The Government has published a climate adaptation strategy aimed at reducing disruption to UK transport from extreme weather.

The Department for Transport’s ‘Climate adaptation strategy for transport’ aims to put in place resilience standards by 2030 for how the UK transport system will be prepared for more frequent flooding, heatwaves and storms.

Keir Mather MP, minister for aviation, maritime and decarbonisation, said the strategy is designed to improve the resilience of roads, rail, aviation and maritime networks as climate impacts increasingly affect reliability, safety and operating costs.

The Government said disruption from extreme weather is already influencing performance and investment decisions across transport.

The strategy highlights growing flood risk to the network, with 38% of roads in England already at risk, rising to a projected 46% by 2050.

Between 2006 and 2021, weather-related incidents cost Network Rail more than £1 billion in compensation payments.   

The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) data on the winter floods between 2013 to 2014 caused significant disruption to the Strategic Road Network, with costs estimated to be £180 million.

Fleet managers will hope the plan signals a greater focus on keeping roads and wider transport networks operating during severe weather, with a positive impact for journey reliability, delivery schedules and vehicle uptime.

Key commitments include stronger national objectives for climate adaptation and the introduction of climate resilience standards by 2030, in line with the Government’s wider 10-year infrastructure strategy.

These standards are expected to define acceptable service levels during extreme weather and recovery times following disruption.

On roads, the DfT will provide £1bn in funding for local highway enhancement projects to repair ageing assets such as bridges and tunnels and improve resilience to flooding and heat damage.

National Highways is also expected to expand climate adaptation measures within the third Road Investment Strategy that runs up to March 2031, with a stronger emphasis on long-term risk planning. 

The document also commits to improving the data and evidence used to assess climate risk.

Further information:

https://www.fleetnews.co.uk/news/dft-sets-out-climate-resilience-plan-for-uk-transport-networks