River Flood Maps (FRM_FH_RIVER_DEPTH_L) are produced by the Scottish Government to meet SEPA's duty under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009. The maps show flood hazard from rivers, including extent, depth, and velocity for high (10-year), medium (200-year), and low (1000-year) probability events, plus a 200-year event with a 2080s high-emissions climate change scenario. The data is published via SpatialData.gov.scot and was last updated on 2026-07-08.
Use Cases
- Assess flood risk for property development based on flood extent and depth probabilities.
- Model climate change impacts on flood hazards using the 2080s high-emissions scenario.
- Plan emergency response routes based on flood velocity and extent maps.
- Inform land-use planning and policy in line with Scottish Planning Policy return periods.
Strengths
- Maps are legally mandated and produced by a government agency (SEPA/Scottish Government).
- Includes multiple flood probability scenarios: 10-year, 200-year, and 1000-year return periods.
- Incorporates a specific future climate scenario (UKCP09 high emissions 95%ile for the 2080s).
- Contains multiple hazard layers: flood extent, depth, and velocity where appropriate.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
- Geographic coverage is limited to Scotland.
Provenance
- Source
- Scottish Government SpatialData.gov.scot
- Collection Method
- Produced by SEPA to meet statutory requirements under the Flood Risk Management (Scotland) Act 2009.
- Time Range
- Climate change scenario is based on UKCP09 predictions for the 2080s.
- Freshness
- Last updated 2026-07-08 13:30:48.688400; freshness should be verified.
- Geography
- Scotland