BGS to deliver three-year groundwater flood forecasting service to support emergency response to flooding
BGS is delivering a national-scale early warning system for groundwater flooding, alongside the Environment Agency and the Met Office.
29/11/2021 By BGS Press
BGS has been appointed to forecast groundwater flooding for the Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) until 2024.
BGS will deliver a three-year groundwater flood forecasting service (GWFFS), providing a national-scale early warning system for England for groundwater flooding.
The service officially went live at the beginning of November 2021 and is being used by the FFC to help inform their daily flood guidance statements, which are delivered to support the Category 1 and 2 emergency response community.
Groundwater flooding represents a significant part of the overall flood risk in the UK, but is challenging to forecast as it results from subsurface flow processes that are hard to observe and difficult to characterise.
The service not only builds on our expertise in national groundwater flood mapping and modelling, but also our continued collaboration with the Met Office and Environment Agency in delivering operational groundwater forecasts for other services such as the UK Hydrological Outlook. At the heart of the system is our AquiMod groundwater model software, which allows us to provide skillful forecasts quickly and at an appropriate scale, helping the FCC to deliver relevant information to those that need it.
The opportunity to provide essential data of this scale to the FCC, which combines meteorological and hydrological expertise with extensive regional- and local-scale knowledge and community engagement practices, will ensure there is a reliable link between science and the impact that flooding has on everyday lives.
Dr Jonathan Mackay, BGS groundwater flood forecasting service project lead.
The FCC, which is a working partnership between the Environment Agency and Met Office, uses flood forecast information to assess the likelihood, location and scale of groundwater flooding.
The GWFFS forms part of the FCC’s commitment to continually improve its ability to deliver skillful flood forecasts with more targeted information for emergency flood responders.
It’s great to have the expertise and skills of British Geological Survey hydrogeologists on board as partners to support the FFC. This service will enable the FFC to deliver timely and accurate groundwater flood forecasts to be used to assist emergency responders with tactical, strategic and operational planning decisions.
Steve Stanbridge, Flood Forecasting Centre.
Relative topics
Related news
GSNI project wins multiple awards at RegioStars event
17/10/2025
The AGEO project enjoyed a double success at the RegioStars awards, hosted at the European Commission in Brussels
Extended seabed geology map of the Bristol Channel published
07/10/2025
BGS has released significantly extended high-resolution maps that will support offshore green-energy initiatives in the area.
Dr Angela Lamb appointed as honorary professor by the University of Nottingham
02/10/2025
Dr Lamb will take up the position of honorary professor of environmental geochemistry, with a focus on collaborative research.
New report sets pathway to reduce the impacts of geohazards in one of the world’s most hazard-prone nations
30/09/2025
A new White Paper, co-developed by Indonesian and UK hazard experts, presents a strategic roadmap to significantly reduce the impacts of geological hazards in Indonesia.
Artificial intelligence helps scientists identify 3000 moving slopes potentially at risk of landslide
25/09/2025
A new approach that combines AI and satellite data has been used by scientists to detect actively moving landslides at a national scale.
New BGS GeoIndex viewer released for user testing
24/09/2025
The premium map-viewing application has been given a major upgrade and made available as a beta release.
UK scientists in awe-rora as national coverage of magnetic field complete for the first time
23/09/2025
New sensors being installed across the UK are helping us understand the effects that extreme magnetic storms have on technology and national infrastructure.
Funding awarded for study on hydrogen storage potential in North Yorkshire
22/09/2025
A new study has been awarded funding to explore the potential for underground hydrogen storage near the Knapton power plant.
BGS-led paper scoops prestigious award
16/09/2025
New research providing earlier warnings of landslides has been awarded the British Geotechnical Association medal.
Why do we store geological core?
11/09/2025
With space at a premium and the advance of new digitisation techniques, why does retaining over 600 km of physical specimens remain of national importance?
New seabed sediment maps reveal what lies beneath the waves
03/09/2025
Marine ecosystem science and offshore infrastructure will be boosted by a new dataset showing sediment composition across the UK continental shelf.
New geological ‘pathways’ discovered beneath Welsh capital
02/09/2025
Scientists have discovered cavities in the clay underneath Cardiff, which will influence the siting of future geothermal developments.