Guardian graphic. Source: Environment Agency, Sepa, Natural Resources Wales, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, EA and Getmapping Plc, Bluesky International Ltd, Defra, Met Office, Dard Rivers Agency, Cranfield University, James Hutton Institute, Land & Property Services
In the Guardian 31 January 2026:
‘Homes may have to be abandoned’: how climate crisis has reshaped Britain’s flood risk https://www.theguardian.com/news/ng-interactive/2026/jan/31/climate-crisis-flood-risk-britain
There’s only one mention of Scotland:
But it is not just the south-west facing ever more floods as the climate crisis bites. Environment Agency data estimates 6.3m properties in England are at risk of flooding, rising to 8m by 2050, with Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also hit hard.
Wow, impressive ‘hard-hitting’ research there…not.
In the Guardian 14 October 2025, the above maps showing only two wee bits of Scotland with a 25% risk and the Highland and Borders moving up to 15%, of serious flooding by 2080. You’ll see that a huge part of England will be in deep water by then.
Nevertheless, the Guardian manages to claim:
Towns may have to be abandoned due to floods with millions more homes in Great Britain at risk Every constituency projected to be at greater risk, with many areas likely to be uninsurable, Guardian investigation finds
Millions more homes in England, Scotland and Wales face devastating floods, and some towns may have to be abandoned as climate breakdown makes many areas uninsurable, a Guardian investigation has found.
Aviva analysed every parliamentary constituency in England, Scotland and Wales to assess how vulnerable they were to flooding.
Every constituency in Great Britain is projected to have increased flood risk in future. In England, 69% of constituencies are likely to have an increase of more than 25% in the number of properties facing flood risk by mid-century. In Wales and Scotland, every area is projected to have a similar rise with many being much worse hit. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/14/millions-more-homes-in-great-britain-at-risk-of-flooding-investigation-finds
Are they looking at the same maps as me? Commonly, the Guardian totally ignores Scotland in reports on the ‘UK’. This time they’ve included us for some reason I don’t get.
Back to those two wee blobs, darkening ominously by 2080. They look to be on either side of the Kincardine bridge linking Falkirk/Grangemouth to Kincardineshire/Fife so, based on my personal memories of flooding in the dock area of Grangemouth in the early 1960s, I offer the Guardian a Scottish town that will be at serious risk of flooding by 2080 but it’ll be the only one. I remember at the time as we looked out on the flood from our first floor (lucky) tenement window in the dock area of Grangemouth, my father’s apparent pleasure at being able to tell me that where we lived was, uniquely, below sea level. He had the same tone of perverse pride when he told me of how his regiment (KOSB) would typically take more casualties than those ‘soft’ English regiments.
I’m not worried. Why?
Well, I live up a hill and at 75 now seem unlikely to make 2080, but also we’ve been here before, in 2016, as major flooding of homes in England was desperately linked by ‘our’ media to a few cases in Scotland and supposed SNP failures.
Why are homes in Scotland not flooding despite massive rainfall?
As far back as 2006, researchers at the English College of Estates Management, whose patron was HRH Prince of Wales, made a number of highly encouraging comments about the achievements of the Labour-run Scottish Executive, SEPA and the Local Authorities:
As far as flood protection is concerned, unlike in England, the 1 in 200-year standard of protection is ‘universal’ for all new buildings, with a 1,000-year standard for such vulnerable uses as old people’s homes, schools, hospitals etc. In addition, construction in flood hazard areas has almost completely ended. Crichton (2003: 26) estimates that “the active flood management programme currently in progress will result in almost all high-risk properties being protected against the 200-year flood within the next three years, taking climate change into account.” It is also interesting to note that the Scottish Executive grants for flood defences have never been refused on the grounds of budget restraints and there is no rationing of flood defence spending.
It is clear, however, that the more stringent building standards which are applied in Scotland ensure that severe storms result in much less property damage than comparable events in England. Also, the level of flood protection and the commitment of funding to achieve flood protection are higher in Scotland than in England.’
