The increasing frequency of severe weather events, including Storm Bert and Storm Darragh, has highlighted the critical need for scalable flood prevention measures across the UK. IBRAN, a UK-based manufacturer, is rising to the occasion with its sustainable surfacing innovations.
Time to Prepare
The climate crisis is exacerbating the rise in extreme weather with increased temperatures. As a result, the warmer air holds more water and creates prolonged rainfall.
Storm Bert, a late November weather event, and Storm Darragh in early December have caused significant disruption across the UK. In November, 250 warnings and alerts were issued for flooding and landslides, with some areas receiving a month’s rainfall in days. The highest rainfall hit Devon, dropping 175.7mm of rain between midnight on the 23rd and 25th of November, while Storm Darragh saw over 3,000 reported sewage discharges across England in 48 hours, along with 90 mph winds.
Property damage from November is currently estimated at £250–350 million, while the extent of December’s storm is still being assessed. However, both storms highlight the growing need for effective water management.
“The weather patterns (or lack of a pattern) we’ve seen over the last 12-18 months show signs of becoming a longer-term issue, with ‘once in a lifetime’ flooding events happening multiple times a year, “ said Ted Bromley-Hall, founder of IBRAN and a specialist in paving solutions.
“Whilst there have been recent changes regarding sustainable drainage regulations for new housing developments, It still remains very much the status quo for older houses to tackle drainage issues by replacing what has already been installed.”
With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, solutions for improved flood prevention and faster recovery are essential — and gravel grids could be the answer.
Gravel grids are durable, interlocking panels designed to stabilise gravel surfaces and prevent them from shifting, sinking, or spreading. They are fully permeable, allowing water to drain through the surface, which makes them ideal for sustainable drainage systems (SuDS). Often made from recycled plastic materials, they provide a faster and more cost-effective solution compared to traditional methods.
“There are multiple different permeable surfacing solutions available, such as block paving, porous resin-bound surfacing and gravel driveways. Gravel grids provide a low-cost alternative while still being more solid and long-lasting than a standard gravel driveway. They are naturally free-draining thanks to their permeable, cellular shape, whilst engineered to provide as solid a surface as block, tarmac, resin, or concrete,” Ted further explained.