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EU funds extreme-weather study

Researchers backed by European Union funding will study the effects of extreme weather events on the safety and reliability of traffic systems.

The EWENT project, which is co-ordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, will also estimate the cost of weather-related disruptions.

The project is motivated by the concern over the increase in extreme weather events caused by climate change.

The project will identify dangerous extreme weather events and estimate their probability and effects.

It will also estimate the cost effects of traffic disruptions, such as costs associated with human casualties, material damages and disrupted supply chains.

‘A lot of information exists about the effects of weather events, but this is the first project that intends to estimate their cost effects methodically,’ said EWENT co-ordinator Pekka Leviäkangas from VTT.

The project will be carried out between 2010 and 2012.

The total project budget is approximately €2m (£1.74m).