16th April 2026

A Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability Assessment for Angus (CRVA) has been developed to understand how climate change will affect the Angus region, including the River South Esk catchment area. The CRVA highlights emerging risks, and how communities, land managers and businesses can become more resilient.

Using the latest climate change projections for the UK, Climate Projections (UKCP18), which provides a comprehensive set of climate model projections, the assessment found that the Angus region is projected to experience warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers. Extreme weather events, including storms and flooding will become more common, which will cause significant damage to the region. In the coming months the River South Esk Catchment Partnership will study these projections to understand future risk across the length of the catchment.

Recent storms, Storm Arwen and Storm Babet caused widespread damage in the catchment and proactive planning is essential to mitigate intensifying climate impacts and protect communities and the natural environment.

The assessment provides six adaptation options which could be delivered by a range of stakeholders which aim to reduce climate-related risks and build resilience across services, infrastructure, and communities within the region. A multi-stakeholder approach to future water resilience has been identified as a key action.

More information can be found on a StoryMap with overview of findings from the CRVA report and the full report and non-technical summary.