The UK is becoming wetter.  

In recent years, we have seen a notable rise in named storms hitting the UK’s shores.  

One of the most recent – Storm Bert – which hit the UK on the weekend of the 23 and 24 November 2024 saw over 100mm of rain (more than one month’s worth of rain) fall in parts of Wales with over 150mm recorded at some locations on the hills of south Wales over the event. 

The First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, described its impact as “absolutely devastating” to the Welsh population with significant flooding affecting a number of communities across south and mid Wales. 

But preparing for the impact of flooding doesn’t just happen overnight; there is a significant amount of planning involved to forecast when and where heavy rainfall might hit, assess the flood risk (likelihood and impact) and then alert residents and businesses of its potentially disastrous effects.  

In Wales, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) is responsible for the sustainable management of the nation’s natural resources, providing services that tackle climate, nature and pollution emergencies, and helping to ensure Wales achieves environmental quality standards. The Welsh Government sponsored body also issues flood alerts and warnings to the public and businesses at risk of river or coastal flooding via its new Flood Warning Information Services for Wales (FWISfW). 

Warning the public of river and coastal flooding is a statutory power for NRW under the Water Resources Act 1991 and a duty under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004. It is a key component in the flood risk management service NRW delivers to help communities be more resilient to flooding. 

This free service provides vital information to signed-up customers in areas at risk from flooding from rivers and the sea, giving advance warning and therefore time for people to take action to reduce the impact on both themselves, and their property. 

Previously, NRW did not have its own flood warning system and relied on a managed service from the Environment Agency's (EA) Flood Warning System, which they in turn contracted from Fujitsu, to issue messages while NRW used an Excel-based solution to compose message content. To ensure the continuity and reliability of flood warning services in Wales and enable the service to be tailored to the needs of people in Wales, NRW sought to establish an independent system. 

Working with BJSS and moving to a Microsoft Azure platform, NRW has reduced the time it takes for critical flood alert messages and warnings to be issued to the public from 10 minutes to just 30 seconds. The new system and processes crafted by BJSS in partnership with NRW’s Flood Risk Management group has resulted in the public body creating its first ever digital product team. 

Opportunity

Across 2022/23, NRW issued 472 flood alerts and 118 flood warnings – each requiring personalised messaging depending on the location of those who received these. In Wales alone, it is estimated that 1 in 7 homes and businesses are at risk of flooding. Floods can strike with devastating speed and force, making it crucial to deliver timely warnings to those at risk. 

Seeking independent capability 

Ahead of the scheduled EA system replacement cycle, NRW recognised the benefit of creating an independent flood warning system that could seamlessly take over from that provided via the EA. 

Given the increase in the intensity and regularity of floods, notifying the public as quickly as possible ahead of flooding hitting land was critical for NRW, especially as there are many fast-responding rivers in Wales which can lead to rapid onset of flooding and a risk to life and property. 

Andy Wall, Project Executive, Natural Resources Wales, said: “With a third of 2023 spent under elevated flood risk in Wales, it's clear that more frequent and intense rainfall is creating a more dangerous river environment and increasing the risk of flooding to those living or working near rivers or the coast. In exploring our options for a new flood warning system, we explored not only creating our own system, but also deploying a commercially available off-the-shelf one. However, we felt that this wouldn’t give us the enriched experience needed by our customers but also our duty officers who need to use the system any time of day or night to issue warning messages in fast evolving and often complex situations. 

Streamlining processes 

The Flood Risk Management group within NRW drew up a core set of prioritised requirements for their new system.  

One of the biggest challenges for the team was in creating and disseminating messages to the public who had signed up to receive flood warnings – these could be in English or Welsh, received via SMS, email or phone call from a third party and covered specific postcodes.  

As a result, messages previously needed to be tailored to these requirements in advance of being issued, bringing significant cognitive load for the team responsible for them. Message scripting and issuing processes were cumbersome and inefficient for duty officers to use in a flooding event. Something needed to change.  

Enter BJSS.  

Solution

BJSS introduced agile delivery, a new way of working for NRW. From the outset, NRW and BJSS worked collaboratively, creating a unique team that brought in experts from the public body to create a product team focused on the Flood Warning Information Services for Wales (FWISfW). 

Cloud compliance 

To move the project forward, the team initially started by migrating the system from its previous platform to Microsoft Azure. This cloud-native platform was chosen specifically for its compliance with the Centre for Digital Public Services (CDPS) in Wales, ensuring adherence to rigorous security standards. 

