About the map
Before you use the flood map, please note that it has been
developed to give an indication of whether a general area, not
individual properties or specific location, may be affected by
flooding.
Why we’ve produced the flood map
The flood map has been produced by SEPA to provide a Scotland
wide picture of the areas estimated to be at risk of flooding from
rivers and/or the sea. As such it will help raise awareness of
flood risk and encourage both individuals and organisations to take
appropriate action.
Following the publication of the National Flooding Framework in
March 2000, for which SEPA was consulted, the Scottish Executive
commissioned SEPA to create a flood map. This web version of the
resulting dataset is intended to raise public awareness of flood
risk, and, if appropriate, encourage people to take action with a
view to reducing the risk to themselves, their property and
possessions.
The flood map should also enable local authorities to take a
more proactive approach to flood risk management. By being
aware of the land at risk of flooding and commissioning more
detailed flood risk assessments as appropriate, authorities can
develop their avoidance, alleviation and assistance strategies to
better manage flood risk through their planning, flood prevention
and emergency planning functions, together with SEPA’s flood
warning role.
It will help local authorities and others to understand flood
risk when considering where new homes, businesses and other
developments should be built. It also supports Scottish
Planning Policy 
Local authorities have had access to an indicative flood map
since 1999 (produced by the Centre of Ecology and Hydrology) to
help them make planning decisions. However, the new indicative
flood map provides more complete and up to date information than
was available in the previous map.
The map does not provide enough detail to show the definitive
flood risk to individual properties.
Click here to view the flood map.
How the flood map was developed
To develop the flood map we used techniques accepted as standard
by the flood management industry. These model the landform, then
simulate what may happen if river and coastal waters were to flood,
thus producing an indicative flood outline. The map shows
those areas estimated to have a 0.5% or greater chance of flooding
each year. This is the probability used in Scottish
Planning Policy for planning purposes.
Using a computer to model the flooding from a river enables us
to estimate the probability of a flood occurring for any part of a
river regardless of whether or not there are records to show there
has been a flood there before (although recorded information of an
actual flood is likely to provide a more accurate indication of the
exact areas at risk). This means that very large and rare
floods can be estimated and the areas at risk identified.
The modelling methods used are one of a number of different
techniques that can be used to produce a flood map. Other
techniques may produce slightly different results. The most
appropriate ones for a large Scotland-wide flood map were
chosen.
If you are interested in the more technical information about
the methodologies used to develop the flood map, click here
(1.1mb pdf).
What the flood map doesn’t show
Modelling at this scale means it can be difficult to accurately
represent
- urban areas where the effects of complex surface drainage
systems may affect a flood
- areas which are forested or where there is a lot of
vegetation
- the effect that bridges and other structures such as culverts
(where a river flows underground) may have on a flood
The flood map does not show flooding from very small burns i.e.
where the area draining to the river is less than 3km2.
We have made every effort to improve the modelled flood map
where appropriate. Where we have better or more detailed
information for a particular area, we have merged this information
with the 0.5% or greater probability flood risk outline.
This flood map cannot replace site specific studies at a local
scale.
Click here to view the flood map.
Updating the flood map
The flood map will be updated at suitable intervals to
incorporate any new flood information (such as information from a
recent flood, or more specific information about the flood risk to
an area).
Flood Defences
Historically, flood risk management and flood prevention in
Scotland was achieved in the main by the use of flood defences such
as walls, culverts and embankments. Several organisations share the
duties and responsibilities for flood risk management. SEPA is the
lead flood warning authority and provides advice to local
authorities on flood risk. It is local authorities who have
the discretionary powers to prepare flood prevention schemes on non
agricultural land, and have a duty to maintain urban rivers.
The construction of flood prevention schemes are therefore led
by local authorities using legislation contained in The Flood
Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961 and as amended by The Flood
Prevention and Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1997.
- The Scottish Flood Defence Asset Database:
The Scottish Executive commissioned the compilation of detailed
information on flood defence schemes, built under The Flood
Prevention (Scotland) Act 1961. The resulting database holds a
record of the flood prevention schemes constructed by local
authorities using the above legislation.
The Database brought together a wide range of detailed
information for each of the local authority flood prevention
schemes.
More information can be found on the Scottish Government website
by clicking
here.
Please click here to
access the Scottish Flood Defence Asset Database.
- What flood defence information is shown on the SEPA web
pages?
The flood defence information shown on the website is a summary of
the information created in the Scottish Executive project, and
indicates the type of flood defences and where they are
located.
The flood map may show some areas at risk when in fact they
benefit from existing flood defences.
On the web pages you can see the locations of the defences. For
a number of schemes, you can also zoom in further to see
information about the elements that make up the scheme (such as
walls, gates, pumps and embankments) and an indication of the area
benefiting from the scheme is also provided where it has been
estimated. (This information is not available for all schemes.) The
area benefiting from a scheme is the area that is protected by the
scheme relative to the maximum flood for which the scheme can
function. But it must be remembered that a larger flood may overtop
or swamp the defences leading to flooding.
Details of the scheme name, local authority responsible for it,
standard of protection and a brief description of the scheme itself
are shown in the look up tables. Use the scheme reference number
shown on the map to look up the scheme name and additional
information for each scheme in the table linked from the bottom of
the flood defences legend.
SEPA does not hold any additional information on flood
defences.
Please contact the responsible local authority for more
information or queries regarding particular flood defences.