Storm Arwen review recommendations update: October 2022

Introduction

This report is the third and final in a series of publications which set out to review the preparations made in advance of Storm Arwen, to establish the lessons which might be taken from the response to the storm, and to track the implementation of those lessons across Scotland’s emergency planning structures.

Our first publication in January 2022 set out the circumstances of the storm and the response, and made a number of recommendations for the resilience community in Scotland.  It also explained the statutory responsibilities, structures and principles for emergency planning in Scotland.  Additional information on these national response arrangements can be found on the Ready Scotland website.

Our June 2022 publication followed up on these recommendations and set out the steps which had already been taken to address them, or which were underway.  As with the January report, we worked closely with resilience partnerships across Scotland to gather the evidence and context needed for us to provide an accurate update to the public.

The same methodology has been followed for this final report, with a range of contributions from responders across Scotland.  While this report brings the Scottish Government’s formal review process to an end, work will continue across Scotland as part of the cycle of continual improvement which underpins our emergency planning.