The Azure platform wasn’t just selected for its security prowess, its built-in monitoring and alerting API constantly scanned for potential issues, allowing for swift intervention by the NRW team. Additionally, an integrated out-of-hours router tool was implemented to ensure system alerts could be automatically directed to on-call members of the Flood Directorate, guaranteeing a 24/7 response. 

Meeting governance requirements 

Several governance processes and policies were refreshed and rolled out within the public body. This resulted in the establishment of a Technical Design Authority (TDA) for oversight and quality control as well as Customer Due Diligence (CDD) to help identify and verify users of the system. 

Third party integration 

BJSS further enhanced the system's functionality by integrating it with key third-party systems like GOV.UK Notify, Floodline and Twilio, streamlining communication channels for critical flood warnings.  

To achieve this robust solution, the team utilised a combination of cutting-edge tools within Azure, including .NET Core, Next.js/React, Azure DevOps, and Azure SQL Database. This comprehensive technology stack was created to ensure exceptional performance and scalability for the FWIS. 

Empowering and upskilling teams 

In addition to building a technical solution, BJSS worked with the FWISfW product team to provide organisational-wide agile awareness training to get their operational business more familiar with what to expect and product owner training. From the outset when the project was scoped out, NRW was clear that its teams needed to have the necessary skills to be able to own and manage the system themselves once the new tool was live. The goal was to empower and equip the NRW team to continue to evolve and grow the FWISfW. 

NRW and BJSS embarked on a groundbreaking initiative by creating a real-time flood warning tracking system battle board. This innovative approach involved the development of a phonetic dictionary to link flood warnings with pre-designed messages. These messages would then be automatically sent to the public who had signed up for notifications as well as share a recorded announcement on the Floodline message service.  

Outcome

Following several rounds of stringent operational tests the new FWISfW went live in July 2024. NRW now benefits from a service that provides a suite of services, each with real-time metrics to better demonstrate how the directorate is performing – but crucially the people of Wales benefit from  relevant flood warnings and alerts being sent to the right people, with the right information in the right amount of time via their preferred language and preferred contact method.  

NRW has significantly enhanced its ability to protect communities from flooding by streamlining  message creating and sending processed increasing the timeliness and clarity of advice in their warning messages.  

Storm Bert provided the first opportunity for the FWISfW to be truly tested – and it performed as expected during a period of significant demand. Over 48 hours, more than 95,000 messages were sent to Welsh residents across email, SMS and phone. Each performed exceptionally, with email and SMS success rates (delivery to the registered contact sitting between 97-98%).  

Andy Wall commented: “For those who live or work in the path of flood waters, they want to know that they have time to move valuables to a safe place. When Storm Bert hit Wales, we were prepared for the potentially catastrophic impact it could have. The FWISfW Send A Flood Message couldn’t have performed better and our flood duty officers who, in previous severe events have been overwhelmed with the workload of creating and issuing messages, were able to handle these tasks smoothly and efficiently. As with any flood, there are learning opportunities which helps us continually improve our operations and flood warning services. The system delivered during Bert and made a positive impact on the timeliness and resilience of the flood warning service.” 

Furthermore, the establishment of a robust governance model and the adoption of agile methodologies have positioned NRW to adapt to future challenges and deliver innovative solutions.  

It also fostered strong partnerships with third parties, including CIPTEX and Floodline who each have an extremely valuable role to play within the product. Separately, NRW and BJSS have upskilled those working within the Flood Risk Management group and built a culture of continuous improvement. This has resulted in NRW taking its first step towards becoming a product centric organisation. With product ownership of FWISfW, the team have been equipped with the skills and experience to continue to enhance the independent system as the need arises.  

Andy Wall, said: “We see the BJSS team as a true partner and an organisation that didn’t only have the skills and experience to address our needs but could also champion and empower our existing team to become experts.” 

Matt Harrington, Head of Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT), Natural Resources Wales added: “NRW ICT recognised the need to enhance its ability to develop NRW’s systems, products, and services. To achieve this strategically, we initiated a tender process to establish a long-term partnership with an organisation capable of operating at a strategic level, rather than engaging on a project-by-project basis. 

“BJSS was successfully selected as NRW’s delivery partner, and this collaboration has significantly improved our ability to manage Wales’s natural resources sustainably. Their expertise has been instrumental in developing innovative technology products and services, while also sharing valuable skills and experience in delivering high-quality solutions at pace. This partnership is not only driving immediate improvements but also strengthening our internal capabilities for the future.”