The winter of 2026 delivered one of the most prolonged and disruptive flooding seasons in recent UK history, with over 100 flood warnings in place at the peak of the severe weather. The sustained rainfall and asset failures placed significant pressure on critical national infrastructure and key utility providers throughout the UK.
GAP Hire Solutions’ Pumps, Power and Environmental (PPE) Divisions were mobilised nationwide to support emergency response and resilience operations. Enquiry levels increased by 80% compared to seasonal norms, requiring rapid coordination across depots and operational teams.
The scale and duration of the winter weather events created several key challenges:
In some cases, a single mobilisation required 5+ HGV loads of equipment to be delivered and operational within two hours. Over a three-day peak incident period, more than 45 separate deliveries were completed, involving 60+ HGV movements.
GAP’s PPE divisions delivered a coordinated, around-the-clock response across multiple regions. Teams operated 24/7, including overnight depot operations and senior management onsite, ensuring equipment was prepared, transported and commissioned without delay. Cross-depot collaboration enabled equipment to be transferred hundreds of miles where required to meet urgent demand, demonstrating GAPs national reach and ability to scale rapidly.
In addition to emergency pumping and power provision, GAP supported customers with proactive resilience planning, including deployment of battery energy storage solutions to protect vulnerable pumping stations from power outages.
GAP successfully supported large-scale flood mitigation and infrastructure protection operations throughout the winter period.
Critical services remained operational, environmental risks were mitigated, and customers were supported in maintaining regulatory compliance during an exceptionally challenging season.
Despite sustained demand and heightened operational pressure, GAP met required SLA response times and demonstrated national capability, technical expertise and logistical strength.
The winter 2026 response reinforced GAP’s position as a trusted national partner for emergency resilience, capable of delivering high-volume, compliant solutions when they are needed most.
