrass meadows, oyster reefs and kelp forests
• saltmarsh, mudflat, saline lagoon, vegetated shingle and sand dunes
• freshwater grazing marsh and reedbeds
• wet and transitional grasslands

Between them, these habitats provide a range of benefits, including:

• reduce coastal flood and erosion risk
• improve biodiversity
• store carbon
• improve water quality
• support fisheries
• provide health and well-being benefits

We work with a range of organisations to reduce flood and coastal erosion risk through NFM and nature-based solutions. Organisations include:

• RMAs
• Natural England
• conservation groups

Solutions can include:

• working with natural processes
• making space for water and wildlife
• incorporating appropriate features into the design of FCERM projects

FCERM activities may also contribute to the deterioration or loss of coastal habitats. Most 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. This particularly affects saltmarsh and mudflats.

Where activities are predicted to impact on designated habitats, we have a legal obligation to compensate for these impacts. We do this through the Habitat Compensation and Restoration Programme (HCRP). The programme works with partners to carry out large-scale habitat creation projects. Since the early 2000’s, The HCRP has created approximately:

• 1,750 ha of intertidal habitat
• 470 ha of freshwater grazing marsh
• 350 ha of other coastal habitats

Case Study 4: Oustrays managed realignment scheme

In summer 2025 we completed the Oustrays Managed Realignment Scheme on the Humber Estuary in Yorkshire. We carried out this work in collaboration with Associated British Ports (ABP), contractors JBA Bentley and many other organisations.

This scheme created:

• 175 hectares of saltmarsh and mudflat intertidal habitat
• 75 hectares of terrestrial freshwater wet grassland

It did this by:

• building a state-of-the-art new 5.5km flood embankment
• creating a breach in the old defence that allows the tide to flow in and out of the basin

The work also enabled improvements to tidal defences. These benefit more than 100,000 people, industry and infrastructure around the estuary. Areas benefiting include:

• Hull
• Hessle
• South Ferriby
• Stallingborough

The work will also help achieve the Humber 2100+ Strategy and supports growth of local port infrastructure, trade and associated offshore sectors.

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

4.3.1 NFM Programme

The £25 million NFM Programme was 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 work and financing
• further improve evidence of NFM by filling knowledge gaps

We are entering the final year of the NFM programme, with 36 projects underway. Many are already well into the construction of NFM measures across the landscape. Our NFM evaluation is also underway. So far we have:

• defined important questions and a framework
• started worked to capture and analyse environmental and hydrological monitoring data

Mainstream the use of natural flood management

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:

• National FCERM Strategy for England
• FCERM Strategy Roadmap to 2026
• Environment Agency’s nature-based solutions position statement
• FCERM funding policy

Changes to flood and coastal erosion funding policy are helping to increase the availability of funding for NFM within the FCERM investment programme. This will help us mainstream its use. To support NFM projects seeking flood funding, we have:

• published eligibility criteria for standalone NFM alongside NFM heat maps to help identify opportunities likely to achieve the greatest flood risk benefits
• developed the NFM benefits method and calculator to support proportionate benefit estimation and streamlined the business case process to help projects move into construction more quickly

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 2026, we have:

• created or enhanced 4,821 hectares of habitat
• enhanced 787 kilometres of rivers

Case Study 5: Cumbria River Restoration Package

The Cumbria River Restoration Strategy originally launched in 2010. It was developed to help improve the quality and function of 3 catchments in Cumbria. These are the rivers:

• Eden
• Derwent
• Kent

The strategy continues to provide a range of benefits, and this year it has:

• improved 20km of river
• restored 40Ha of habitat

Projects contributing to this total include:

• Setterah Park Phase 2
• River Liza Restoration

Since 2010 the overall project has:

• improved around 100 kilometres of watercourses
• restored over 150 hectares of floodplain across the Eden, Derwent and Kent catchments
• brought rivers back to life by reconnecting natural meanders
• removed outdated weirs that block fish migration
• planted thousands of native trees along riverbanks
• better protected some communities in Cumbria from flooding through natural defences

We have worked together with a wide range of organisations to achieve these benefits, including:

• Natural England
• National Trust
• Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB)
• Cumbria Connect
• Lowther Estate
• Ullswater community interest company (CIC)
• United Utilities
• the Eden, West Cumbria and South Cumbria Rivers Trusts
• local farmers

Landowners have benefited from improved soil health and better water management. The restored river systems provide natural infrastructure that adapts to climate change and supports rural economies.

