In 2023, the United Kingdom experienced flooding.
On 14 January, the Met Office issued 98 flood warnings and 169 alerts across England. [1] The River Ouse broke its banks, causing severe flooding in York which left parts of the city centre submerged, [2] with rescue workers seen travelling down the street in boats. [1] The River Severn also broke its banks in some areas, causing flooding in Shrewsbury. [1] [3] A mother and her six-month-old baby were saved from a flood near Nynehead, Somerset which left their car stuck. [4] In Devon, the River Exe burst its banks between the villages of Oakfordbridge and Exebridge, [5] which also affected Bickleigh. [6] The Great Western Railway faced delays, with two train lines blocked between Bristol Parkway and Swindon, and the line between Bristol Temple Meads, Bath and Swindon. [7] The line between Totnes and Plymouth was also blocked. [8]
On 16 January, severe flooding affected East Sussex after heavy rain overnight. In Hastings, the Priory Meadow Shopping Centre had to be closed after it was severely flooded, as well as the surrounding area. [9] Many roads around in the town closed, as well as parts of many A roads being closed or affected. [10] Other flooded areas included East Lavant, Ashburnham, Shripney, Sedlescombe, Westham and Alfriston. In Polegate, large pumping trucks were called out to deal with surface water which had formed on roads throughout the town. [11] Seven "take action now" flood warnings were issued in Sussex. [12] In Dorset, an industrial estate in Woolsbridge was flooded, [13] and a road was blocked by floodwater in Burton. [14] On 18 January, a major incident was declared in Somerset by the Environment Agency due to flooding risks. [15] On 24 January, the major incident in Somerset came to an end. [16]
On 19 January, part of the A303 in Wiltshire was closed due to flooding. [15]
On 23 March, roads flooded near Sea Mills railway station in Bristol. [17]
On 9 May, a major incident was declared in Somerset following flash flooding in the Galhampton, North Cadbury and South Cadbury areas following heavy rain. [18] Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service evacuated homes that were flooded. [19] Frome saw roads flooded. [20]
On 19 May, flash flooding closed roads in Weymouth following a thunderstorm. [21]
On 12 June 2023, heavy rain and thunderstorms caused flooding in Golders Green in north west London. [22] Watford Junction station was shut causing disruption. [23] In Staffordshire, the A50 road was shut after a flash flood in the Meir tunnel. [24] A Morrisons supermarket in Stamford, Lincolnshire was evacuated when water started pouring in and part of the ceiling collapsed. [25] St Amand's Catholic Primary School in Wantage was shut because of flooding. [26] At Luton and Dunstable University Hospital there was a “localised flooding issue” in the building. [27] Met Office warnings were given on 16 June for weekend floods. [28]
On 20 June, heavy rain and thunderstorms which received a severe weather warning from the Met Office hit England's south coast, causing flash floods. In Brighton, many people's homes were flooded, as well as businesses including a Waitrose shop and a Wetherspoons pub. East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service were called out to 18 flood related incidents in the area, and a woman reportedly broke her ankle after falling on a flooded footpath near Preston Park railway station. [29]
On 9 July, flooding hit Flintshire and Wrexham Borough in North Wales. [30] North Wales Police advised motorists to avoid the coast road in Flintshire from Connah's Quay to Greenfield. [31] There were also flood warnings across Sheffield, for Bagley Dike in Grimsthorpe, Meers Brook at Heeley and tributaries in north Derbyshire and Pontefract. [32] Roads in Birmingham were also flooded. [33]
On 27 August, an elderly couple drowned after driving their car into floodwater in Mossley Hill, Liverpool. [34] [35]
On 18 September, there was localised flooding in some areas. [36] The worst affected area was the West Country in Southern England. [37] Flash floods ripped through the village of Kenton in Devon. [38] Exeter Airport was closed temporarily when the terminal was flooded. [39] A flood alert was made for coastal areas in East Dorset, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole. [40] Butlin's Minehead was closed after flooding in Somerset. [41] A Wetherspoons pub in Taunton was flooded. [42] On 27 September 2023, Storm Agnes hit the UK with strong winds and heavy rain, which brought flooding in parts of the UK and Ireland.
On 7 October 2023, exceptionally heavy rain hit Scotland causing flooding in Glasgow, North Lanarkshire, South Lanarkshire, Stirlingshire, and other areas. [43] On 19 October 2023, Storm Babet hit Scotland with strong winds and heavy rain, with most parts of Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee and Perth and Kinross 250 millimetres (9.8 in) of rain was predicted to fall in these areas from 19-20 October 2023, causing a red warning for rain in these areas too. [44] The South Yorkshire village of Catcliffe was flooded, despite new flood defences which were installed after the floods of 2007. [45] Flooding caused by Storm Babet killed three people. [46] A flood in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire caused over £46,000 worth of damage at Notts Gymnastics Academy. [47]
In late October, Britain was hit by further flooding and heavy rain. [48] The Priory Meadow Shopping Centre in Hastings was evacuated after floods. [49] The Ship Inn at Cockwood in Devon collapsed after heavy rain. [50] Localised floods in Lanchester, County Durham caused homes to be evacuated. [51] A man was swept out to sea at Burnham-on-Sea. [52] In Dorset, businesses in Sherborne were damaged by flash floods. [53] A woman in her car was rescued after her car became stuck in a ford at nearby Chetnole. [54] Flash floods also affected the Isle of Wight. [55] In Cornwall, the town of Mevagissey, Fowey, Looe and Polperro were affected by floods. [56]
Wintery conditions in early December resulted in 50 flood warnings across the UK. [57] In Dorset, the River Frome flooded in the village of Stratton near Dorchester. [58] The warnings spanned along the Jurassic Coast from Bridport to Chideock and Charmouth and also Dorchester, Maiden Newton and Beaminster. [59] In Somerset, roads were flooded. [60] The A358 road near Ilminster became unpassable in both directions. [61] In Worcestershire, floods closed several county roads. [62] The Barbourne Brook in Worcester was at risk of floods. [63]
Severe storms in Australia refers to the storms, including cyclones, which have caused severe damage in Australia.
