Flood Hazard Maps & Flood Risk Maps

The Directive requires the compilation of flood hazard and flood risk maps for all of the Areas of Potential Significant Flood Risk.  These flood hazard and flood risk maps are important visual tools to communicate flood risk to different target groups.  The maps shall provide relevant flood risk information at a catchment scale to all public bodies such as water management authorities and infrastructure providers and also to the business community and broader general public.  

The flood hazard maps shall cover the geographical area which could be inundated by floods which have a low, medium or high likelihood of occurance.  For each of these scenarios the flood hazard maps shall show the extent of the flood, the water depth or level and, where appropriate, the flow velocity or water flow.

The Directive allows some flexibility in determining which flood scenarios shall be mapped.  For example, it states that in coastal areas where adequate protection is in place the mapping may be limited to low probability (or extreme event) scenarios.  

The flood risk maps shall show the potential consequences associated with each of the above mentioned flood scenarios.  The flood risk maps shall give expression to the potential affects of the floods on: the number of inhabitants; the areas economic activity; the release of pollutants from industrial installations, and environmentally sensitive areas protected by other environmental legislation.

The Flood Hazard Maps and Flood Risk Maps must be completed by 22 December 2013 and shall be reviewed, and if necessary updated, by 22 December 2018 and every six years thereafter.  The maps will be published on this website as they become available.