The 2013/14 “winter of storms” demonstrated the importance of resilience to ports and harbours, as such severe storm and flooding damage creates serious business interruptions and risk to life.

Over the 2013/14 winter period, the UK experienced some of the most extreme weather on record. One particularly significant event was the 5 December 2013 storm surge, which coincided with one of the highest tides of the year and resulted in considerable flooding at many ports.

The “winter of storms” demonstrated the importance of resilience to ports and harbours large and small, as flooding/storm damage at this scale creates serious business interruptions, both direct (port downtime, cargo damage) and indirect (waste disposal, contamination issues), and risk to human life.

In addition to individual extreme weather events (storm surges), which may pose an ongoing flood risk hazard to port operations, the ports industry is facing serious environmental threats in the longer term through climate change. It is predicted that, over the next 100 years, sea levels at ports are likely to rise by as much as 0.75m; even greater under more extreme scenarios.

Climate change will also have an impact on weather patterns, likely increasing storm frequency and severity across the UK (e.g. surges). As such, extreme water level events like those seen in 2013 are likely to become more common and severe in the medium to long term, increasing the risk of flooding to critical port assets.

Ahead of the 2014 UK Transport Resilience Review, ABPmer undertook flood resilience reviews for each of ABP’s 21 ports across England, Scotland and Wales.

These assessments identified the contrasting nature of present and future flood risk to critical infrastructure around the UK and, importantly, the wide-ranging flood resilience and resistance measures necessary to keep the ports in operation during and following extreme flood events.

Heidi Roberts, Head of Coastal Processes, will be speaking at the Flood and Coast 2016 Conference, on methods used in the ports sector to improve their resistance and resilience to flooding. For more information and how to book your place, visit the conference website. [Booking for 2016 conference now closed]