More than £700,000 extra funding has been announced by the Scottish government to address flooding issues across the country.

Approximately £300,000 will be awarded to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) to help it perform is role as the national flood forecasting, flood warning and strategic flood risk management authority.

The government has also backed the collection of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data with £180,000 funding. LiDAR data surveys terrain and will provide robust data to improve assessment and management of flood risk.

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Environment Secretary Roseanna Cunningham said: "Flooding can cause utter devastation to communities, as we saw in 2015. It's vital that we do everything we can to prepare for the worst, and this additional funding will improve our resilience against future flooding.  

"It will allow us to increase our understanding of when and where flooding is most likely to occur, and to support those communities affected. 

"The Scottish Government is spending £420 million over ten years to protect homes and businesses in our most flood-prone areas – demonstrating our commitment to tackling this age-old problem.

"Ensuring our communities, society, economy and environment are protected from the impacts of climate change is a crucial step to delivering a greener, fairer and more prosperous country."

(CM/JG)