Urbanisation is an irreversible trend as a result of social and economic development. Urban areas, with high concentration of population, key infrastructure, and businesses, are extremely vulnerable to flooding and may suffer severe socio-economic losses due to climate change. Urban flood modelling tools are in demand to predict surface water inundation caused by intense rainfall and to manage associated flood risks in urban areas. These tools have been rapidly developing in recent decades. In this study, we present a comprehensive review of the advanced urban flood models and emerging approaches for predicting urban surface water flooding driven by intense rainfall. The study explores the advantages and limitations of existing model types, highlights the most recent advances, and identifies major challenges. Issues of model complexities, scale effects, and computational efficiency are also analysed. The results will inform scientists, engineers, and decision-makers of the latest developments and guide the model selection based on desired objectives.

OA available here:\ud \ud http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/97938/1/Guan%20et%20al.2016_Accepted%20Manuscript.pdfEffects of flood-induced bed elevation and channel geometry changes on flood hazards are largely unexplored, especially in the case of multiple floods from the same site. This study quantified the evolution of river channel and floodplain geometry during a repeated series of hypothetical extreme floods using a 2D full hydro-morphodynamic model (LHMM). These experiments were designed to examine the consequences of channel geometry changes on channel conveyance capacity and subsequent flood dynamics. Our results revealed that extreme floods play an important role in adjusting a river channel to become more efficient for subsequent propagation of floods, and that in-channel scour and sediment re-distribution can greatly improve the conveyance capacity of a channel for subsequent floods. In our hypothetical sequence of floods the response of bed elevation was of net degradation, and sediment transport successively weakened even with floods of the same magnitude. Changes in river channel geometry led to significant impact on flood hydraulics and thereby flood hazards. We found that flood-induced in-channel erosion can disconnect the channel from its floodplain resulting in a reduction of floodwater storage. Thus, the frequency and extent of subsequent overbank flows and floodplain inundation decreased, which reduced downstream flood attenuation and increased downstream flood hazard. In combination and in summary, these results suggest that changes in channel capacity due to extreme floods may drive changes in flood hazard. The assumption of unchanging of river morphology during inundation modelling should therefore be open to question for flood risk management