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Surface water (or pluvial) flooding occurs when intense rainfall overwhelms drainage systems before entering rivers. With climate change and growing urban populations increasing the risk of such events, improving resilience to surface water flooding (SWF) is crucial. It is not possible to prevent all SWF therefore reliable and timely warnings are essential to support preparedness and recovery. SWF presents a unique challenge due to the high uncertainties around predicting and communicating the location, timing, and impact of localised events. In the UK responsible organisations are currently seeking to take bolder leadership in developing SWF forecasting and warning capabilities resulting in a number of recent initiatives. This talk will report on two of them:
1. Priority areas for research and development in SWF warning as identified during a workshop co-convened with the Environment Agency in January 2024 and attended by forecasters, responders, academics, and consultants.
2. Experiences from collaboration with the UK Met Office, Flood Forecasting Centre and University of Leeds to develop and test new approaches to SWF forecasting.