This work shows the positive benefits of reinstating natural river processes for both people and wildlife.

4.5 Agriculture and land management

The FCERM National 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.

4.5.1 Catchment Sensitive Farming

Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF) is a partnership programme between:

• Natural England
• the Environment Agency
• Defra
• the Forestry Commission

It was expanded in April 2022 to include the provision of advice for NFM practices. This advice provided by CSF advisers (CSFAs) includes both new and established CSF practices.

These include:

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

We have developed an evaluation strategy to assess the uptake and impact of NFM advice provided by CSF. This strategy builds on the established approach used in the CSF Water Quality evaluation. It collects 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.

CFSAs provide tailored, one-to-one NFM advice directly to farmers. Between April 2025 and March 2026, they have provided this advice more than 1,000 times to over 500 farms.

Since CSF expanded its scope to include NFM in April 2022, CSFAs have provided this advice one-to-one more than 6,000 times to more than 2,750 farms.

CSFAs also work in partnership to support wider NFM projects. They have engaged with more than 75 partners on more than 70 projects across England, 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 3 FCRIP projects:

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

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

This ambition is about 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

5.1.1 Planning

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 Flood Zones 2 and 3 – areas that are currently at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea, ignoring the benefits of flood defences
• 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 are a statutory consultee on major development with surface water drainage.

We respond to approximately 7,000 planning applications each year. We provide detailed flood risk advice for around 4,500 planning applications. We know our flood risk planning advice this year has helped to avoid at least 22,000 homes from being permitted in potentially unsafe ways or locations.

Between April 2025 and March 2026:

• over 97% 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 41 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 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 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Type of Action	Total
Planning applications responded to	6,812
Planning applications which required detailed flood risk advice	4,535
Number of planning decisions recorded that related to flood risk objections	879
Number of homes granted planning permission contrary to our flood risk advice	41
Number of planning decisions recorded in line with our advice	856
Number of planning decisions made contrary to our flood risk advice	23
% of planning applications determined in line with our advice	Over 97%
% of residential properties in planning applications in line with our advice	Over 99%

MHCLG ran a consultation on the NPPF consultation between December 2025 and March 2026. The consultation included several proposals to strengthen flood risk management within the NPPF. The outcomes are expected to be published in Summer 2026.

5.1.2 Planning policy, guidance and research

In August 2025 we made further improvements to the Flood Map for Planning, based on user feedback.

A simplified ‘Flood Zones plus Climate Change’ layer replaced several detailed layers which users had found confusing. The removed layers continue to be available on the Defra Data Services Platform (DSP) for flood risk professionals undertaking flood risk assessments. 

In May 2026 we added new layers showing the possible effects of climate change on surface water flood risk over the next century. We also now provide banded surface water depth information.

These layers:

• help inform flood risk assessments, strategic flood risk assessments and sustainable Drainage Strategies, making them cheaper and easier to produce
• inform decisions on the location and design of development, ensuring it will be safe and resilient, without increasing risk elsewhere
• put all suitable surface water flood risk information for planners and developers in one place

We continue to support users of the service through:

• tools and guidance via a SharePoint site for RMAs, including a questions and answers document
• additional guidance on how to use Flood Map for Planning data
• 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

5.1.3 Building skills and capacity on planning policy and guidance

We continue to work in collaboration with the Town and Country Planning Association (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 main principles of national policy and guidance on flood risk, coastal change and sustainable drainage.

We released 3 new modules this year:

• an introduction to coastal planning in England
• using planning to manage coastal change in England
• an introduction to sustainable drainage systems for planners – produced in conjunction with the Association of SuDS Authorities

Learning modules are freely accessible from TCPA learning, with over 5,000 users registered on the platform.

