LAST year saw the highest number of flood warnings ever issued in Wales, according to official data released this week.

The number of flood alerts and warnings issued by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) increased by 15.6% between 2023 and 2024, rising from 914 flood alerts and warnings in 2023 to 1057 in 2024. 

The figures, highlighted by Round Our Way, an organisation that supports people impacted by climate change in the UK, 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.

It comes in the wake of Environment Agency data showing that 2024 saw the greatest number of recorded flood alerts in England on record and the worst year on record for Wales.
Since the system became operational in 2006, a total of 11,707 alerts and warnings have been issued in Wales.

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.

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

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 Wales 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, “People in Wales 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 Wales and joined-up planning 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.”