Skip to main content

Research into weather impact on transport

Finland's VTT Technical Research Centre is heading a research project into the harmful impact of weather phenomena on transport in the EU. The EWENT project will set a precedent as no previous studies have been conducted on this scale. It will investigate evidence that heavy rainfall in particular impacts on European transport as with climate change, the occurrence of extreme weather is expected to increase. Weather is a major factor in traffic flow and safety as sudden storms and flash floods can paralyse
May 17, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
Finland’s 814 VTT Technical Research Centre is heading a research project into the harmful impact of weather phenomena on transport in the EU.

The EWENT project will set a precedent as no previous studies have been conducted on this scale. It will investigate evidence that heavy rainfall in particular impacts on European transport as with climate change, the occurrence of extreme weather is expected to increase. Weather is a major factor in traffic flow and safety as sudden storms and flash floods can paralyse an entire transport system and cause serious financial and human losses.

More information on these phenomena and their impacts is needed in order to minimise or prevent damage caused. The international research project Extreme Weather Impacts on European Networks of Transport (EWENT) headed by VTT is exploring the impacts of extreme weather phenomena on various forms of transport. The aim is to determine which weather phenomena are the most harmful for transport and what the costs of their impacts might be in the EU.

The research is focusing on atmospheric phenomena, which are more severe than normal and which may pose a danger to traffic and transportation in particular.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Advanced Driver Assistance Systems: a solution or another problem?
    November 27, 2013
    Do Advanced Driver Assistance Systems represent a positive step forward for safety, or something of a safety risk? Jason Barnes discusses the issue with leading industry figures. Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are already common. Anti-lock brakes or electronic stability control are well understood and are either fitted as standard or frequently requested by new vehicle buyers. More advanced ADAS features are appearing on many top-end vehicles and the trickle-down has already started. Adaptive
  • Transport in the round
    October 13, 2015
    The ITF’s Mary Crass tells Colin Sowman why future transport demands will require governments to overcome the silo effect of individual single-modal authorities. The only global multimodal transport policy organisation,” is how Mary Crass describes the International Transport Forum (ITF), which is housed at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). As head of policy and summit preparation at the ITF she says: “All other organisations are either regional or have a modal focus, we cove
  • Commercial vehicle cross-border enforcement needs muscle
    February 3, 2012
    A look at the current status of cross-border enforcement of commercial vehicle operation in the European Union and a look at what still needs to happen to realise a coherent working system
  • Asecap Days delves beneath the surface of tolling
    August 8, 2017
    Colin Sowman picks his highlights from Asecap’s 45th annual Study and Information Days in Paris. European tolling association Asecap holds annual Study & Information Days, provides delegates with updates on the latest moves and thinking in the tolling sector and is a key meeting place for concessionaires from 22 countries. The importance of road transport to the French economy was highlighted by the country’s director general of transport infrastructures, François Poupard, in the opening session. He told th