Research

I am currently involved with the NERC funded FREE (Flood Risk from Extreme Events) project. In addition I maintain an interest in the broad topic of weather and insurance which was the focus of my PhD.

 Coastal Flood Risk

Under the FREE umbrella I am involved in the EPIRUS project (Ensemble Prediction of Inundation Risk and Uncertainty arising from Scour). By generating an ensemble of coastal flood predictions the EPIRUS project aims to improve the quantification of the likelihood of incipient defence failures during extreme storm events through the integration of atmospheric conditions, wave generation and propagation, surge and tide propagation models.

Within the EPIRUS project my main interests lie in the dynamical downscaling of extratropical cyclones using the WRF model, to generate high resolution meteorological data, suitable for driving hydrodynamical models. More details of this project and my research may be found under the Coastal Flood Risk pages

  Weather and Insurance

The reinsurance and insurance industry is a $3 trillion industry, and covers a multitude of weather related risks. More than three quarters of the most expensive insured loss events have been related to weather. The focus of my research in this area is the impact of extratropical cyclones in the UK. These pages describe some historic windstorm events, including the Great Storm of 1987 and the Burns' Day Storm of 1990. They also explore the role of catastrophe modelling, and discuss the potential impacts of climate change on the insurance industry.