An Integrated Approach to Flood Forecasting and Warning in England and Wales

Flood‐warning systems have been researched and discussed for several decades, and there is a large degree of consensus among researchers that an integrated approach to such systems is the most effective. There is evidence to show that flood‐warning systems are rarely operated in an integrated way and, as a consequence, tend to function sub‐optimally. The new powers vested in the Environment Agency in 1996, to oversee the total warning process in England and Wales, provide a unique opportunity to develop an integrated approach to flood detection, forecasting, warning dissemination and response, and therefore an improved service to other agencies and communities at risk from flooding.