As climate change continues to increase the severity and frequency of extreme weather events, experts say that wave data is key to protecting Scotland’s coastal communities from the impacts of flooding.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have announced a significant advancement in their flood risk management capabilities with the deployment of Scotland’s first public “near-shore” wave buoys to monitor coastal flooding.

The buoys, deployed near Arbroath and Eyemouth, are part of a comprehensive, UK-wide WaveNet network coordinated by the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS), which provides critical information to better protect communities, infrastructure, and ecosystems.

The buoys themselves collect data such as wave height, frequency, and direction. By analysing the data, SEPA can develop more accurate flood risk maps and improve the monitoring, forecasting, and warning of coastal flooding events.

Steve McFarland, who serves as lead coastal flooding specialist at SEPA, said: “Our coastlines are on the front line of climate change impacts, and understanding the behaviour of waves is crucial for predicting and preparing for coastal flooding.

“The data from these wave buoys gives us invaluable insights into wave patterns and long-term trends, which are essential for creating robust flood risk models, protecting our coastal communities and helping them adapt to climate change.”

Enhancing Flood Forecasting and Monitoring Trends
The data collected by the wave buoys provides a more detailed understanding of how coastal areas are affected by waves and storm surges. By integrating real-time wave data into existing modelling systems, SEPA can identify areas most at risk of flooding and generate more precise flood risk maps that reflect the current and future risks of coastal flooding.

This improved accuracy also helps refine coastal flood forecasting. SEPA can use the data to better predict flooding from waves and provide timely warnings to communities, local authorities and emergency responders, enabling them to take pre-emptive actions to safeguard lives and property.

Beyond immediate forecasting and risk mapping, the wave buoys also offer data for monitoring long-term trends in wave behaviour. Understanding how wave patterns and intensity are changing over time is key for assessing the impacts of climate change on Scotland’s coastlines and for guiding future actions to mitigate and adapt to coastal flood risk.

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What the New Data Has Already Provided
The agency said that new buoy data collected since February 2024 has already provided invaluable information about wave behaviour in the near-shore environment, helping to build an understanding of which weather conditions will result in the largest waves and better warn for coastal flood events.

Measuring wave height continuously from deployment to the present enabled SEPA to identify increased wave heights during storm events in South-East Scotland during Spring 2024, and allowed for more accurate coastal flood forecasting and enhanced warning communications.

The data has also identified locations where wave heights may be more extreme and the risk of coastal flooding impacts therefore greater. For example, wave heights at Eyemouth have tended to be higher than at Arbroath due to its more exposed location to waves from the North Sea.

“Continued monitoring of waves off the east coast of Scotland will allow us to track conditions during storm events over the next winter season and enable a better understanding of how waves close to the shore lead to coastal flooding during storms,” added McFarland.

“Ultimately this will allow SEPA’s coastal flood warnings and flood mapping to better represent local conditions, both now and in the future.”