National Flood Resilience Strategy: Implementation Plan

2026

SEPA will consult publicly on updated Flood Risk Management Plans and facilitate consultation on additional supplementary information for the Local Flood Risk Management Plans.

SEPA

2026

ClimateXChange will actively consider gaps and develop research around key underserved research areas e.g. the health and wellbeing impacts of climate change and comparable actions across the globe, and possible adaptation actions.

ClimateXChange

2026-2029

The Flood Resilience Implementation Group will ensure that all actions progressed incorporate national standards and good practice in community engagement.

2026-2027

The Park Managers Forum and Greenspace Scotland will work to develop how they engage with communities and the public about the impact of flooding on greenspace to improve comms and understanding in this area.

Greenspace Scotland

2026-2030

Scottish Government will continue to fund the Scottish Flood Forum to:

• support the development and mentoring of community flood groups.
• visit communities across Scotland with the Flo flood mobile bus and support them to improve their flood resilience.
• improve the accessibility and inclusiveness of flood information by enhancing its website as a one‑stop shop and expanding easy‑read, HTML and translated materials.
• contribute community experiences to the Scottish National Adaptation Plan and national forums such as VASG and the National Centre for Resilience
• provide post flood community support, property level assessments and provide tailored property flood resilience (PFR) advice, deliver resilience training, support national property flood resilience training, support early warning and community safety through river track.

Scottish Government

Scottish Flood Forum

2026-2027

The Scottish Property Flood Resilience Delivery Group (PFRDG) will collaborate with stakeholders to ensure UK resources on PFR are relevant to the Scottish context.

Scottish Government

COSLA

Insurance Industry representatives

SEPA

Scottish Water

2026-2029

Scottish Government will provide £500,000 of additional support for communities still recovering from recent flooding events, helping local groups continue vital recovery and resilience-building activities.

Scottish Government

2026-2027

Scottish Government funded Scottish Rural College to work with SEPA to establish an information site – “Farming and Water Scotland” to review and update guidance to farmers and landowners on managing water on land and improving farm resilience to changing weather patterns.

Scottish Government

SEPA

2026-2027

Scottish Government funded research on mitigating the mental health of impacts of flooding was published in May 2026 and findings will be taken forward with organisations across Scotland.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

NHS Scotland

2025-2028

The Scottish Community Development Centre and Scottish Communities Climate Action Network will look at the interlinkages between health and climate, targeted at the most at-risk and underserved communities, through the 3-year, Climate Action Fund Lottery programme, ‘Unbound Project’.

Scottish Community Development Centre

Scottish Communities Climate Action Network

2026-2028

Scottish Government’s Water Environment Fund, administered by SEPA, will continue to support projects that remove barriers to migratory fish and the restoration of urban rivers. These projects deliver benefits for biodiversity, climate change adaptation, green space provision, public access, and flood management.

Scottish Government

SEPA

2027-2030

Scottish Government will continue to fund a national flood resilience conference to 2029 as the flagship practice and evidence sharing session for flood professionals across Scotland.

Scottish Government

2027-2028

National Standards and best practice for community engagement will be incorporated in engagement with communities on nationally funded flood resilience measures as part of reformed national funding arrangements.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

COSLA

2027-2029

Scottish Government will work with national partners to develop a community flood resilience framework including, household flood plans, community resources, information on sources of funding for local action, and a resource pack on property flood resilience measures for individuals and communities.

Scottish Government

2027-2033

Scottish Water are planning to invest in customer education and behaviour‑change initiatives that help reduce flood risk, including surface water management and blockage prevention. ^[1]

Scottish Water

By end 2029

Consultation will take place on the key elements of the model used to prioritise national funding of high value flood resilience measures like flood protection schemes.

