Landslide risk management in the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is a geologically and geomorphologically diverse but small country and a wide range of processes, including landslides, may be observed within its boundaries. In the south of England, the Mesozoic and Tertiary clays commonly give rise to landsliding as typified by the deep-seated, slow-moving / episodic, reactivated features associated with the Cretaceous deposits of the coastal landslide complex of the Isle of Wight which pose substantial risk mainly to property and local infrastructure. In the northern part of the UK, particularly in Scotland, shallow rapid debris flows associated with the more recent Upper Pleistocene glacial deposits pose a risk to both life and limb, and to the strategic road network serving often remote, but sizeable communities. The bulk of these debris flows are not reactivated but form part of the process of hillside wasting. This study compares and contrasts the hazards and risks associated with the landslides of the Isle of Wight Undercliff and those associated with the Scottish debris flows as they interact with the road network. The approaches to landslide risk management in these contrasting environments are very different. Social, economic and environmental considerations are discussed alongside the potential effects of climate change on the outlook for landslide activity in the UK and the associated need for robust risk management strategies