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Improving flood forecasts for better flood preparedness in the UK (and beyond)
Author(s) -
Stephens Elisabeth,
Cloke Hannah
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
the geographical journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.071
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1475-4959
pISSN - 0016-7398
DOI - 10.1111/geoj.12103
Subject(s) - flood myth , flooding (psychology) , preparedness , blame , praise , flood forecasting , storm , flood warning , government (linguistics) , emergency management , environmental planning , meteorology , geography , environmental science , political science , economics , economic growth , psychology , linguistics , philosophy , archaeology , psychiatry , law , psychotherapist
This winter (2013/14) coastal storms and an unprecedented amount of rainfall led to significant and widespread flooding across the southern UK . Despite much criticism and blame surrounding the flood events, the F lood F orecasting C entre, a recent development in national‐level flood forecasting capabilities for the government and emergency response communities, has received considerable praise. Here we consider how scientific developments and organisational change have led to improvements in the forecasting and flood preparedness seen in this winter's flooding. Although such improvements are admirable, there are many technical and communication challenges that remain for probabilistic flood forecasts to achieve their full potential.