Scottish Government

COSLA

Ongoing

The Scottish Government continues to provide practical advice to the public on preparing for and responding to a range of emergencies, including flooding and the impacts of severe weather, through its Ready Scotland website (ready.scot) and social media channels. The Ready Scotland website was recently updated to improve accessibility and better support user needs. It continues to support community resilience with dedicated resources explaining the role communities can play and how to organise locally as well as guidance on working with emergency responders and building effective local resilience approaches

Scottish Government

Ongoing

Scottish Government will continue to support the Dynamic Coast programme to engage with communities, researchers, and policy makers to ensure Coastal Change Adaptation Plans adopt nature-based solutions where appropriate and take communities into account.

Scottish Government

NatureScot

2026

SEPA has developed a foundational flood and coastal asset register to improve national understanding of assets such as flood mitigation measures like embankments and protection infrastructure. They will make this data available for local authority by end 2026.

SEPA

2026-2029

Scottish Government will invest £5 million for a new Community Flood Resilience Fund, launching 2027 and delivered over two years, providing grants to local community groups and councils working with residents to reduce flood risk and improve preparedness.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

Third Sector and Community Groups

2027-2029

Scottish Government will invest £3 million to enhance blue-green infrastructure in vulnerable communities, helping to manage water while delivering wider environmental and community benefits.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

2027-2029

Scottish Government will invest £2.5 million to adapt and future-proof public assets, supporting improvements to flooding infrastructure identified through the Scottish Government funded SEPA led national asset mapping programme.

Scottish Government

COSLA

Local Authorities

2026-2029

Scottish Government will invest up to £1 million to support innovative local authority coastal resilience projects, including the use of excavation materials from developments at Scotland’s major ports to replenish sand dunes and help tackle coastal erosion and flood risk.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

2026-2027

Scottish Government has funded CREW to research and provide recommendations on the design and development of flood plans for households. Scottish Government will make the household flood plans available to Climate Change Hubs and will look to promote their use in 2026/27.

Scottish Government

CREW

Climate Change Hubs

2026-2029

Scottish Government will fund Public Health Scotland to develop an interactive population flood vulnerability mapping tool, bringing together the latest flood risk data from SEPA with the latest Scottish demographic and population health information. This tool will help identify communities most at risk, highlight vulnerabilities among specific population groups, and improve understanding of risks to critical infrastructure.

Scottish Government

Public Health Scotland

2027

SEPA will review its Natural Flood Management Opportunity Maps by Spring 2027 and update them within pilot catchments where appropriate. The maps will identify locations where Natural Flood Management measures can deliver the greatest benefit, supporting decision-making. This information will be published by end 2027. Further catchments will be prioritised for updates on an ongoing basis.

SEPA

2027

Peatland ACTION will extend monitoring of the impact of peatland restoration to consider impact on water flows. NatureScot will share this information publicly.

Peatland ACTION

2028

Scottish Government will support Land and Coastal LiDAR data collection. The data will be captured between 2025 to 2028 and made publicly available for a range of uses including national and local flood resilience planning.

Scottish Government

2026/2027

NHS Assure has carried out flood risk assessments for NHS sites and identified those most at risk from flooding. NHS Scotland will build on the review of 66 acute NHS sites, to progress flood risk assessments for further prioritised sites and use these assessments to make joint decisions with Scottish Government about where high value assets and developments are sited.

NHS Scotland

2030

Scottish Government is working to help Scotland’s agricultural sector to accelerate its journey to net zero including the continued use of Agri-Environment Climate Scheme to deliver water management measures.

Scottish Government

2030

Scottish Government and Dynamic Coast will continue to work with local authorities to encourage them to develop coastal change adaptation plans, using nature-based approaches where appropriate and considering whether future funding should be linked to plan development. It is hoped that every coastal local authority will have a plan in place by 2030.

Dynamic Coast, Scottish Government, Local Authorities, COSLA

2030

We will support the integration of trees across the landscape to reduce flood risk. Scottish Forestry will continue to support woodland creation in riparian zones and in areas to benefit the water environment through our Forestry Grant Scheme and will review this by 2030. Farmers and crofters can also access funding for low density tree planting through the Agri-Environment Climate Scheme, and we will continue to provide guidance, advice and knowledge sharing on planting and managing trees.

