The UK Road Leadership Group (UKRLG) has published a report which looks at how ready highways authorities are for severe weather events such as flooding and landslides. Emergency Preparedness, Response & Recovery draws on survey information from local authorities and makes a series of recommendations for local authorities, industry bodies and the Department for Transport (DfT).
UKRLG, which brings together national and local government, commissioned the report from resilience expert Dr Hugh Deeming to find out whether recommendations of a 2021 DfT review of extreme weather events had been taken on board. To inform the report, it carried out a survey in late 2023 and early 2024 which asked local authorities about their experiences with hazards that are increasing due to climate change: winter weather, flooding, heat and geo-hazards such as landslides.
A quarter of the 64 local authorities that responded to the survey had experienced coastal or river flooding in 2023 and 52% had experienced incidents due to surface water flooding. With respect to geo-hazards, 23% of authorities had experienced these, a proportion which rises to 55% for ‘Pennine 17’ authorities; those around the Pennine Hills that run from Staffordshire up to Hadrian’s Wall.
The survey showed that local authority strategies for management of drainage infrastructure varies widely. While 41% of respondents said they adopted a risk-based approach to drainage management and inspections, 19% said they operated a purely reactive regime and 13% are operating a ‘hotspots only’ regime.
One of the biggest hurdles to being better prepared for severe weather events identified by the UKRLG report is a lack of consistent data. There was also a huge difference in how flood data was collated; for example, Wigan reported 205 flood events and Lancashire, which logs every flooding location, reported 11,196.
The survey found that local authorities used several different forms of asset management system, which means data is collected and recorded differently, depending on the software used. Confirm was the most popular, followed by Alloy, Symology and Mayrise.
One of the 18 recommendations in the report is that UKRLHG should develop consistent metrics and methodologies for recording the impacts and remediation costs due to extreme weather hazards. With this data in hand, Deeming suggests that the Government could provide adaptation funding upfront, based on the situation of each local authority, rather than providing funds after incidents have happened.
The report found that few local authorities make use of location specific forecasting which could help in the planning of extreme weather responses. Developing techniques for this, with the Met Office, is another of the report’s recommendations. Technologies, such as smart gulley sensors or temperature sensors, are not widely used.
Of interest to highways sector contractors is the suggestion that clauses should be added to contracts so that term contractors can spring into action in the case of an emergency. This would save time and money in procuring contracts once an incident had happened and would also encourage planning at the time when the main contract was awarded.
An interesting thought was that we should reconsider what resilience looks like. Keeping roads open at all costs might not be the best option, says Deeming; for instance, roads may need to become floodwater pathways to protect homes and businesses.
A constant theme in the report is the need for more training. Individuals and teams need the skills and knowledge to help them prepare for severe weather hazards and to make the right decisions when emergencies occur.
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