Existing modules 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

We also provide a series of video tutorials on technical elements of development management such as:

• functional floodplain
• climate change allowances
• flood risk standing advice

We published a Flood Risk Assessment (FRA) template and guidance on the Planning Portal in summer 2025. These tools aim to help developers and consultants understand what information they need to include with planning applications for development in flood risk areas. In the 6 months since publication, the template has been downloaded more than 2,500 times. This will help enable sustainable development whilst improving efficiency and certainty for planners and developers.

We have also continued our work with several CIRIA projects to support practitioners to provide SuDS. This work includes:

• enabling development: Getting 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 and includes this animation.
• producing a SuDS Strategy template (publication expected spring 2026) – this aims to help developers know what SuDS information should be included with planning applications
• updates to the SuDS Manual (publication expected during 2027) – this will be known as the Rainwater Management Platform and will update the guidance to reflect the latest evidence and best practice and make it more accessible

We remain a member of CIRIA Susdrain, which is a community that provides a range of resources for those involved in SuDS. We supported the Susdrain SuDS Champion Awards 2025 which celebrate the individuals and teams encouraging  good practice in innovation in sustainable drainage.

5.1.4 Reform to planning legislation, policy and guidance

We provided advice to government on NPPF: proposed reforms and other changes to the planning system.

We also provided advice to government on its proposed SuDS technical standards, as a member of its advisory group. The National standards for SuDS were published in June 2025. They provide a comprehensive 7-point framework for the design, operation and maintenance of SuDS in new development and infrastructure. This ensures they mimic natural processes. The standards prioritise the capture, reuse and infiltration of rainfall. At the same time the maximise wider benefits for biodiversity, amenity and water quality. They make clear that surface water should be discharged to combined sewers only as a last resort. This should help to alleviate pressure on sewers and wastewater treatment works, reducing the incidence of storm sewer overflows operating.

5.2 Property Flood Resilience

Around 680 properties were better protected by PFR measures between April 2025 and March 2026.

5.2.1 PFR Testing Facility

We have worked with the University of Hull and Flood Re to develop a ‘National PFR Product Testing Centre’. This is located at The Deep in Hull.

This test centre is a pioneering research and development centre dedicated to improving PFR performance. It:

• is designed to help businesses, manufacturers, and researchers develop and test products that make homes and businesses more flood-resilient
• will enable an efficient and cost-effective route to market for new products

The test facility was opened by Minister Emma Hardy in October 2025. 

5.2.2 FloodReady Review 

In October 2025, the independent FloodReady Review was published. This review was commissioned by the Environment Agency and led by Professor Peter Bonfield OBE. It sets out a refreshed action plan to grow the PFR market and improve uptake across England.

The FloodReady Review builds on progress since the 2016 PFR action plan. It provides a roadmap for stakeholders to work together to provide flood resilience at the property level. It covers a range of sectors including:

• construction
• finance
• housing
• research
• skills

It is the result of close collaboration between:

• the Environment Agency
• Defra
• Flood Re
• insurance sector
• housing associations
• builders
• local authorities
• community groups

This joint effort aims to align flood resilience actions with the National FCERM Strategy and wider climate adaptation goals.

The recommendations are being taken forward by the new FloodReady leadership group. They will work closely with relevant stakeholders to prioritise and implement the most important actions. The group will report on progress to the Flood Resilience Taskforce.

5.2.3 PFR Awareness and Engagement

We have continued to use the Floodmobile and FloodPod to raise awareness of PFR. They:

• gives homeowners, businesses, and councils a chance to see flood protection measures in action
• feature a range of practical, hands-on demonstrations of measures that can protect their homes and businesses

The Flood Mobile is supported by a range of organisations, including the ABI.

Events featuring the Flood Mobile and Pod have been well received. We surveyed 175 people from 9 of these events and found that:

• 70% planned to install PFR in the next year because of the engagement
• 95% said they learnt useful information about 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 2026, there were 2,162 registered LRRs in England.

This regulation is a requirement of the Reservoirs Act 1975 (as amended), which aims to ensure that dams and reservoirs are safe. Flooding from reservoir dam failure is rare, but 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 after an incident to provide a full post incident report. 

So far, 11 incidents occurring between April 2025 and March 2026 were reported to us, a decrease from 26 last year.