Scottish Forestry

Scottish Government

2026-2030

Dynamic Coast and the Scottish Government will review and update Scotland’s coastal change adaptation plan guidance and support coastal local authorities to develop their plans and actions.

Scottish Government, Dynamic Coast, Local Authorities

2027-2033

Scotland’s fourth River Basin Management Plan will identify key pressures impacting water bodies and set out actions to mitigate these where necessary to protect and improve Scotland’s water environment.

Scottish Government, SEPA

2026-2028

Scottish Government’s Water Environment Fund administered by SEPA will support a programme of improvements to Scotland’s water environment. Funding will be targeted on projects which will deliver greatest benefits for biodiversity, climate change adaptation, green space provision, public access, and flood management.

Scottish Government, SEPA

By 2029

Scottish Government will work with partners to consider whether to consult on statutory consultees for coastal erosion.

Scottish Government, COSLA, SEPA, Scottish Water

2026-2030

NHS Scotland will collaborate with local partners and stakeholders to improve flood resilience and address the risks and impacts of a changing climate. They will explore opportunities to develop shared solutions and shared funding with partners for larger sites, particularly when retrofitting measures. For smaller sites, such as GP surgeries, they will ensure that development proposals align with the National Planning Framework and do not increase flood risk to others.

NHS Scotland

2026-2030

Greenspace Scotland will work collaboratively to promote initiatives such as climate ready parks.

Greenspace Scotland

2027-2033

Scottish Water plans to widen its activities around blue green infrastructure, to reduce instances of sewer flooding, as part of the next investment period (2027-2033).¹

Scottish Water

2027-2033

Scottish Water will invest to manage our wastewater network assets, resolve chronic issues and create capacity in the network.¹

Scottish Water

2027-2033

Scottish Water will work to reduce repeat internal sewer flooding between 2027 and 2033.¹

Scottish Water

2027-2033

Scottish Water plans to deliver property‑level flood mitigation measures between 2027 and 2033 to reduce the impacts of internal and external sewer flooding where long‑term network solutions are not yet in place.¹

Scottish Water

2027-2033

Scottish Water will deliver projects to resolve externally flooded locations between 2027 and 2033, prioritising areas with the greatest risk and consequences for customers.¹

Scottish Water

2027-2033

Scottish Water plans to continue to build and expand Strategic Drainage Partnerships between 2027 and 2033 to work collaboratively with local authorities, developers and communities to address surface water flooding.¹

Scottish Water

2027-2033

Scottish Water plans to increase real‑time monitoring and data visibility of sewer networks between 2027 and 2033 to help prevent, predict and respond more effectively to flooding and pollution incidents.¹

Scottish Water

2026-2027

Scottish Government, COSLA and Local Authorities will work together to protect taxpayers’ money, ensuring best value, and safeguarding public funds by working on both the affordability of flood protection schemes in the current programme and ensuring lessons learned are applied to future projects

Scottish Government, COSLA and Local Authorities

2026-2028

We will reform national funding for high value flood resilience measures

Scottish Government, COSLA, Local Authorities

2026-28

A National Flood Advisory Service will be established to improve Scotland’s flood resilience and embed best practice on a nationwide scale. The Flood Advisory Service will improve how high value flood resilience measures like Flood Protection schemes are delivered in Scotland by developing and coordinating a national gateway process, improving consistency, transparency and quality of the evidence used in decisions.

Scottish Government

2027-28

The Flood Advisory Service will develop framework and criteria for the gateway process in 2026-27, will test it with local authorities in 2027-28 and early operation in 2028. SEPA will work towards aligning the development of the Flood Advisory Service with FRM Plan Cycle 3 by 2028.

SEPA, Scottish Government, Local Authorities, COSLA

2026-2028

As part of development of the principles and gateway process associated with a Flood Advisory Service, SEPA will engage extensively with relevant stakeholders including local authorities and consultants.

SEPA

2026-2030

The success of the Flood Advisory Service model will be monitored and adjusted by Scottish Government as needed. Scottish Government will carry a full strategic review of service by 2032.

