© Crown copyright Met Office PWS in support of disaster prevention and mitigation How to improve collaboration and coordination Sarah Davies UK Met Office 27 th November 2012

© Crown copyright Met Office Aim By the end of this session you will understand: How to get to know your customer How to improve collaboration and co-ordination

© Crown copyright Met Office Identify our customers General public Category one & two emergency response community members

© Crown copyright Met Office What services do the customers need? How do we find out what our customers need?

© Crown copyright Met Office Customers Get to know them What does your company do? What is your role within the company? How does the weather affect your job? What types of weather affect your job? How bad does the weather have to be to affect your job? What issues does your company face?

© Crown copyright Met Office Customers Get to know themInvolve them

© Crown copyright Met Office In the beginning….. Met Office PWS National Severe Weather Warning Service Public Weather Service Advisors Used the Civil Contingency Act to help identify who the customers were Advisors contacted emergency responders Explained the services the Met Office could provide to emergency responders Became point of contact between the customer and the Met Office Build two-way relationship to allow delivery of services and provide valuable feedback

© Crown copyright Met Office PWS Advisors Raising awareness and understanding of PWS across the UK resilience community Planning and exercises Weather & local resilience risk registers Risk assessment, mitigation & incident support Incident/operational support Cabinet Office Incident Command Centres

© Crown copyright Met Office PWS Advisors

© Crown copyright Met Office Partnerships Working with customers Working with other departments

Natural Hazards Partnership

Flood Forecasting Centre

Met Office We played a vital role throughout the summer, providing highly accurate Forecasts and warnings ahead of the heavy rains Floods Environment Agency 35,000 homes and businesses flooded from surface water for which there is no specific warning service. Our warning service on rivers was effective for the majority. But we were not able to provide 4,100 properties – mainly on rivers which reacted quickly to the rain – with warnings.

UK government’s ‘Pitt Review’ key recommendations (3 and 5) “The Met Office should continue to improve its forecasting and predicting methods to a level which meets the needs of emergency responders.” “The Environment Agency should work with partners to urgently take forward work to develop tools and techniques to model surface water flooding.”

UK government’s ‘Pitt Review’ key recommendation (6) “The Environment Agency and the Met Office should work together, through a joint centre, to improve their technical capability to forecast, model and warn against all sources of flooding.” “The Review understands that this is a significant change to current arrangements and we do not take the option lightly”

Stage 1: Hydrological Experience Stage 2: Hydrological Fundamentals Hydrology Hydraulics Hydrometry Real Time Modelling NFFS Hyrad Stage 2: Meteorological Fundamentals Dynamic Meteorology Thermodynamics Numerical Modelling Remote Sensing Clouds Forecasting Techniques Wave Forecasting Stage 1: Meteorological Experience Stage 3: On the job training (including MO work placement) Stage 4: Hydrometeorological Training Stage 5: Professional Review in Hydrometeorology Stage 3: On the job training (including EA work placement) Training Hydrometeorologists

Flash floods Longer lead time river and coastal flooding River and coastal flooding Heavy rainfall Surface water End-to-end service

Environment Agency  Flood Risk and Coastal Management;  Incident & Contingency Planning; National Government:  Welsh Government  Defra  Cabinet Office  Department for Communities & Local Government Emergency Responders:  Blue Light Services  Local Authorities  Utility Companies Our Customers

For the Environment Agency :  Hydromet Services  UK Coastal Monitoring & Forecasting Service  Consultancy For Government and Emergency Responders:  Flood Guidance Statement  Advice and guidance  Flood Advisory Service For the Public :  Three Day Flood Risk Forecast (and link to NSWWS) Our Services

Pitt Review – Improved Warnings UK government’s ‘Pitt Review’ key recommendation (35) “The Met Office and Environment Agency should issue joint warnings and impact information on severe weather and flooding emergencies to responder organisations and the public.”

Government and Emergency Responders : Flood Guidance Statement (FGS)  Five day national forecast of flood risk for England & Wales  Issued daily, and more frequently at times of higher risk  Risk split up into Flood source (River, Surface Water, Coastal and Groundwater)  and Fax to government and emergency responders

Sharing forecasts with the public  Three-day flood risk online  Raise public awareness and preparedness

Potential Impacts Key

Flood Risk Matrix Risk colour is determined by assessing both likelihood of flooding and potential impact.

© Crown copyright Met Office Get Ready for winter

© Crown copyright Met Office Join up messages from Government, the voluntary sector, Local Authorities and others Encourage individuals, families and communities to think about winter preparations to help them stay warm, healthy and safe Better co-ordination, sign posting and ease of access Get Ready for winter

© Crown copyright Met Office raise awareness of weather impacts and the benefits of planning highlight some very practical and straight forward advice to help individuals and communities prepare for a range of winter weathers including, cold, snow, ice, high winds & flooding provide an opportunity to link local activities and messages to a national initiative user friendly access of information through a central webpage which will provide links to further information Get Ready for Winter

© Crown copyright Met Office

Aim By the end of this session you will understand: How to get to know your customer How to improve collaboration and co-ordination

© Crown copyright Met Office Questions and answers