We are working to raise awareness of the benefits of incident reporting. We may therefore see future increases in reporting. This does not necessarily mean more incidents are occurring.

Case study 6: Toddbrook reservoir

In February 2026, the Canal & River Trust (CRT) completed safety repairs at Toddbrook reservoir. These repairs bring the reservoir back into compliance with the Reservoirs Act 1975.

Following a major incident in 2019, an engineer carried out an inspection and recommended safety measures to repair the reservoir. CRT missed the deadline set by the engineer and so became non-compliant with the Reservoirs Act.

We agreed a Compliance Action Plan with CRT as a means of enforcement action. This method, introduced in 2024:

• sets milestones that the undertaker will complete, with deadlines
• allows us to track progress of the repairs
• provides early warning of potential problems or delays

We commissioned an independent engineer to confirm that the plan was suitable. Their expert opinion assured us that the risk was managed.

Regulating the non-compliance at Toddbrook reservoir allowed us to robustly test our Compliance Action Plan process. CRT provided feedback that the Compliance Action Plan was useful, pragmatic, and constructive. They said that the process helped them to plan and programme the project, with all parties kept informed of progress.

Using lessons learned from this case, we have made improvements to:

• the Compliance Action Plan form
• our internal guidance
• guidance for undertakers

The recent completion of the repair works was within the timescale agreed in the Compliance Action Plan. This significant milestone concludes our involvement at Toddbrook reservoir. The case shows the success of our proportionate approach, has spurred improvements to our processes, and has returned the reservoir to compliance.

5.3.1 Environment Agency reservoirs

The Environment Agency also own and operate 223 LRRs throughout England. The vast majority of these are for flood risk management purposes.

Our reservoirs are dry most of the time. They 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 can 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, reducing the amount in the towns and villages downstream.

The teams who operate our reservoirs work in a different directorate to the regulation team. This ensures that our operational and regulatory roles are separate.

5.3.2 Reservoir Safety Reform

We are carrying out the Reservoir Safety Reform Programme in partnership with:

• Defra
• Welsh Government
• Natural Resources Wales (NRW)

This will modernise and strengthen reservoir regulation in England and Wales. The programme is in response to the Independent Reservoir Safety Review. We will carry the work out in a phased way over several years.

In 2025 we:

• created new forms and guidance to report a reservoir incident, introducing a mechanism for near miss reporting
• we launched the Reservoir Incidents Knowledge Base - this website displays reservoir safety incident case studies reported to the Environment Agency and NRW as part of the post-incident reporting process. You can filter for case studies relevant to you and download the data. The website has been a collaborative project between the Environment Agency, NRW and the ICE
• published new guidance for reservoir owners about how to manage their reservoir in extreme weather - this is to help owners respond to increasingly severe weather events. It highlights what to look out for and what to do to become more resilient
• continued to develop the proposals for reforming reservoir safety regulation. This includes holding workshops with several stakeholders and representative groups

5.4. Surface water management

Our new NaFRA shows that around 4.5 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 LAs and other partners. We help them plan and adapt to current and future surface water flood risk.

Between 1 April 2025 and 31 March we have:

• worked with Defra and LLFAs on the publication of guidance for practitioners on carrying out investigations and reports under Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010
• supported the roll out of Defra’s new guidance for water and sewerage companies when preparing their statutory Drainage and Wastewater Management Plans published in May 2025
• updated the Flood Map for Planning so it displays climate change surface water flood risk information for the first time
• ran another successful trial of the Rapid Flood Guidance service through the Flood Forecasting Centre as part of the Surface Water Flood Forecasting Improvement Project
• developed a new Surface Water Investment Model guidance to make surface water investment easier for other risk management authorities under the new funding policy

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 1 April 2025 and 1 March 2026, we issued 1,688 bespoke permits and 31 standard rules permits. There were also 1,332 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 national permitting service. The transition initially resulted in some business disruption and delayed timeframes. However, we have worked hard over the last year to clear the backlog and reduce timeframes for determination of applications.

A dedicated team was set up to determine the older permits whilst the national permitting service continued to work on incoming applications. All but the most complex applications are now being assessed within 3 to 4 months and those with good quality applications are processed even quicker.