College of Estates Management at: https://www.cem.ac.uk/media/28193/flooding.pdf
More recently, with SNP leadership, the favourable comparison still seems to hold. Published research from the esteemed Joseph Rowntree Foundation, in 2012, seems to support my first impressions quite strongly:
‘Where English planning regulations permit building in flood plains where there is no alternative, Scottish Planning Policy does not permit building in areas in which ‘the flood risk exceeds the 200-year return period’, i.e. where in any year there is a greater than 0.5 per cent probability of flooding. Scotland has stronger regulations governing the capacity of sewage and drainage systems for new building. It also has stronger minimum standards for flood defences. Building regulations ensuring flood resilience in the housing stock are more developed. Scottish planners, through Flood Liaison and Advice Groups, are engaged with local communities, the emergency services, insurers and other interested parties in drawing up flood plans. The differences in regulatory regimes between England and Scotland are reflected in the number of households that are at risk of flooding, and the resilience of communities in responding to those risks.’
The level of investment will be one factor in these differences. In recent years, spending in England and Wales has declined seriously after significant increases under Labour in 1997 to 2010, as revealed in a UK Parliament Briefing Paper from 2015:
‘Central Government spending on flood defence in 2010-11 was cut soon after the Coalition Government was formed. Spending was reduced in one year by £30 million or 5%. In the 2010 Comprehensive Spending Review (2011-12 to 2014-15), a total of £2.17 billion in central government funding was provided for flood and coastal defence. This represented “a six percent fall in central government funding”, The Committee on Climate Change calculated that this represented a real term cut of around 20% compared to the previous spending period.’
In sharp contrast, for Scotland, we see in a Scottish Parliament Committee Paper for 2014-2015, evidence of increasing investment:
‘With regard to flood protection and alleviation, the Committee welcomes the cash terms increases in the funding available to SEPA, and to the Natural Assets and Flooding budget, both of which sit in the RAE portfolio. The Committee believes that, due to climate change, severe weather events will become increasingly likely in Scotland in years to come, and it is therefore essential that flood forecasting and warning systems be as accurate and robust as possible. The Committee welcomes the increased funding for flood forecasting and warning in the RAE portfolio and recommends that the Scottish Government continue to ensure sufficient funding is available to improve flood forecasting and warning systems, to ensure greater consistency across the whole of Scotland.’
As for more recent evidence of superiority in the Scottish system, see this at the Scottish government site and little (surprise, surprise) MSM coverage of it at the time:
‘£42 million a year plan over the next decade.
More than 10,000 families are to benefit from a ten year strategy to protect homes in many of Scotland’s most flood-prone communities. The plan is the result of grant funding totalling £420 million and follows an agreement reached between the Scottish Government and COSLA. The cash will be used to deliver 40 new flood protection projects and support local flood risk management plans. More than 130 flood protection studies will be carried out to help find potential solutions for another 26,000 residential properties currently at risk. The announcement came as the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, fulfilled her pledge to return to Newton Stewart following an earlier visit in the aftermath of flooding at Hogmanay.’
So, unlike the UK Government, the Scottish Government has maintained or bettered the investment and the sophistication in flood prevention here. Had I been writing in 2006, the Labour-controlled Scottish Executive would have rightly claimed any credit for performance north of the border. In 2016, the SNP-controlled Scottish Parliament can do the same. Will BBC Scotland allow them to do it? They clearly didn’t in the run-up to General Election in 2016 so I doubt it.
There you have it, my attempt to shore up our defence plans against a flood of BBC bias (See what I did there, again, again?).
Sources:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-37306094
http://news.sky.com/story/16312m-flood-defence-plan-an-elastoplast-say-victims-10569571
http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Environment/Water/Flooding
College of Estates Management at:https://www.cem.ac.uk/media/28193/flooding.pdf
UK Parliament Briefing Paper at: http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:tGK3kUO-iKEJ:www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/sn05755.pdf+&cd=4&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk
Scottish Parliament Paper at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/CurrentCommittees/70875.aspx
Scottish Act on Control of Flood water at:http://www.gov.scot/Resource/Doc/1057/0094052.pdf
WWF Report at: http://nationalfloodforum.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/floodplanner_web.pdf
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Floods ?
