Public Perceptions and Behaviour in Response to Weather Warnings: A UK Perspective

Between 2000 and 2019, natural hazards and extreme weather events claimed approximately 1.23 million lives, affected over 4 billion people, and resulted in economic losses of around US$ 2.97 trillion worldwide. With climate change increasing the frequency and severity of severe weather events globally, it is critically important to develop effective strategies for disaster risk communication and reduction. One such strategy is the provision of early warning systems (EWS), shown to significantly reduce mortality and economic losses. To develop and improve EWS, it is critical to understand how (a) the public perceive and respond to risk information and (b) the factors that promote and inhibit risk preparedness.

Since 2011, in the UK, the Met Office have been responsible for issuing impact-based weather warnings for rain, thunderstorms, wind, snow, lightning, ice, fog, with extreme heat added in 2021. When amber or red warnings are issued, post event surveys are regularly used to capture public awareness, understanding, perceptions and behavioural responses to the warning. This talk presents the results of analysis of data collected from 32 surveys between 2014 and 2022 (n= 16,276). Here we examine whether perceptions and behavioural responses significantly differ according to the timing of the event, type of event the warning was issued for (e.g., snow, wind, heat etc), warning colour and whether storm naming was used. We also consider whether socio-demographic characteristics such as age, gender and location (urban/rural) predict perceptions and responses. Our results have implications for the communication of impact based weather warnings, and provide insights into how these can be best utilised to promote protective action and preparedness.