Background information
The force of the sea has shaped our coastline into what it is today. Scotland has over 13000km of coastline, which includes cliffs and dunes, sea lochs and rocky shorelines. Over the years, coastal settlements have developed around our ports and harbours to support industries such as fishing, agriculture, oil and gas.
Low-lying communities within our estuaries and along our coastline are particularly vulnerable to flooding from the sea and SEPA currently estimate that there are around 30,000 homes and businesses at risk from coastal flooding in Scotland.
Current predictions for climate change anticipate an increase in sea levels, storm surges and waves all around Scotland’s coastline; however, this will affect some regions more than others. The number of properties at risk is predicted to increase, as well as the frequency and severity of flooding in our coastal communities.
If you think that you live in an area that may be at risk from coastal flooding, you can check using the online Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) flood map at www.sepa.org.uk/flooding/mapping
Q. What existing flood warning service does SEPA offer?
A. SEPA’s current flood warning service issues general river based Flood Watch alerts for broad areas of Scotland, as well as more detailed area based Flood Warnings where detailed monitoring equipment or forecast models exists.
Coastal areas currently served by flood warnings include the Firth of Clyde and the lower reaches of some rivers covered by the river flood warning schemes such as the Rivers Tay, Clyde and Ness.
Q. What is the new service that SEPA is providing?
A. The Floodline service is being extended to include a coastal Flood Watch service for all of Scotland’s coastline.
The coastal Flood Watch service will cover nine broad coastal areas and is issued in response to weather forecasts and information received from the Storm Tide Forecasting Service provided by the Met Office. It indicates that localised flooding may occur within the next 12 to 24 hours (one or two tidal cycles). All alerts issued will be made available through our Floodline information service.
Q. Why does coastal flooding occur?
A. Coastal flooding happens when sea levels rise above the normal tidal range. This can happen anywhere around our coast, including our estuaries, and is a result of one or a combination of the following:
- High tides - extremes of normal astronomical tidal activity (e.g. the spring tides that occur at the full and the new moon)
- Storm or tidal surges created by weather systems
- Wave action caused by winds
- High sea levels combining with high river flows can cause flooding in our estuaries.
Q. What is a Flood Watch?
A. A Flood Watch is information issued in response to weather forecasts and prevailing conditions, including wind and rainfall, and river and tidal levels.
It indicates that localised flooding may occur sometime within the next 24 to 48 hours. As Flood Watches are general alerts to the possibility of flooding over broad areas, they cannot provide an exact indication of where flooding may or may not occur, however they will act as a trigger for action to be taken. Coastal Flood Watches give an indication of high sea levels for the next tidal cycle; around 12 hours ahead.
Coastal Flood Watches are issued for nine broad coastal areas around our coastline when higher than normal sea levels are forecast and flooding is a possibility.
Q. Why is SEPA introducing coastal Flood Watch for Scotland’s coastline?
A. Following the floods of January 2005, a number of requests for new coastal flood warning schemes have been received by SEPA from local authorities. As a result, the Scottish Executive requested that SEPA produce a suitable strategy to help develop a consistent response to these requests. The first stage of this strategy is to provide coastal Flood Watch for Scotland’s coastline. A copy of the strategy can be viewed here.
Q. When will SEPA be launching the coastal Flood Watch service?
A. The service will be available from mid February 2007
Q. When will a coastal Flood Watch be issued?
Coastal Flood Watches are issued by SEPA flood warning duty officers, based on the information that we receive from the Met Office, Storm Tide Forecasting Service. This uses a model to forecast sea levels around the coast based on predicted tides and weather conditions. When these predicted sea levels suggest a risk of flooding is possible, flood watches are issued.
For the flood warning scheme on the Firth of Clyde a combination of tidal information, sea level data acquired from monitoring stations and computer modelling of predicted scenarios are used to assess the likelihood of flooding in communities covered by the scheme.
Q. How do I know if a Flood Watch has been issued for my area?
A. It is possible to find out if any alerts have been issued through the Floodline information service on 0845 9881188 or by logging on to www.sepa.org.uk/flooding.
Contacting Floodline by telephone for the first time will involve going through a menu of options to pinpoint the area you are interested in. To save time, a list of all the quick-dial numbers for coastal Flood Watch areas are listed below.
To use the quick-dial codes call 0845 988 1188, press option 1 and enter the appropriate quick-dial code for your area. If you experience difficulty in using the service, you can speak directly to an operator by selecting ‘0’.
Q. Will this affect the current flood warning service provided by SEPA?
A. No. The provision of coastal Flood Watch will be an additional service to the existing flood warnings already provided by SEPA.
Q. Will I be able to get a specific warning for my coastal town?
A. At the moment it is not possible to provide detailed coastal flood warnings in all areas because detailed forecast models and monitoring equipment are required to design and implement a flood warning scheme, and these must be targeted at specific at risk communities. SEPA is looking at future development of coastal flood warning schemes and is currently working on identification of suitable communities.
In the meantime, we have introduced coastal Flood Watch to provide broad information to the whole of Scotland.
