Climate change - Scottish National Adaptation Plan: annual progress report 2024-2025

Communities (C)

SNAP3 Outcome: Communities are creating climate-resilient, healthy and equitable places

The climate emergency will change Scotland’s places. This outcome focuses on building places and communities resilience to flooding, coastal change, wildfire and other extreme events. The aim is to ensure all parts of Scotland have regional adaptation partnerships and locally-led action, with a focus on vulnerability and using the power of Scotland’s culture, heritage and creativity.

During the reporting period:

• The Adaptation Scotland programme has continued supporting regional partnerships to grow. Climate Ready Tayside was launched in March 2024, with grant funding to develop its business case, branding, and engagement. Highland Adapts has focused on ensuring long-term sustainability and diversifying funding opportunities, while Climate Ready South East Scotland finalised its risk and opportunity assessment, collecting nearly 1,000 climate impact stories.
• Scotland’s national network of community climate action hubs helps communities understand and take locally-led adaptation action and provides seed funding. Many hubs will prioritise climate adaptation in 2025-26, working with vulnerable communities and facilitating community-led interventions.
• Responding to amber and red weather warnings, Ready Scotland provides advice for emergencies. The campaign reached over 538,000 people via radio and appearing 7.5 million times on digital screens. Scottish Government continues to build community resilience though cross-sector collaboration, partnership with the voluntary sector and an annual Resilient Communities conference.
• Scotland’s First Flood Resilience Strategy, published in December 2024, takes a flood resilient places approach, recognising that reducing the impacts of flooding is as much about the design of our places as it is about specific flood actions. Local Authorities have also received funding for Coastal Change Adaptation Plans, with one published and eight others in progress. An additional £15 million has been set aside in 2025-26 to support the delivery of the strategy, wider flooding resilience and coastal adaptation work.
• SEPA’s latest Potentially Vulnerable Areas and new surface water flood maps enhance Scotland’s ability to manage flooding, including risks from small watercourses. This new level of detail provides Scotland with the most detailed and accurate picture of where flooding could occur from heavy rainfall. SEPA is also rolling out coastal flood maps, currently focusing on the Southeast region, and more coastal change data will be available through planned LiDAR surveys.
• The majority of Scottish Government’s energy efficiency retrofit investments meet PAS 2035 standards, which include improved ventilation to reduce overheating risk. Revised Building Standards guidance on flooding and groundwater risks is in development, and some Local Authorities now offer renewables and battery storage to vulnerable, storm-prone households.
• Historic Environment Scotland (HES) continues to support climate adaptation across the heritage sector, with funding for energy-efficient retrofits in traditional buildings, coastal zone surveys with national volunteer participation, training initiatives, and by continuing roll-out of the Climate Vulnerability Index.

C1.1 – Geographical coverage of regional adaptation collaboration

Description: This indicator measures the geographical coverage of active collaborations across Scotland on adaptation based on the percentage of local authorities covered by Regional Adaptation Partnerships. These collaborations do not have a set structure, but must actively address climate risks across organisational and/or local authority boundaries.

Data source: Adaptation Scotland

Ambition: Increasing over time

As of April 2025, 21 of 32 local authorities are covered by active adaptation partnerships or collaborations. Regional Adaptation Partnerships are a key driver of place-based adaptation. There are currently 7 active partnerships:

• Highland Adapts
• Climate Ready Aberdeen
• Climate Ready Aberdeenshire
• Climate Hebrides
• Climate Ready Clyde
• Climate Ready South East Scotland
• Climate Ready Tayside

Since the publication of SNAP3, Adaptation Scotland has continued to support the establishment of a new adaptation partnership in Tayside. This culminated in the launch of the new partnership at an event in Dundee in March 2025. The partnership has been further supported by grant funding from the Scottish Government to develop a business case for the future of the partnership, develop a website and branding, and to engage with senior local leaders.

Highland Adapts has benefited from grant funding from the Scottish Government to undertake a detailed review of governance systems and future funding and growth opportunities for it to continue to develop into a mature partnership.

The Climate Ready South East Scotland partnership has moved into a more established partnership, and completed its risk and opportunity assessment, in collaboration with local climate action hubs, and gathered almost 1,000 climate impact stories on its story map.

The Adaptation Scotland programme has provided support to the Argyll and Bute Climate Action initiative to further develop its approach to regional partnership working for climate action, and the local Climate Action Hub is now well placed to further collaborate with local partners to develop a more substantive regional adaptation partnership in the year ahead.

C2.1 – Proportion of adults viewing climate change as an immediate and urgent problem

Description: This indicator shows the percentage of adults in Scotland viewing climate change as an immediate and urgent problem

Data source: Scottish Household Survey

Ambition: Increasing over time

In 2023, 74% of adults agreed that ‘climate change is an immediate and urgent problem’. There was no change in this figure between 2022 and 2023. However, the figure maintaining at 74% represents a marked increase from 2013 (46%), the first data point in this time series.

While not a direct measure of awareness of climate impacts and risks, this indicator provides a general measure of public awareness of climate change.

C2.2 – Level of adaptation action being taken by people in Scotland

Description: This indicator highlights the proportion of adults in Scotland taking various types of actions to adapt to the impacts of climate change

Data source: Scottish Climate Survey

Ambition: Increasing over time

Data from the 2024 Scottish Climate Survey highlights that more than seven in ten (72%) of adults in Scotland reported taking at least one of the actions highlighted. These actions have been selected as key actions people in Scotland can take to adapt to climate change related impacts, such as those arising from severe weather events.

