Strengthening the UK’s resilience to extreme weather through the convergence of advanced digital technologies

Preparing for extreme weather requires maintaining critical infrastructure services under adverse conditions. Addressing such complex challenges demands multifaceted problem-solving approaches, leveraging diverse solutions driven by the convergence of technologies.

Within the past two months, the UK has experienced widespread flooding as well as two major storms – storm Darragh in December 2024 and storm Éowyn in January 2025. Both storms brought very strong winds, causing destruction to electrical cables that resulted in power outages in many areas. In light of the worsening effects of climate change, there is an urgent need for the UK to enhance its planning and preparations for such disasters, and climate resilience is indeed a key priority for the UK government in 2025.

As a leader in advanced digital technologies, the Hartree Centre has been using its expertise to strengthen the UK’s resilience against adverse weather crises, which is essential for preserving both the wellbeing of the country’s people and the stability of its economy. We have worked with the Met Office to develop new weather and climate modelling systems through projects like PSyclone and LFRic. Apart from weather prediction, we have also been collaborating with partners on building the Climate Resilience Demonstrator (CReDo). The CReDo project involves digital twinning, the creation of virtual models of infrastructures such as those providing critical services including electricity, telecommunications, and water. These models are subjected to simulations of different extreme weather conditions, allowing us to predict how UK infrastructure could be impacted by adverse weather events.

We address these challenges across multiple angles, from using AI to optimise weather models and boost the accuracy of the simulations, to connecting data from different utility infrastructures through data engineering, which are crucial for getting valuable output from simulations in a timely manner. To enhance the value of the output from the predictions, our data engineers have helped to connect data from different utility infrastructures, enabling the assessment of cross-infrastructure impacts and unlocking valuable insights. In combination, better simulations and data integration can help improve and accelerate decision-making, allowing different utility providers to more effectively mitigate the effect of extreme weather events on the services that they provide to UK society. On top of these advancements, it is also critical to safeguard the CReDo platform against unauthorised  access to sensitive data, especially as the number of utility providers on the platform increases. Our software engineers have worked with Connected Places Catapult and STFC Scientific Computing’s Data & Analytics Facility for National Infrastructure (DAFNI) to boost the security of CReDo by developing a proxy software and setting up an authenticator service. These measures have minimised the risk of data breaches whilst ensuring ease of use of the platform, offering current utility providers greater peace of mind and convenience, and attracting more utility providers to contribute to the country’s climate resilience through CReDo. By converging technologies such as AI, data engineering, and software engineering, and collaborating closely with various industry partners, we have supported the country’s efforts to bolster our preparedness for extreme weather through the application of technological solutions, knowledge sharing, and the reduction of barriers to digital technology adoption.

To amplify our impact in climate resilience, we leverage events to share our knowledge and expertise, and to foster collaboration opportunities. In December 2024, we contributed to the “Mersey Catchment Impact Accelerator” event held by United Utilities and Mersey Rivers Trust. At this event, we explored the impact of flooding and drought on our environment and availability of clean water, vital for driving a healthy resilient future for the Mersey catchment area, which is home to five million residents. This year, we are continuing our engagement with partners and communities through events to elevate the UK’s preparedness in the face of extreme weather events. On 6 February, a few members of our business development and research teams spoke at the British Water Data Conference 2025, which was held on-site here at Daresbury Laboratory. Organised by British Water, this conference focused on the use of data-driven technologies to help develop infrastructures that boost the efficient utilisation and transport of water, improve catchment management, and safeguard the cybersecurity of these infrastructures. Together with DAFNI, we shared our insights on innovative applications for the digital twins of catchments, as well as other tools designed to support real-time decision-making across water networks.

We are proud to be contributing our expertise in various advanced digital technologies to support the UK in building its resilience against adverse weather events. This year, we look forward to continuing our collaboration with partners across UK industry, exploring new opportunities, and sharing our knowledge at events to maximise our impact on fortifying the UK’s society and economy against extreme weather events.

Are you interested in finding out more about our work on climate resilience? Get in touch with us: hartree@stfc.ac.uk