A series of large floods occurred in parts of the United Kingdom during the summer of 2007. The worst of the flooding occurred across Scotland on 14 June; East Yorkshire and the Midlands on 15 June; Yorkshire, the Midlands, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire on 25 June; and Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and South Wales on 28 July 2007.
The February 2009 Great Britain and Ireland snowfall was a prolonged period of snowfall that began on 1 February 2009. Some areas experienced their largest snowfall levels in 18 years. Snow fell over much of Western Europe. The United Kingdom's Met Office and Ireland's Met Éireann issued severe weather warnings in anticipation of the snowfall. More than 30 centimetres (12 in) of snow fell on parts of the North Downs and over 20 cm (8 in) in parts of the London area. Such snow accumulation is uncommon in London. On the morning of 6 February the majority of Great Britain and Ireland had snow cover, with the area surrounding the Bristol Channel being most affected – 55 cm (22 in) had settled overnight around Okehampton, Devon, South West England with similar depths in South Wales. In Ireland the highest totals were recorded around East Kildare and County Wicklow where up to 28 cm (11 in) fell around Naas, County Kildare and even more along the Wicklow Mountains. The last time such widespread snowfall affected Britain was in February 1991. On the 2nd a total of 32 cm (13 in) had fallen in Leatherhead, Surrey just south of the M25. Also 30 cm (12 in) had fallen over the South Downs and 26 cm (10 in) in higher areas of Brighton.
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The 2012 Great Britain and Ireland floods were a series of weather events that affected parts of Great Britain and Ireland periodically during the course of 2012 and on through the winter into 2013. The beginning of 2012 saw much of the United Kingdom experiencing droughts and a heat wave in March. A series of low pressure systems steered by the jet stream brought the wettest April in 100 years, and flooding across Britain and Ireland. Continuing through May and leading to the wettest beginning to June in 150 years, with flooding and extreme events occurring periodically throughout Britain and parts of Atlantic Europe.
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The 2013–2014 United Kingdom winter floods saw areas of the United Kingdom inundated following severe storms. The south of England saw heavy rainfalls associated with these storms which caused widespread flooding, power cuts and major disruptions to transport. Economically, the worst affected areas were Somerset, Devon, Dorset and Cornwall in the south west and the Thames Valley in the south east.
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The 2015–2016 Great Britain and Ireland floods were a series of heavy rainfall events which led to flooding during the winter of late 2015 and early 2016. 11 named storms produced record level rainfall from November 2015 - March 2016 in both monthly and seasonal accumulation records.
In June 2016, parts of the United Kingdom were struck by serious flash floods. Starting on 7 June, thunderstorms caused intense rainfall in many locations across the country, particularly in the north of England and in London, causing repeated flash floods in several locations on a daily basis.
Between November 2019 and February 2020, severe winter flooding occurred across the United Kingdom. The first wave of flooding occurred in November 2019, mainly affecting Yorkshire and the Humber, the East Midlands and the West Midlands. Further isolated flooding incidents were reported in December and January, before the second main wave of flooding, caused by Storms Ciara and Dennis, occurred in February 2020. The excessive rainfall resulted in the wettest February since records began, in 1766, in England and Wales with an average of 169.6 millimetres (6.68 in) falling across the regions, beating the record from 1833.
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Throughout 2022, between February and November, areas of the United Kingdom experienced significant flooding. The first wave of flooding occurred in February as Storm Franklin caused severe disruption across the country.
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In a six-day period from September 8 to September 13, 2023, slow-moving thunderstorms associated with a low-pressure area caused flash flooding across multiple states across the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. A stationary front, combined with a convergence zone, caused significant flooding, prompting the National Weather Service to issue multiple flash flood warnings and two flash flood emergencies, one for the city of Leominster, Massachusetts, and the other for the Baltimore, Maryland, area. Several minor injuries occurred during the severe weather event, and hundreds of homes and vehicles were flooded. Evacuations also occurred after concerns of a compromised dam near a neighborhood of Leominster, and all schools in the city were closed the day after the floods. Massachusetts governor Maura Healey declared a state of emergency for Leominster and North Attleborough following the floods.
In 2024, the United Kingdom experienced flooding. In early January, Storm Henk resulted in severe weather warnings and floods across the English Midlands. In April, flooding was widespread across England particularly on the south coast and the North East in the aftermath of Storm Kathleen and Storm Pierrick.