UK Flood Map
A UK Flood Map that offers comprehensive flood hazard modeling for the whole of the United Kingdom
Fathom’s UK Flood Map offers an alternative view of flood risk against existing government data. It projects changes in hazard across multiple different climate scenarios, providing businesses with actionable insights into UK flood risk.
Combining world-leading research and cutting edge modeling techniques with data like UKCP18, Fathom’s UK Flood Map enables users to critically assess the impact of UK flood risk against any portfolio, book of business or asset.
Key features of UK Flood Map
Climate Dynamics
5 climate scenarios across 3 time horizons – Utilizing UKCP18 climate data to produce scenarios for present day, 2030, 2050 and 2070.
The inclusion of the 2050 scenario is particularly significant for UK businesses, as that is the year by which the UK aims to reach legally binding net-zero emissions targe
10 return periods
Ranging from 1:5 year to 1:1000 year. Return periods can be categorised to suit your risk appetite.
Inland and coastal flooding
Fluvial, pluvial and coastal flooding – Assess UK flood risk from different types of flood, including defended and undefended views.
Access
Gain instant on-demand access via the Fathom API and Fathom Portal, host the data on-premise.
Learn how to access Fathom’s data
Fathom’s UK Flood Map is also available in CatNet®, Swiss Re’s leading location intelligence platform. Book a consultation to learn how you can leverage multiple datasets simultaneously with this integration.
~10 meter resolution
Created by some of the world’s leading academics and scientists in climate risk and hydrology, Fathom’s UK Flood Map is based on pioneering methods developed in-house
Underpinned by decades of peer-reviewed research, our model couples decades of scientific research with the latest hydraulic modeling techniques.
The result is flood hazard data that can provide high-resolution predictions for current and future climate scenarios – a first for flood modeling in the UK.
By integrating these datasets into Fathom’s hydraulic modeling framework, UK Flood Map yields multiple return periods for every river channel in the country.
We have achieved this through Fathom’s unique channel solver methodology, which explicitly represent river channels in the absence of accurate hydrographic information.
When incorporated alongside precise terrain data, multiple perils and defense algorithms, users are presented with a dataset that effectively represents the impact of climate on flood risk, rather than relying solely on historical records.
Pluvial flood For pluvial perils, Fathom’s UK Flood Map accounts for drainage systems, flash flooding and infiltration across a variety of terrain
Flooding simulated for even the smallest flow pathways.
Extreme precipitation magnitudes using data from UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (CEH).
Channel drainage is explicitly represented.
Fluvial flood When modelling fluvial, Fathom-UK accurately represents extreme river flows at any point for every UK river.
Flows based on the entire NRFA gauge record.
Multiple return periods.
Comprehensive defence representation.
Coastal flood We account for multiple coastal scenarios including sea level rise, high tides and storm surge.
100% coverage of the United Kingdom’s coast.
Extreme water level scenarios taken from the Environment Agency
Tide gauge data and wave setup estimates based on ECMWF.
Flood plain map
Fathom has worked extensively with floodplain management associations. Fathom’s high-resolution UK flood map offers data-driven insights, enhancing existing government data to guide critical decisions around floodplain management and risk mitigation.
Fathom’s UK Flood Map shows flood depth and extent for multiple return periods and climate scenarios, giving floodplain managers a consistent, comprehensive view of both present and future flood risk to assets and infrastructure.
Future flood map UK
Fathom’s UK flood map provides projections for present-day flood risk and three future flood-risk horizons: 2030, 2050 and 2070. It also includes five different climate scenarios based on representative concentration pathways (RCPs).
Fathom’s flood map uses the UK Climate Projections (UKCP18), a comprehensive set of climate model projections, to show how flood risk in the UK is likely to change in the future.
Flood map 2050
The UK flood map shows that in 2050, which is when the UK aims to meet net-zero emissions targets, flood risk to homes in the UK is likely to be significantly higher than at present.
How to access Fathom’s UK Flood Map
Fathom API
Self serving, seamless data provision using Fathom’s cloud-based API. By using the API, Fathom’s users get on-demand access to the entire UK Flood Map.
Fathom Portal
If you do not have an in-house platform solution, Fathom’s portal offers an interactive platform by which users can host, view and analyse data. If you are interested in this solution, you can trial the platform using Fathom sample data for free. Request a trial here.
Direct Provision
If you would prefer to host the data on-site, Fathom can provide you with GeoTIFF files that can be integrated within your internal systems and data viewers.
Partner
Whether you are in need of advanced consulting, geocoding or already have an existing platform that you are working with, Fathom’s data can seamlessly integrate with a wide range of platforms for your analysis. Get in touch to enquire about a platform or learn more about our existing partners here.
Climate change is altering the way that we experience events
The UK Flood Map helps to quantify UK flood risk and asset exposure for 5 climate scenarios, across 3 time horizons. This is the first flood model in the UK to factor in the impact of climate change, rather than just relying solely on historic records. By doing so, Fathom takes the UK’s understanding of flood risk one step further and supports users to understand how risk will change over time.
With new regulations requiring insurers, corporations, and risk managers to understand flood risk in the future better, our model provides accurate predictions for pluvial, fluvial, and coastal perils. Fathom-UK’s inclusion of 10 return periods means users have access to a comprehensive collection of event frequencies.
The hydraulic model projects changing flood behaviour arising from UKCP18.
Model validation Fathom’s UK Flood Map is validated against Environment Agency, Northern Ireland Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood data.
Relevant research
A climate conditioned catastrophe risk model for UK flooding
Assessing flooding impact to riverine bridges: an integrated analysis
A simple inertial formulation of the shallow water equations for efficient two dimensional flood inundation modelling
Distributed whole city water level measurements from the Carlisle 2005 urban flood event and comparison with hydraulic model simulations
Evaluating the effect of scale in flood inundation modelling in urban environments
Reach scale floodplain inundation dynamics observed using airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar imagery: data analysis and modelling