Defra has consulted on 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

Water and sewerage companies are RMAs. Water companies:

• have a duty to maintain the water supply and sewer network
• must make sure public sewers effectively drain the areas they serve - this includes draining surface water
• manage the risk of flooding from their water main and sewer networks

This year good progress has been made in achieving outcomes through:

• enhanced partnership working
• improved operational resilience
• more integrated long-term planning

Between April 2025 and March 2026 water and sewerage companies have:  

• responded to flood incidents, including participating in multi-agency responses
• worked with partners to reduce flood risk and provide wider benefits for communities, including water quality and amenity benefits
• used strategic partnerships, including with RFCCs to align investment planning and funding
• completed the 1st year of their Asset Management Plans (2025 to 2030)
• begun developing their statutory DWMPs
• continued to innovate and share good practice

Between April 2025 and March 2026, water companies invested: 

• £114.9 million to reduce the risk of sewer flooding to properties
• £260.1 million to maintain the public sewer system to prevent blockages and flooding
• £12.9 million in property-level protection and mitigation measures to reduce the likelihood of customers’ homes experiencing sewer flooding

We worked with Defra, Ofwat and others on ambitious new government guidelines for Statutory DWMPs. These were published in May 2025. The plans will demonstrate how water company investment from 2030 will meet environmental, water quality, and flood and catchment resilience needs. They will set out how this will be achieved in the face of climate change and population growth. 

In 2025, water companies started this statutory cycle of DWMPs, engaging with stakeholders and RMAs. They have established their governance and delivery teams, and developed evidence and tools. Many have started their collaboration with RMAs on options to manage drainage risks through partnership schemes. Data sharing and digital tools are helping to improve this coordination. 

Partnership work continues to focus on SuDS and blue green infrastructure. These are reducing flood risk while providing wider environmental and community benefits. United Utilities, for example, have been able to scale these solutions by working with LAs and partners on Integrated Water Management Plans. They have done this in:

• Greater Manchester
• Merseyside
• Cumbria

These plans have helped include flood risk solutions into regeneration and transport plans.

Flooding and storm surges can overwhelm wastewater systems, leading to disruption. Companies have been embracing new technology and using weather warnings to improve their response for people and the environment. For example, Severn Trent Water are using latest satellite technology to better understand how extreme weather is impacting their assets. This helps them act faster and and minimise impacts.

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

• the Environment Agency FCRIP
• Ofwat’s Water Breakthrough Challenge

Anglian Water have been leading work with partners on Enabling Water Smart Communities (EWSC) – this looks at innovative solutions, such as extensive use of rain gardens and permeable paving, to store, slow, and treat runoff. EWSC has been promoting water-smart design, essential for enabling housing growth, reducing flood risk alongside water scarcity and pollution.

Case study 7: Blue Heart, East Sussex County Council

The Blue Heart project is reducing flood risk and strengthening community resilience across Eastbourne and southern Wealden.

The project has taken a data-led approach, developing what is believed to be one of the most highly monitored catchments in the world. This data is publicly accessible through the project website and is being used to:

• monitor water levels
• inform local water level management decisions
• investigate flooding issues
• improve understanding of local water systems and how they interact
• support the pilot of a local surface water flood warning service

This year, the project reached a landmark data-sharing agreement with Southern Water, enabling water level data to be shared more effectively between RMAs. This collaboration has also secured a funding contribution towards the project’s SuDS in Schools initiative.

The SuDS in Schools initiative has been a major success. It has:

• provided around 45m³ of storage, designed to passively drain and refill, helping to manage surface water more effectively
• engaged 2,051 students to date, raising awareness of flood risk and water management

Building on this momentum, the initiative is set to expand to a further 15 schools over the next year.

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

This ambition is about ensuring local people understand:

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

6.1 Skills and capacity

This year, we have carried out a range of activities in the education sector to support flood resilience.

This includes the development of CoastCraft, an award-winning Minecraft Education game. CoastCraft has been played over 14,000 times and is recognised internationally. It comes with a range of primary and secondary school resources provided through Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Learning and the Geographical Association. These free resources cover topics such as:

• flooding
• natural flood management
• property resilience

They also include real-world applications such as coding Environment Agency assets.

