The Environment Agency is looking at replacing the existing National Flood Forecasting System (NFFS) - if it decides to go ahead procurement of a contract worth up to £5 million is likely to start within the next three months.
The current NFFS came into operation in 2004 and provides flood forecasts for England and Wales - the replacement system will be known as the Future Flood Forecasting System (FFFS). The NFFS currently uses data from the Met Office and The Flood Forecasting Centre (FFC) before running the data through modelling software to provide accurate future flood forecasts.
The Agency said that since its introduction the NFFS had performed well, allowing the Environment Agency to add numerous models and functionality in order to develop the flood forecasting service. However, since the introduction of a national modelling and forecasting service, the NFFS is now out of step with the Environment Agency’s Organisational model.
NFFS provides flood forecasts to internal users of the system (which includes NRW); these include Monitoring and Forecasting Duty Officers, Flood Warning Duty Officers, the Flood Forecasting Centre, Strategic Incident Duty Officers and equivalent roles within NRW.
Any decision to replace the system intends to make management easier, reduce costs and ensure that the forecasting service is delivered in a resilient, efficient, and consistent way. A key aspect of the replacement system is to provide a consistent forecasting system which replaces the differently configured instances of the existing NFFS.
The Environment Agency also needs to ensure that the system can support a reliable flood forecasting service into the future and be capable of supporting the delivery of its new strategy for flood incident management ‘Flood Incident Management (FIM) Plan — Saving Lives and Livelihoods’.
Forecasts produced by the system will also be used to drive the forecast led flood warning and advice service by internal business for external customers.
The Environment Agency is now looking to engage with suppliers who would like to be notified of any possible formal procurement activity for the contract, which is worth between £2 million to £5 million.
Click here to access the documentation to register an interest in the opportunity.
In a TV show that will explain the complex journey of the wastewater treatment process, Lakeside Equipment Corporation is set to feature in US Public Television’s All Access program with Andy Garcia.
Environmental Services & Solutions (ESS) Expo, the UK’s largest environmental event, has released the full speaker programme for its 2025 event, which now features seven shows spanning all corners of the environmental sector, under one roof at the NEC Birmingham.
We are exhibiting at WWEM – Water, Wastewater and Environmental Management Expo, which is one of the eight exhibitions taking place at the NEC, Birmingham 17-18 September 2025 as part of ESS Expo 2025. Please come along and visit us at Stand WW-S60.
Publication of the Independent Water Commission’s Final Report, alongside new legislation and updated national standards, marks a major turning point in the wider adoption of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) by water companies and developers, according to Alex Stephenson, director, SuDSPlanter.
Hear how United Utilities is accelerating its investment to reduce spills from storm overflows across the Northwest.
Find out more about the remarkable career opportunities on offer at WSP - scroll down to watch the inspirational video. 
What is to be done about the UK’s failing utilities? Listen to Professor Dieter Helm explore the options to tackle the UK’s failing utilities – Thames Water, the Royal Mail and Network Rail in particular.