October 18, 2012

from drought to flood in 2012

This March was one of the driest on record, but April was the wettest; the summer that followed was the wettest in 100 years, while September saw more flooding as a result of heavy rainfall.  As a result, the UK moved from drought to flood conditions within a matter of months.  What are the reasons behind this rapid change and how should the UK prepare to respond to these two extremes?

The Environment Agency, NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and the Met Office came to the SMC to discuss issues around weather extremes.

Topics covered:

• our response to drought and flood
• the hydrological conditions and changes this year – how rare was 2012 really?
• the meteorology and larger climatological patterns that could lie behind the weather
• how the UK reacts and adapts to extreme conditions

Speakers:

Christine Tuckett, Head of Water Resources at the EA

Paul Mustow, Head of Flood Incident Management at the EA

Terry Marsh, Head of National Hydrological Monitoring Programme, NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

Sarah Jackson, Senior Advisor to Government, Met Office