Wait a minute.
Rupert Lowe has posted this today.
“It’s reported that the reservoirs could run dry before Christmas. This level of incompetence is criminal, honestly”.
So where exactly are these reservoirs that are going to run dry before Xmas ?
Well it appears that the answer to that is that they are all within England.
So why not say that then ?
Well of course Rupert Lowe , as an English Nationalist, only really cares about England, so then he assumes that he need not specify exactly where this is happening as he also assumes that others will know it is England that he speaks of .
However why does he choose to not be specific as to the location ?
Could it be that he does not want to name and shame his country, England, as one that is lacking in a resource, I mean surely it is never England that lacks anything , as that is only something that he and others state is a problem with other nations within the UK. (as in the other nations within the UK State that he and others say always apparently need and so get England’s economic support).
The Political Editor of The Times, Steven Swinford , has posted today that:
“Ministers have been secretly warned that some English reservoirs are at risk of running dry, hitting water supplies to homes in the run-up to Christmas”.
“The government’s emergency committee, known as Cobra, is meeting up to twice a week to discuss the situation in the southwest of England and Sussex”
“A secret “reasonable worst-case scenario” was drawn up, anticipating that several reservoirs’ water stocks could fall to 0 per cent — dubbed “day zero” — within weeks”
“Officials warned that without action, supplies to some homes could be affected, along with disruption to the construction of a nuclear power station and operations at a prison”
“Wimbleball reservoir, which supplies more than 400,000 people in Somerset, has 13 per cent of its capacity, while Ardingly, which serves 280,000 customers across West Sussex, is at 17 per cent”
“Ministers battling to avoid reservoirs running dry by Christmas” – Times article.
One does wonder if water is indeed in such short supply within certain areas of England then from where within the UK State will they, the UK government ministers , seek to replenish the water supply in these English areas .
Also how long before this is promoted , by some of the media and politicians, as being a UK problem , that then needs a UK solution , like say the pooling and sharing of resources ?
BTW in respect to Swinford’s post then one responder actually chose to deliberately ignore that his post was specific to “English Reservoirs” and she (a Kemi fan) stated “UK reservoir storage capacity has not increased in line with the growing population. The solution doesn’t take a lot of working out”.
So immediately her response was indeed to equate this to being a UK reservoir storage problem , yet also when she states that capacity has “not increased in line with the growing population” then she is clearly writing in relation to England , as in where she lives, and not Scotland , Wales nor NI , where I am 100% sure that she has not a scooby doo as to the reservoir situation within these other nations of the UK State .
( I suspect she is also pretty much clueless in respect to her own country’s problems and also who or what is to really blame for these problems- but I also note that with her response then she is yet another one blaming immigrants for all of the UK State’s woes).
Liz S
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Talking of Rupert Lowe and his English Nationalism on August 2026 he posted this on ‘X’:
“Every day is a glorious day to be an Englishman”.
His party is called Restore Britain.
Also is it only “glorious” to be a man who is English , while English women are not meant to regard it as being “glorious” that they are English as well ?
(Or is that Englishmen should ignore them as English women and so disregard any pride that they feel in their English nationalism).
However what about “every day is a glorious day” to be British, as in to match Lowe’s fake party’s name “Restore Britain” ?
Note that on the same day he also posted this :
“Scotland is remarkable, with far more Restore Britain supporters than the media will ever let us know about… Our Scottish membership is about to overtake both Labour and Reform – incredible progress up here”.
Does that then mean it is also a “glorious day to be a Scot” ?
Now recently Lowe has been posting a lot about Scotland and polling for his party.
However he posted this on the 22 October 2026:
“This is important – the latest huge MRP poll has Restore Britain ahead in more Scottish constituencies than both Reform or the Tories. Restore Britain – 21 Conservatives – 13 Reform – 12 Tie – 11 Edinburgh, Glasgow, Motherwell, Midlothian, Dunfermline, Renfrewshire, Rutherglen, Inverclyde, Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy, Coatbridge and Bellshill and more. Incredible progress. We have the second largest party membership in Scotland, and are now polling ahead of both the Tories and Reform in terms of seat performance. This is remarkable.