Scottish Government

2027

Scotland’s Environment Web, a shared environmental hub for environmental information and data run by SEPA, will pilot new ways of sharing information between major organisations, to support catchment management.

SEPA

2026-2027

The PFRDG will explore options for Scotland to access the next iteration of the Environment Agency’s Property Flood Resilience Framework, which supports the survey, design, installation and commission of flood resilience measures for properties.

PFRDG

2026-2029

Scottish Government will work with partners to identify, scope and support training and upskilling opportunities for key professionals in priority areas, including flood asset assessment and property flood resilience, to support delivery of the Flood Resilience Strategy.

Scottish Government

Local Authorities

COSLA

PFRDG

2027-2033

Scottish Water plan to maintain and update hydraulic wastewater models between 2027 and 2033 to meet statutory requirements and support flood risk planning and decision‑making.¹

Scottish Water

2027-2033

Scottish Water plan to work with schools, public sector bodies and communities between 2027 and 2033 to install sustainable drainage measures that slow, store or reuse rainwater and reduce pressure on sewer systems.¹

Scottish Water

2026

Scottish Government will develop an Open-Source Platform to support approaches to valuing and financing blue and green infrastructure by 2026. This is an outcome identified in the Scottish National Adaptation Plan 2024-2029.

Scottish Government

2023-2029

In implementing that Trunk Road Adaptation Plan Transport Scotland will:

• Produce a guide to support private landowners with managing climate hazards to reduce risks such as flooding and landslides.
• Implement climate-resilient road design standards, considering more intense rainfall events
• Review and, if necessary, increase provision of shelter locations on routes in areas at risk of isolation. Flood forecasting pilot for improving approach to surface water flood forecasting.
• Continued rollout of weather-resistant asphalt.
• Promotion of nature-based solutions at the catchment scale. Incorporating green infrastructure for natural flood, landslide, wind, and heat management helps to improve the climate resilience of the transport network.
• Prioritise investigation of coastal defence structures in high-risk locations
• An investigation of coastal change in vulnerable areas should be completed near the TRN including erosion risk, sea-level rise, and road service levels.

Transport Scotland

2026-2027

SEPA will deploy 6 additional nearshore wave buoys funded by Scottish Government in 2026 which will improve data collection and prediction and monitoring of coastal flooding, plug an estimated 90% of identified gaps in coverage, improve Scotland’s coastal flood warning system and better protect lives and property.

SEPA

Ongoing (2028-2034 and beyond)

SEPA will continue to improve the National Flood Risk Assessment (NFRA), providing a robust national assessment of current and future flood risk across Scotland and underpinning the development of Flood Risk Management Plans. Together with SEPA’s flood maps, this forms a core component of Scotland’s flood risk management planning framework.

SEPA

Ongoing (2028-2034 and beyond)

Forestry and Land Scotland will work to minimise and mitigate flood risk by using SEPA’s Flood Risk Management Plans and using assessment of Lidar Digital Terrain Models alongside other data to help understand where smaller communities and individual houses might be at risk of flooding.

Forestry and Land Scotland

2027-2032

The Scottish Government’s Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Research Strategy 2027-2032 has been published. This sets out our plans for how we will deliver research over the next five years. These include Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) on building resilience to climate change in the way water is managed in Scotland.

Scottish Government

2026-2029

SEPA is exploring how improved representation of wave processes in flood mapping could support ongoing improvements to coastal flood warning services.

SEPA

2026-2030

The PFRDG will promote consistency and effectiveness in PFR delivery across Scotland by sharing good practice, supporting clear guidance on product standards and compliance, and developing a shared engagement resource to support all organisations implementing PFR and engaging with communities.

PFRDG

2029

The Pioneer Catchments project will pilot in two river catchments new ways of environmental organisations working together using climate resilience as a unifying agenda. This will include considering how they deploy staff, resources and capabilities across organisations to optimise collective delivery of outcomes.

Scottish Government, SEPA, Scottish Water, National Parks, NatureScot, Scottish Forestry, Angus Council, Aberdeenshire Council, Crown Estate Scotland, Forestry and Land Scotland.