The National River Flow Archive (NRFA) convened its annual Peak Flow Workshop on 5–6 November 2025 at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), Lancaster. The event brought together leading hydrologists, regulators, consultants, and researchers from across the UK to address the challenges and opportunities in managing the national Peak Flow Dataset for flood estimation and risk assessment.

Over two days, delegates from the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Department for Infrastructure - Rivers, Wallingford HydroSolutions (WHS) and UKCEH engaged in eight structured sessions designed to advance the consistency, quality, and accessibility of hydrological data.

Key themes included:

  • Data release and usage trends: Updates on Version 14 of the NRFA dataset and insights into how the archive is being used nationally.
  • New stations and modelled data: Case studies and discussions on the expansion of the dataset and the role of reconstructed datasets in national archives.
  • High flow networks and gaugings: Sharing best practice and lessons learned regarding the design of the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment reference network for high flows, and the operational practicalities of making, tracking and targeting high flow gauging.  
  • Metadata innovations: Proposals for new flags to improve clarity on trend analysis and catchment-specific constraints.
  • Systems and infrastructure: Demonstrations of the NRFA’s evolving website, database, and Flood & Drought Research Infrastructure tools.
  • Updates from WHS, the Flood Estimation Handbook team, and the Flood Hydrology Improvements Programme: Progress reports on software, methodologies and improvement programmes underpinning flood estimation in the UK.
  • Applications of peak flow data: Case studies from research, regulation, and consultancy, illustrating the real-world impact of robust hydrological records.
  • Future planning: Early discussions on Version 15 of the NRFA dataset, setting a clear timetable for continued improvement and a data release in summer 2026.

The workshop underscored the NRFA’s role as a national hub for hydrological data, ensuring that flood estimation methods are underpinned by reliable, consistent, and transparent information. By fostering collaboration across agencies and disciplines, the event strengthened the collective capacity to manage flood risk in an era of increasing climate uncertainty.