CEH ‘A relentless sequence of storms, record rainfall and sustained very high river flows in parts of the UK meant that December was an extraordinary month in both meteorological and hydrological terms, with wet conditions across the north contributed to the wettest calendar month on record for the UK (in a series from 1910). Slow-moving low pressure systems driven by a sustained moist south-westerly airflow brought prolonged heavy rainfall to northern and western areas. The spatial scale of sustained very high flows was remarkable; many large catchments in northern Britain recorded their highest ever peak flows and/or monthly mean flows. The three largest flows ever registered in river flow records for England occurred on the Eden, Lune and Tyne. To read go to:

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/news-and-media/news/record-uk-rainfall-river-flows-december-2015-flooding

Scale of the flooding and storms – equivalent to or greater than 2007

The current series of storms have been ongoing with little respite since Dec 6^th and many areas are still affected by flood warnings after almost a month (9^th January 2016).  This is posing the most significant challenge to policy and operational measures put in place since the 2007 flooding which prompted the Pitt review and its legislative response. The series of storms, the increasing geographic spread of flood damage, the impact on major cities like Manchester, Leeds, York and Carlisle, and prolonged nature of the floods is equivalent to the challenges of 2007 in many ways.

Not extreme – The new normality – Adjusting to changing baselines  

As the Met Office have reported December was the wettest since records began; and 2015 was the 10^th wettest year on record. These events have been called extreme and they are, but are they now becoming normal and routine? Remember the winter storm sequence of 2013-2014 that so badly affected the coast of the south-west. We seem to be very good at forgetting a whole range of major incidents that have occurred recently. Hydrographs showing flows of a metre over the highest floods on record in the north of England were stark. We seem to have great difficulty with describing new normalities – changing baselines – like this and then adapting our policies accordingly. Witness the glacial pace of recognition for the important of surface water flooding.

Normal weather is a thing of the past Professor Myles Allen Oxford University: