Flood Forecasting Centre (UK)
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The Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) is a joint venture between the
Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...
and the
Met Office The Met Office, until November 2000 officially the Meteorological Office, is the United Kingdom's national weather and climate service. It is an executive agency and trading fund of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and ...
to provide improved flood risk guidance for England and Wales. The FFC is based in the Operations Centre at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter and is jointly staffed from both organisations.


Formation and role

The FFC was officially opened on 21 April 2009 in London by
Environment Minister An environment minister (sometimes minister of the environment or secretary of the environment) is a cabinet position charged with protecting the natural environment and promoting wildlife conservation. The areas associated with the duties of a ...
Hilary Benn Hilary James Wedgwood Benn (born 26 November 1953) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland since 2024. A member of the Labour Party, he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leeds South, formerly ...
. Its role is to provide better advice to governments, local authorities, emergency responders and the general public via its parent organisations. It faced its first major test in November 2009 when severe flooding affected Northern England, in particular
Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders the Scottish council areas of Dumfries and Galloway and Scottish Borders to the north, Northumberland and County Durham to the east, North Yorkshire to the south-east, Lancash ...
and the town of
Cockermouth Cockermouth is a market town and civil parish in the Cumberland unitary authority area of Cumbria, England. The name refers to the town's position by the confluence of the River Cocker into the River Derwent. At the 2021 census, the built u ...
. The Pitt Review progress report highlighted the accuracy of the advice issued ahead of this event. In April 2011 the FFC moved from central London to a permanent base within the Operations Centre at the Met Office HQ in Exeter. It currently provides a range of operational
Hydrometeorology Hydrometeorology is a branch of meteorology and hydrology that studies the transfer of water and energy between the land surface and the lower atmosphere for academic research, commercial gain or operational forecasting purposes. Whilst tradition ...
services across England and Wales.


References


External links


Official FFC website
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617133118/http://www.ffc-environment-agency.metoffice.gov.uk/ , date=2019-06-17
Official Environment Agency websiteOfficial Met Office website
Flood control in the United Kingdom Organizations established in 2009 Governmental meteorological agencies in Europe Organisations based in Devon Environmental organisations based in the United Kingdom Risk management Weather forecasting Met Office 2009 establishments in the United Kingdom