Jim Cunningham – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Jim Cunningham on 2015-12-07.

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment her Department has made of its ability to (a) forecast and (b) mitigate the impact of extreme weather events on the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Rory Stewart

The Flood Forecasting Centre – jointly operated by the Environment Agency and Met Office – combines world class science, knowledge and experience on meteorology and hydrology to forecast flood risk. The daily assessment of risk enables extra time for emergency responders to prepare.

The Government has recently announced funding for a £97m supercomputer that will cement the UK’s position as a world leader in weather and climate prediction. In addition to this, the Environment Agency operates a flood forecasting and warning service for over 3000 local communities at risk from both rivers and the sea. Advice is provided by phone and text to over 1.1m home and business owners when their property is at risk.

Further investment to improve timely and accurate information to the public is underway. A £6m programme of improvements to weather radar will be completed this year and live data on river levels from across England was made available on the Government’s website earlier this year.

Climate change is factored into all the modelling work that the Environment Agency does, but in light of this extreme weather we must look at that modelling and ensure it is fit for purpose for future decisions.