Through these partnerships, we have reached a wide audience of educators. This includes:

• over 1,000 resource downloads reaching 30,000+ children and young people in the past 4 months alone
• promotion to approximately 30,000 teachers via partner networks

We have also been working with partners to influence and support the new geography and science National Curriculum that will be published for consultation in 2026. This reaches 9 million children and young people and 20,000+ schools.

This will strengthen the curriculum in areas including:

We are using this work to strengthen:

• people-environment interactions in relation to on climate change and sustainability
• how people in the UK mitigate and adapt to environmental risks including flooding

Primary and geography teachers will be able to draw on case studies and expertise when the new curriculum launches in September 2028.

We also have a comprehensive early careers programme. This include:

• a graduate training scheme
• specialist pathways, including in engineering and geomatics
• work experience opportunities including Springpod
• internships
• industry placements
• apprenticeships

You can find out more about these on our early careers website.

6.1.1 Activities to support other risk management authorities

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

Skills and Training for Resilience, Empowerment and Adaptation in flood-risk Management

The Flood Resilience Task Force commissioned the Skills and Training for Resilience, Empowerment and Adaptation in flood-risk Management (STREAM) review.

This works aims to:

• better understand the skills and knowledge among RMAs about community flood risk and resilience
• identify and promote practical, scalable approaches for strengthening workforce skills

The project has engaged with more than 150 stakeholders. It has found that LLFA capability is uneven, affected by:

• very small teams
• workforce shortages across technical and construction roles remain systemic

Despite this, there remains strong activity and innovation in the skills space.

The project also found that shared service approaches, including partnerships between LLFAs, are increasingly seen as essential to meet future skill needs. This is particularly the case as requirements expand, for example with:

• NFM
• SuDS
• place‑based work

Established models such as Coastal Partners demonstrate how multi‑authority shared services can:

• strengthen capacity
• retain specialist expertise
• carry out programmes more consistently

6.1.2 Other activities

We have established a 4-year collaboration with CIWEM to develop a partnership working toolkit and training offer. This will help RMAs develop important collaboration skills and support them to carry out the next investment programme.

In February 2026, 96 delegates attended in‑person partnership working workshops provided by CIWEM and Jacobs. This focused on:

• leadership
• behaviours
• carrying out multi‑benefit outcomes

We are planning more workshops and masterclasses to strengthen these skills and support both new and experienced practitioners.

Another priority this year has been to prepare all RMAs, and non-RMAs for NFM projects, for government’s new funding policy. This will take effect in April 2026.

In December 2025, we held a webinar for all RMAs to explain the:

• aims of the new policy
• approaches we are taking to update the funding policy guidance

This was attended by nearly 1,800 delegates. There was a high level of engagement which helped inform development of the funding guidance.

We continue to use the Supporting Flood and Coast Projects SharePoint site. This allows RMAs and partners to find information and content to support the transition. Following the publication of the new investment policy in October 2025, we published a briefing note including a link to Defra’s webinar introducing the new policy. We have set up an Engagement HQ platform to enable non-RMAs to access support for interventions eligible for funding as part of standalone NFM projects.

To help us better support RMAs to apply the new funding policy we invited several RMAs to form an advisory group to shape our guidance and support package.

The FCERM Funding Policy guidance was published on 3 March 2026. We used advice from the RMA advisory group and insights from Environment Agency users to tailor our support package of training products at user needs. Further guidance and support followed through March and will continue in 2026 to 2027.

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

We moved to a new flood warning service in October 2025. This included:

• adopting a new off‑the‑shelf warning dissemination system
• launching our new Get flood warnings service

All existing citizens and organisations were successfully migrated to the new platform.

We have a substantial list of enhancements planned for the coming months and years. We are working with our stakeholders to prioritise these improvements.

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 Get flood warning service.  Alerts and warnings enable the public to take action to protect themselves and their possessions.

As of March 2026, there were over 1.5 million properties registered to receive free flood warning service. This includes phone numbers registered in areas at risk from flooding that are automatically opted-in.

