A leading flood expert is urging the government to recognise the growing risk of groundwater flooding, following heavy rain and storms across the UK.
As the Met Office issues further warning of rain and storm conditions, flood risk consultancy GeoSmart Information has shared concerns that groundwater is not currently listed on the UK’s National Risk Register, despite its long-documented potential to contribute to extreme flooding events.
“Groundwater flooding is a serious risk because it often causes far more damage than other sources of flooding,” says GeoSmart director Mark Fermor. “It also leads to significant economic consequences for communities affected.”
Damage from groundwater accounts for 13% of the UK’s average annual financial losses from flooding, and there are 770,000 UK homes within areas at risk. Groundwater also contributes to flood damages from rivers, surface water and coastal flooding by prolonging the duration of flooding.
“Data from our national FloodSmart Analytics platform shows that groundwater leads to more annual losses than coastal flooding, and it’s also a central primer for other kinds of flooding events,” says Fermor. “Because groundwater flooding has been misread as a tiny part of the UK’s flood problem, we risk sleepwalking into disaster.”
“The government has set a target of 1.5 million new homes over the next parliament, but this doesn’t currently include a full baseline risk assessment of flooding to property and infrastructure. Add to that the impact of climate change, leading to more intense rainfall, and we could see long-term damage to properties, infrastructure and the environment due to more frequent and severe groundwater flooding linked to these events.”
