The Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) is a joint venture between the Environment Agency and the Met Office to provide warnings of flooding which may affect England and Wales. The FFC is based in the Operations Centre at the Met Office headquarters in Exeter.
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Following severe flooding across the UK in 2007 a review was commissioned by the government to see what lessons could be learned. Chaired by Sir Michael Pitt the review produced a number of recommendations which were published in June 2008, among them was the recommendation that the different agencies work more closely together to improve warnings services.[1]
The FFC was officially opened on 21 April 2009 in London by Environment Minister Hilary Benn.[2] The centre combines the work of meteorologists from the Met Office and hydrologists from the Environment Agency. Its role is to provide better warnings advice to the government, local authorities, emergency responders and the general public. It faced its first major test in November 2009 when severe flooding affected Northern England, in particular Cumbria and the town of Cockermouth, the Pitt Review progress report highlighted the accuracy of the warnings issued ahead of this event.[1]In April 2011 the FFC moved from its location in central London and is now located within Ops Centre at the Met Office HQ in Exeter.[1]
In March 2011 the Scottish Flood Forecasting Service (SFFS) was formed, a partnership between the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Met Office with £750,000 of funding from the Scottish Government.[3] It will fulfil much of the same role as the FFC, though it is a virtual centre with meteorologists based at the Operations Centre in Aberdeen and hydrologists based at SEPA in Perth.[4]
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