diff --git a/cypress/component/FlatmapServerTest.cy.js b/cypress/component/FlatmapServerTest.cy.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..439c45f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cypress/component/FlatmapServerTest.cy.js
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+import MultiFlatmapVuer from '../../src/components/MultiFlatmapVuer.vue';
+const FLATMAP_API = 'https://mapcore-demo.org/current/flatmap/v3/';
+
+describe('MultiFlatmapVuer Error Handling', () => {
+
+  it('should handle 500 Internal Server Error', () => {
+    cy.intercept('GET', FLATMAP_API, {
+      statusCode: 500,
+      body: 'Internal Server Error',
+    }).as('serverError');
+
+    cy.mount(MultiFlatmapVuer, {
+      props: {
+        flatmapAPI: FLATMAP_API,
+        initial: 'Rat',
+        availableSpecies: {
+          Rat: {
+            taxo: 'NCBITaxon:10114',
+            iconClass: 'mapicon-icon_rat',
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    });
+
+    cy.wait('@serverError');
+
+    cy.get('.flatmap-error').should('exist');
+    cy.contains('MultiFlatmap Error!').should('be.visible');
+    cy.contains('unexpected error').should('be.visible');
+    cy.contains('try again later').should('be.visible');
+  });
+
+  it('handles 500 with valid JSON body (would bypass catch)', () => {
+    cy.intercept('GET', '**/flatmap/v3/', {
+      statusCode: 500,
+      headers: { 'content-type': 'application/json' },
+      body: [], // valid JSON array -> response.json() resolves
+    }).as('serverErrorJson');
+
+    cy.mount(MultiFlatmapVuer, {
+      props: {
+        flatmapAPI: FLATMAP_API,
+        initial: 'Rat',
+        availableSpecies: { Rat: { taxo: 'NCBITaxon:10114' } },
+      },
+    });
+
+    cy.wait('@serverErrorJson');
+    cy.get('.flatmap-error').should('exist');
+  });
+
+  it('should handle 404 endpoint error', () => {
+    cy.intercept('GET', FLATMAP_API, {
+      statusCode: 404,
+      body: { status_code: 404 },
+    }).as('notFoundError');
+
+    cy.mount(MultiFlatmapVuer, {
+      props: {
+        flatmapAPI: FLATMAP_API,
+        initial: 'Rat',
+      },
+    });
+
+    cy.wait('@notFoundError');
+
+    cy.contains('flatmap API endpoint is incorrect').should('be.visible');
+  });
+
+  it('should handle network failure', () => {
+    cy.intercept('GET', FLATMAP_API, {
+      forceNetworkError: true,
+    }).as('networkError');
+
+    cy.mount(MultiFlatmapVuer, {
+      props: {
+        flatmapAPI: FLATMAP_API,
+        initial: 'Rat',
+      },
+    });
+
+    cy.wait('@networkError');
+
+    cy.get('.flatmap-error').should('exist');
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/components.d.ts b/src/components.d.ts
index 5600e53a..f762859d 100644
--- a/src/components.d.ts
+++ b/src/components.d.ts
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ export {}
 declare module 'vue' {
   export interface GlobalComponents {
     DynamicLegends: typeof import('./components/legends/DynamicLegends.vue')['default']
+    ElAutocomplete: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElAutocomplete']
     ElButton: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElButton']
     ElCheckbox: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElCheckbox']
     ElCheckboxGroup: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElCheckboxGroup']
@@ -24,6 +25,7 @@ declare module 'vue' {
     ElRadioGroup: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElRadioGroup']
     ElRow: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElRow']
     ElSelect: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElSelect']
+    ElSwitch: typeof import('element-plus/es')['ElSwitch']
     FlatmapError: typeof import('./components/FlatmapError.vue')['default']
     FlatmapVuer: typeof import('./components/FlatmapVuer.vue')['default']
     LegendItem: typeof import('./components/legends/LegendItem.vue')['default']
diff --git a/src/components/MultiFlatmapVuer.vue b/src/components/MultiFlatmapVuer.vue
index 0fe5f6cf..cdfe1450 100644
--- a/src/components/MultiFlatmapVuer.vue
+++ b/src/components/MultiFlatmapVuer.vue
@@ -166,10 +166,35 @@ export default {
         if (this.requireInitialisation) {
           //It has not been initialised yet
           this.requireInitialisation = false
-          fetch(this.flatmapAPI)
-            .then((response) => response.json())
+          const controller = new AbortController();
+          const signal = controller.signal;
+          const timeoutId = setTimeout(() => controller.abort(), 5000);
+
+          fetch(this.flatmapAPI, {signal})
+            .then((response) => {
+              if (!response.ok) {
+                // HTTP-level errors
+                if (response.status === 404) {
+                  this.multiflatmapError = {};
+                  this.multiflatmapError['title'] = 'MultiFlatmap Error!';
+                  this.multiflatmapError['messages'] = [
+                    `Sorry, the component could not be loaded because the specified
+                    flatmap API endpoint is incorrect. Please check the endpoint URL
+                    or contact support if the problem persists.`
+                  ];
+                  this.initialised = true;
+                  resolve();
+                  this.resolveList.forEach((other) => other());
+
+                  return Promise.reject({ handled: true });
+                }
+                throw new Error(`HTTP ${response.status}: ${response.statusText}`);
+              }
+              return response.json()
+            })
             .then((data) => {
-              if (data.status_code === 404) {
+              // Application-level 404 in a 200 response
+              if (data && data.status_code === 404) {
                 console.error('Flatmap API endpoint is incorrect', data);
                 this.multiflatmapError = {};
                 this.multiflatmapError['title'] = 'MultiFlatmap Error!';
@@ -178,6 +203,11 @@ export default {
                   flatmap API endpoint is incorrect. Please check the endpoint URL
                   or contact support if the problem persists.`
                 ];
+
+                this.initialised = true;
+                resolve();
+                this.resolveList.forEach((other) => other());
+                return;
               }
               //Check each key in the provided availableSpecies against the one
               Object.keys(this.availableSpecies).forEach((key) => {
@@ -237,6 +267,7 @@ export default {
               })
             })
             .catch((error) => {
+              if (error && error.handled) return;
               console.error('Error fetching flatmap:', error)
               this.initialised = true;
               this.multiflatmapError = {};
@@ -251,6 +282,9 @@ export default {
                 other()
               })
             })
+            .finally(() => {
+              clearTimeout(timeoutId);
+            });
         } else if (this.initialised) {
           //resolve as it has been initialised
           resolve()