Report

Surface tensions

This report from UK think tank Localis looks at working together against flash flooding.

As the impacts of climate change become clearer every year, the UK must be better prepared for the manifold impacts of extreme weather events, including floods. In England alone, some 5.4 million homes – one-in-six – are at risk of flooding, with many of them susceptible to surface water flooding. Flood resilience is a public infrastructure challenge that must be gripped tightly at every level of place – from our major cities and towns through to villages. Surface tensions leverages successes around capital investment in infrastructure but also puts forward the argument that this alone will not make for effective response to surface water flooding. What is needed most of all is inter-agency collaboration and levers embedded in planning policy to enable government agencies, local government, housebuilders, and the water companies to deliver effectively.