The most common action was keeping blinds or curtains closed during warm weather, with almost half of respondents (47%) reporting they had done this. The next most common adaptation actions were action to reduce the likelihood of wildfires when in the outdoors (29%), signing up to receive severe weather warnings or flood alerts (27%), and intentionally reducing how much water they or their household use and/or fitting a water saving device (21%). Fewer reported that they had changed their garden or outdoor space to allow rainwater to soak away more easily (15%), supported a relative, friend or neighbour to prepare for severe weather (10%) or worked with others to better protect their community from severe weather impacts (7%). Just three per cent of households said they had installed flood resilience measures in their home.

The 2024 survey was the first wave of the Scottish Climate Survey. This indicator will be updated using time series data when future waves of the survey report on this question. The survey also provides a range of other data around people’s experiences of, and behaviours around, severe weather and adaptation actions.

The full report from the Scottish Climate Survey and data tables are available here.

C3.1 – Number of people using flood forecasting and warning services

Description: This indicator measures the number of users in Scotland accessing flood forecasting and warning services. This is measured by:

• Number of people using website services
• Number of people registered for Floodline

Data source: SEPA

Ambition: Increasing over time

In 2024, SEPA had 896,038 views to their flood related SEPA websites^[12]. At the end of 2024, 41,556 people had registered for their Floodline service. This includes 3,344 new registrations during 2024. Registration and visits to flood related SEPA websites can be related to targeted media campaigns and following the occurrence of flooding events or in advance of expected flooding. Increases in website views during severe weather events are typical.

Signing up to receive flood forecasting and warning services is a key action people can take to increase their preparedness for flooding events.

Data on both of these metrics will be collected and monitored on annually going forward to allow a longer term trend to begin to be tracked over the SNAP3 period and beyond.

C3.2 – Proportion of adults who would offer support to people in their community during an emergency, such as a flood, who may not cope well

Description: This indicator shows the percentage of adults in Scotland who agree that in an emergency, such as a flood, they would offer to help people in their neighbourhood who might not be able to cope well

Data source: Scottish Household Survey

Ambition: Increasing over time

This indicator has remained broadly stable over time since 2019. In 2023, 89% of adults in Scotland reported that they would offer support to people in their community during an emergency, such as a flood, who may not cope well.

While capturing intention, rather than action taken, this suggests a high level of community support for vulnerable people during severe weather events such as flooding.

C3.3 – Availability of flood insurance

Description: This indicator provides a measure of the proportion of householders with prior flood claims who can receive quotes from 5 or more insurers through Price Comparison websites (figures provided by FloodRe scheme)^[14]

Data source: Flood Re

Ambition: Maintaining over time

Flood Re is a re-insurance scheme that aims to make flood cover more widely available and affordable as part of home insurance. It supports people at the highest risk of flooding, including those with past flooding related claims. Availability of insurance is important in increasing a household’s resilience to flooding.

99% of high-risk households with claims were able to obtain 5 or more quotes from insurers through the Flood Re scheme in 2024. In addition, high proportions of high-risk households with flood claims were able to obtain quotes from 10 or more insurers (96%) and 15 or more insurers (93%).

This represents an increase from 2019, when 75% of high-risk households with flood claims were able to obtain 15 or more quotes. In the same year 88% of high-risk households with flood claims could obtain 10 or more quotes and 96% could obtain 5 or more quotes.

In January 2016, prior to Flood Re’s existence, a baseline measurement showed that 38% of those with recent flood claims in could not obtain any insurance quotes, and for the 62% who could get a quote from 1 or more insurers, the average premium quote price was about £4,400. Only 9% could obtain quotes from 2 or more insurers, and no households could obtain 5 or more quotes.

C4.1 – Proportion of dwellings with urgent disrepair to critical elements

Description: This indicator shows the percentage of dwellings in Scotland with urgent disrepair to critical elements

Data source: Scottish House Condition Survey

Ambition: Decreasing over time

There has been a slight decrease over time in the proportion of dwellings with urgent disrepair to critical elements. In 2019, an estimated 19% of dwellings had urgent disrepair to critical elements. This figure has been reduced to around 16% in 2023.

New buildings which are better designed or existing buildings which are better maintained should be less vulnerable to extreme weather events.

C5.1 – Historic Environment Scotland grant applications including adaptation measures

Description: This indicator shows the proportion of Historic Environment Scotland grant applications funded that include adaptation measures^[16]

Data source: Historic Environment Scotland

Ambition: Increasing over time

25 of 62 grants (40%) offered in 2024-25 referenced climate change as a driver for action. Historic Environment Scotland Grants are one of the key funding sources for Scotland’s historic environment and assets.

Time series data is not currently available for this indicator. From the 2025/26 period onwards data will be available to track climate adaptation specifically as a driver for action.

C6.1 – Number of local authority Coastal Change Adaptation Plans published

Description: This indicator describes the number of local authority Coastal Change Adaptation Plans (CCAP) published

Data source: Scottish Government

Ambition: Increasing over time

Coastal Change Adaptation Plan guidance was published in February 2023. Since then, one local authority (Moray Council) has published a CCAP. Eight local authorities are currently working on a CCAP.

24 local authorities have an erodible shoreline and have received funding for a Coastal Change Adaptation Plan. Coastal Change Adaptation Plans are a key mechanism for coastal resilience and adaptation actions across Scotland.