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Record high flood warnings in Scotland during 2024

24 January 2025


Last year saw the second-highest number of flood warnings ever issued in Scotland, according to data revealed through a Freedom of Information request.

The figures, revealed by Round Our Way, an organisation that supports people impacted by climate change in the UK, are based on data held by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). They cover the number of alerts issued in 2024 under the warning system that notifies the public about flooding risks from rivers, the sea and surface water flooding. The story was featured on STV News.

STV News

STV News

It comes in the wake of Environment Agency data showing that 2024 saw the greatest number of recorded flood alerts in England on record.

Since the system became operational in 2011, a total of 8,000 alerts and warnings have been issued in Scotland. Across the wider UK, 2024 saw widespread climate impacts, including many floods that affected communities nationwide.

The Met Office UK State of the Climate Report found that 2023 was the seventh wettest year on record since 1836 and a recently published Met Office review noted that the 2023/2024 storm season was particularly busy, culminating in Storm Lilian in August 2024, the first time ‘L’ was reached in a single storm season since the naming system began in 2015. Further analysis from World Weather Attribution found that Autumn and winter storm rainfall in 2023/24 in the UK and Ireland was made about 20% heavier by human-caused climate change.

Key Findings from SEPA Data:

  • The number of flood alerts and warnings issued by SEPA increased by 3.7% between 2023 and 2024.
  • The number of alerts/warnings issued in 2024 was the second-highest since current records began, surpassed only by 2020, when 966 alerts and warnings were issued.
  • In total, 870 flood alerts/warnings were issued in Scotland in 2024, comprising 346 alerts, 521 warnings, and three severe warnings—equivalent to an average of two per day or 17 per week.
  • In 2023, 838 alerts/warnings were issued, including 413 alerts, 418 warnings, and seven severe flood warnings.
  • Since 2011, SEPA has issued 8,141 flood alerts and warnings across Scotland, including 3,385 alerts, 4,727 warnings, and 29 severe warnings.

The impact of flooding is widespread, affecting homes, businesses and public services like the NHS.

Dr Munro Stewart is a GP in inner-city Dundee and lead clinician for Climate and Sustainability for the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland.

Dr Munro said many NHS sites - both GP surgeries and hospitals -  have flooded: "And many more are at risk of flooding in the coming years. Much more NHS flooding is simply inevitable. What does not help is that we have a lot of outdated infrastructure where there has not been enough investment in maintenance, even without the climate change threat. Investment is very urgently needed in NHS premises, with a focus on quality and resilience, if staff are to work effectively, or we will see more services suspended."

Dr Stewart said there are an increasing number of patients in his region who have suffered in storms and floods, some of them even losing their homes. 

He added: "This of course widens health inequalities further, and often carries a long-term significant mental health impact. We will increasingly see our communities and already stretched public services further pushed by climate change impacts. Floods have major knock-on effects for society, including for overburdened NHS staff. I can't imagine what it is like for my colleagues who have turned up at work, to have to deal with inches of water on the floor, sewage coming up through the toilet, a leaking roof and ruined equipment. That's before they start ringing around poorly patients to tell them not to come in, with no choice but to work their way through long lists to postpone much-needed appointments."

Meteorologist, Gemma Plumb, UK Weather and Climate Lead at Weather Change said:

“Climate change is making our weather more extreme and this is having a real impact on people’s lives. Across Scotland and the UK as a whole we have already seen climate change bring more intense rainfall and this brings the greater risk of flooding. We are now seeing that rainfall associated with autumn and winter storms in the UK is becoming more intense and more likely.”

Sofie Jenkinson, Co-Director of Round Our Way, an organisation that supports people impacted by climate change in the UK, said:

“Scots are having to deal with the consequences of flooding in their homes, their businesses and important local services due to the increased rain we are seeing as a consequence of climate change. We need to see increased preparedness in Scotland and across the UK, for extreme weather events including crucial maintenance of the drain network but we also need urgent action to tackle the causes of increased heavy rain, which will continue to wreak havoc in our communities.”


Topics: Floods

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