Restore Britain is now the second largest party in Scotland, and the largest party on the right – bigger than both Reform and the Tories. Scottish patriots finally have a genuine alternative”.
Also this as well was posted by him too on the same day:
“The 21 seats in Scotland where Restore Britain is the leading party on the right – beating Reform and the Tories… Edinburgh East and Musselburgh Glasgow South West Glasgow North Glasgow South Glasgow East Glasgow North East Glasgow West Coatbridge and Bellshill Paisley and Renfrewshire North Edinburgh North and Leith Inverclyde and Renfrewshire West Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke Edinburgh South West East Kilbride and Strathaven Midlothian Airdrie and Shotts Dunfermline and Dollar Cowdenbeath and Kirkcaldy Rutherglen Renfrewshire East Edinburgh West”
“And the seats we’re the joint top party on the right… Dundee Central Cumbernauld and Kirkintilloch Dunbartonshire West Kilmarnock and Loudoun Paisley and Renfrewshire South Falkirk Bathgate and Linlithgow Ayrshire Central Hamilton and Clyde Valley Dunbartonshire Mid Fife North East Patriotic Scottish men and women finally have a political party they can trust. Restore Britain – now the largest party on the right in Scotland”.
Well it seems this poll was not accurate as Raheem Kassam, a former close adviser to Farage and UKIP leadership contender, said that Lowe’s boasts were based on a polling error.
This was then reported on 23 October on Kassam’s findings :
“I found that although the tactical-voting calculations appeared to affect support for other parties, they actually incorrectly left Restore’s share in every constituency exactly as it was prior to tactical voting”.
“Basically, the other parties’ vote shares changed, depending on the scenario, but Restore’s stayed the same, no matter what.”
“Their figures should have been adjusted downwards too, as they went Labour or SNP (or anyone else, depending on the scenario). But they weren’t. I used Midlothian as a test case”
“In Midlothian, Reform’s support was estimated to be 15.62% before tactical voting and 8.92% for Restore, but under the flawed calculation, Reform’s share was reduced to 8.15% while Restore’s was left at 8.92%.”
“He said he had contacted Electoral Calculus about the polling error, which was promptly corrected”.
“Under the revised figures, Restore Britain led the right-wing parties in zero of Scotland’s constituencies. The Tories led in 13, while Reform led in 44”
“Restore Britain was approached for a response and to ask if a correction would be issued. They did not respond”.
“Two of Britain’s most prominent neo-fascist leaders have pledged their support to Lowe’s Restore Britain party”
(Note below that the article in Yahoo news then specified three names not just two).
“Simon Birkett, who leads The Woodlander Initiative – a group purchasing land to create whites-only communities – has told supporters that Restore Britain is the far right’s last viable route to political power”
Steve Laws, who has called for the removal of non-white people from the UK, has urged members of his Remigration Now organisation to join Restore as organisers and candidates to influence the party’s direction”.
“Craig Houston, who filmed fascist-style demonstrations in Glasgow and Edinburgh over the summer but denied being involved in organising them, is also a member”.
I checked today, 26 October, and Rupert’s Lowe’s original post on 22 October stating that “This is important – the latest huge MRP poll has Restore Britain ahead in more Scottish constituencies than both Reform or the Tories” has not been deleted.
So fake news aka misinformation stands , or so it seems.
Not surprised really as , like the Republicans in America, fake news is a speciality that far right parties pumps out to the mentally challenged and also pumps out to those who are cut from the same cloth, as in one that is steeped in racism.
It also seems that with the far right parties fighting against each other, so then that diminishes the results that they each get in any elections – that was something that we , and others, warned would happen and is happening when you create division and dissent within the YES movement against one party (SNP) that most people within Scotland recognise to be a party that wants independence for Scotland.
United we stand, divided we fall – not a difficult concept is it ?
However for some within Scotland it seems to be a concept that they are totally unwilling to either acknowledge or accept as a reality.
Liz S
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