The Rapid Flood Guidance service will keep running until 2028 after fresh funding from Defra, the Flood Forecasting Centre confirmed on 22 January. For town halls, emergency planners and volunteer teams across the North, that means three more summers of short‑notice surface‑water alerts when storms bubble up fast across England and Wales.

Russell Turner, Head of the Flood Forecasting Centre, said the extension follows a successful 2024 trial and the move to full operations in 2025. The funding, he added, allows the team to keep issuing “timely, tailored information when it matters most” to help responders take clear decisions on days of heightened risk.

The Rapid Flood Guidance sits alongside the daily Flood Guidance Statement. On days when conditions look volatile, an advisory badge appears on the statement and a concise Rapid Flood Guidance update is issued, giving responders a clear heads‑up on flash‑flood potential and likely disruption.

For 2026, the service is due to start on 6 May and run into mid‑October, covering the months when short, intense downpours typically trigger surface‑water problems. Anyone who registered in 2025 will stay on the list and will be updated as final details are confirmed.

During last summer’s season (2 June to 17 October 2025), 2,450 responders signed up, up from 1,700 in 2024. The advisory badge appeared on 17 days, Rapid Flood Guidance updates were issued on 10 days, with 19 updates in total downloaded more than 6,200 times, according to the Flood Forecasting Centre.

Based on user feedback, the 2025 service allowed people to subscribe by individual local authority area rather than broad regions, a big win for northern councils that need pinpoint calls for districts such as Calderdale, Trafford or Redcar. Thresholds for issuing updates were tightened to cut noise when impacts were minimal, and a redesigned production system meant updates could be turned around faster.

If you were on the 2025 list, you remain registered for 2026 and can amend your preferences at any time through your Flood Guidance Statement account. New users can sign up now, choose email or text notifications, and set preferences so only relevant local authority updates land in the inbox.

Those who don’t need notifications can still view the Rapid Flood Guidance directly via the Met Office’s Hazard Manager, which many duty officers use alongside radar and rainfall tools during active weather.

The service was built through the Surface Water Flood Forecasting Improvement Project, funded by Defra and the Environment Agency under the SR21 settlement and delivered by the Met Office and Environment Agency through the Flood Forecasting Centre. The wider project completes in March 2026 and contributes to Defra’s Surface Water Management Action Plan.

For the North, where steep catchments, moorland run‑off and dense terraced streets can see drains overwhelmed in minutes, the ability to target alerts by local authority should help teams line up sandbags, close roads and move kit sooner. It’s a simple promise: clearer warnings, quicker decisions, and a better chance of keeping people and places safe.