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. It is also hard to forecast their intensity and duration and how the ground state affects the flow of water.

6.2.3 Flood alerts, flood warnings and severe flood warnings issued

Between April 2025 to March 2026, we issued:

• 3,441 flood alerts
• 1,004 flood warnings
• 3 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 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Month and Year	Number of Flood Alerts	Number of Flood Warnings	Number of Severe Flood Warnings
April 2025	46	2	0
May 2025	32	2	0
June 2025	68	5	0
July 2025	59	4	0
August 2025	8	1	0
September 2025	202	59	0
October 2025	246	22	0
November 2025	541	164	0
December 2025	683	200	0
January 2026	813	272	3
February 2026	624	235	0
March 2026	119	38	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
2025 to 2026	3,441	1,004	3

6.2.4 Messages sent

Between April 2025 and March 2026, we sent over 10.9 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 2025 to 31 March 2026.

Month and year	Total number of messages sent and attempts to send
April 2025	100,624
May 2025	98,204
June 2025	115,375
July 2025	147,501
August 2025	28,410
September 2025	323,870
October 2025	507,604
November 2025	1,832,661
December 2025	2,260,115
January 2026	2,259,968
February 2026	2,367,055
March 2026	858,950

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
2025 to 2026	10,900,337

6.3 Flood risk information service

Between April 2025 and March 2026, we continued to improve the 3 main flood risk information services on GOV.UK.

These are:

• Check for flooding
• Check your long term flood risk for an area in England
• Flood map for planning

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
2025 (see note)	1.1 million	15.5 million

Note: 2024 and 2025 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.

6.3.1 Check your long-term flood risk improvements

This year, we have:

• made design improvements to groundwater and reservoir information to improve user understanding of these flood risks
• made improvements to the back-end element of the service which saves time when responding to user requests

6.4 FCERM Research and Development Programme

The FCERM Research and Development Programme is a collaborative partnership between:

• the Environment Agency
• Defra
• Welsh Government
• Natural Resources Wales

The research is used to:  

• understand and assess coastal and flood risks now and in the future
• manage FCERM assets in an efficient and sustainable way
• prepare for and manage flood events effectively
• increase resilience to flooding and coastal erosion
• meet policy and practical needs

This means that research is created and used to understand and manage flooding and coastal risks effectively in England and Wales. 

The FCERM research and development programme:   

• works with FCERM stakeholders to understand their needs and ensure research has a pathway to impact
• works with research funders, research institutes and leading academics to explore our greatest challenges
• carries out research and brings together evidence using our own expertise or by commissioning others
• communicates research through the programme webpages FCERM research and development programme, conference papers seminars, webinars and scientific journals

The research we do:

• provides the evidence to support policy and practice in partner organisations and FCERM authorities
• supports the FCRM Strategy ambition 3
• supports the FCERM Strategy Roadmap – this says that world leading research and international best practice will underpin FCERM

6.4.1 Research publication highlights

We published a new simplified national-scale approach to estimate the economic benefits of NFM projects. Many NFM projects are low-cost and led by communities. However, they often face challenges in securing funding. This is because traditional modelling methods used to estimate economic benefits can be expensive and complex. Along with the new funding policy, this new approach aims to address this by demonstrating a proportionate and consistent approach to estimating these benefits.

We also published a report assessing how emulators are used in flood risk analysis. The findings provide:

• a guide for those unfamiliar with emulators who would like to know more about their application and use – an emulator is a software tool or model that acts as a digital shortcut, copying complicated time-consuming simulations to predict outcomes quickly
• evidence of how and where emulators are used in wider industry
• a useful starting point should the Environment Agency consider using emulators in future flood risk analyses

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), and their regional water authority, Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier
• the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
• the Australian Bureau of Meteorology
• the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT)
• organisation in Singapore and Ukraine

We have worked with these organisations for many years, exchanging knowledge, research, innovations and technical expertise in FCERM.  

6.5.1 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 worked with partners in 20 countries across:

• Europe
• North America
• Asia
• the Middle East
• Oceania

We exchange expertise, progress joint research, and contribute to global best practice.

This activity supports the FCERM Strategy ambition for the UK to be recognised internationally as a leader in managing flooding and coastal change.

