Today’s severe flooding across central Scotland has resulted in major disruption to motorists and other commuters. With more flood warnings expected, RSPB Scotland is highlighting the urgency of getting sustainable flood management measures in place across Scotland.

Lisa Webb, Freshwater Policy Officer at the conservation and environment charity, said: “We have created flooding problems through our past and current management of land in urban and rural areas. Artificially straightening rivers, building houses on floodplains, putting land under ‘hard surfaces’ such as roads and car parks, and even paving over our front gardens all speed up the run-off of water during periods of heavy rain. This overwhelms our rivers and drainage systems causing the flooding that we witness so frequently in Scotland.”

She added: “RSPB Scotland urges Government, SEPA, local authorities and others to work together to manage floods sustainably in order to help us adapt to the changing climate. Natural flood management measures such as restoring floodplains and incorporating wetland features into drainage systems can make a real contribution to managing floods. These methods are relatively inexpensive compared to harder engineering solutions.”