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Abstract. Flood estimation and flood management have traditionally been the domain of hydrologists, water resources engineers and statisticians, and disciplinary approaches abound. Dominant views have been shaped; one example is the catchment perspective: floods are formed and influenced by the interaction of local, catchment-specific characteristics, such as meteorology, topography and geology. These traditional views have been beneficial, but they have a narrow framing. In this paper we contrast traditional views with broader perspectives that are emerging from an improved understanding of the climatic context of floods. We come to the following conclusions: (1) extending the traditional system boundaries (local catchment, recent decades, hydrological/hydraulic processes) opens up exciting possibilities for better understanding and improved tools for flood risk assessment and management. (2) Statistical approaches in flood estimation need to be complemented by the search for the causal mechanisms and dominant processes in the Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union. B. Merz et al.: Floods and climate: emerging perspectives for flood risk assessment and managementatmosphere, catchment and river system that leave their fingerprints on flood characteristics. (3) Natural climate variability leads to time-varying flood characteristics, and this variation may be partially quantifiable and predictable, with the perspective of dynamic, climate-informed flood risk management. (4) Efforts are needed to fully account for factors that contribute to changes in all three risk components (hazard, exposure, vulnerability) and to better understand the interactions between society and floods. (5) Given the global scale and societal importance, we call for the organization of an international multidisciplinary collaboration and datasharing initiative to further understand the links between climate and flooding and to advance flood research.

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Palaeohydrology is now recognized as a valuable approach to characterize the hazards posed by flooding. Tree rings have emerged as an important source of evidence for paleohydrological studies, and, since the 1960s, have been used to document the occurrence of past floods. In this progress report we outline the major contributions of tree-ring records to flood research. By reviewing the key advances in this field, documenting different research trajectories, and highlighting recent developments, we make an argument in favor of more extensive use of tree rings in flood analyses. We show how tree-ring data have been applied to risk assessment and outline how the widespread distribution of flood-affected trees can be used to improve the understanding of flood processes. In addition, we outline new approaches and future perspectives for the inclusion of woody vegetation in hazard assessments, and end with new thematic perspectives.