Our engagement has enabled rapid knowledge transfer on:

• nature-based solutions
• engineering innovation
• dam and barrier safety
• digital tools
• emergency response

This year we have:

• worked with Rijkswaterstaat, US Army Corps of Engineers, World Bank, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and Australian agencies
• contributed to 8 major networks, including I-STORM, KRING, CEATI Dam Safety Interest Group and MANABAS COAST
• participated in 30+ multilateral forums and conferences
• made progress on 4 major initiatives including Centre for Energy Advancement through Technological Innovation (CEATI) Dam Safety Interest Group (DSIG) proposals and Nature-based solutions working group
• hosted delegations hosted from Japan, United States, France, Netherlands and South Korea Environment Corporation
• reinforced the UK’s global reputation for natured based solutions, digital innovation and engineering excellence

Case Study 8: I-STORM: Storm Surge Barrier Collaboration

This year, we continued to play a leading role in the I‑STORM network. We worked with barrier managers across the Netherlands, Italy, the USA, and more than 50 organisations worldwide on major tidal barrier operation, engineering and innovation.

Engagement included daily knowledge exchange and workshops in London, York, New Orleans and Venice. During these workshops, partners explored:

• organisational models
• operational challenges
• land requirements for future barrier options
• adaptation pathways
• emerging digital tools

The network also carried out a peer review of several barriers in New Orleans this year.

The programme continues to support early career development through NextGen activities. It helps to strengthen the resilience and operational reliability of England’s most critical coastal infrastructure.

7. Looking ahead

We expect to publish the next edition of this report, which will cover the period from April 2026 to March 2027, in July 2027.

All authorities involved in FCERM are continually working together to better protect communities from flooding and help them to be more resilient. This section lists some of the activities that we, government and other RMAs will be carrying out beyond over the next year.

National FCERM strategy refresh

We have a legal responsibility to review the national FCERM Strategy in 2026. It is also the right time to do so, due to factors including:

• the new assessment of flood and coastal erosion risk
• excellent progress achieving the actions in the FCERM strategy roadmap
• new learning and innovation
• new government priorities and policies

We are engaging with stakeholders in spring and early summer and will consult with the public later in 2026.

Coastal adaptation pilots

The pilots will help coastal authorities across England take practical steps needed to prepare for long‑term coastal change. In spring 2026 we are inviting expressions of interest from organisations looking to put in place practical actions. We will assess these alongside RFCCs in later summer/early autumn and expect to announce successful pilot projects in the winter.

New FCERM programme

This year, we will invest £830 million to build new and upgrade existing flood defences. More than 600 schemes will receive funding. We will invest a further £260 million in repairing and maintaining existing Environment Agency assets, including defences damaged during Storms Goretti and Chandra. 

The investment sits within a longer-term commitment of at least £10.5 billion between 2024 and 2036, with £4.2 billion confirmed over the next 3 years alone.

The programme spans a wide range of approaches, including:

• major flood barriers
• strengthened embankments
• nature-based solutions such as tree planting, river re-naturalisation and saltmarsh restoration

Long term investment scenarios

Our Long Term Investment Scenarios (LTIS) are being updated in 2026.

LTIS:

• is a national economic assessment of long-term FCERM in England over the next 50 (to 2075) and 100 years (to 2125)
• explores what can be achieved for different levels of investment under different climate futures
• provides the evidence base for long-term FCERM investment
• informs the evidence for the long-term objectives in the National FCERM Strategy

Coastal erosion assistance grant review

The Environment Agency and Defra will review the existing CEAG by summer 2026. This will look at:

• coastal erosion risk communication
• updated projections of climate driven changes in erosion rates
• associated property exposure
• the true costs of demolition

By the end of the 2026 the Environment Agency will publish new eligibility criteria and an updated grant value.

National Planning Policy Framework reforms

The final revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) reforms are expected to be published in summer 2026. The draft consultation proposes that flood risk and coastal change are separated into a standalone chapter. This is a change from the current NPPF where they are part of a wider climate change section. If adopted this would make flood risk policy more explicit and reduce ambiguity at decision-taking stage.