A new scientific review of the winter floods of 2015/2016 confirms that the event was one of the most extreme and severe hydrological events of the last century. The new hydrological appraisal – ‘The Winter Floods of 2015/2016 in the UK’, published on the first anniversary of Storm Desmond (December 5th), brings together both river flow and meteorological data in an analysis of the events that led to extensive river flooding in northern England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of Wales over a three month period. The study, carried out by scientists from the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology in collaboration with the British Hydrological Society recognises that the Winter 2015/2016 episode ranks alongside the floods of 1947 as one of the two largest flood events of the last 100 years at least.
Storm Desmond alone caused an estimated insurance bill of more than £1.3 billion when it struck on the 5th and 6th December last year. The review also highlights that 16,000 properties in England were flooded during the three months of ‘remarkably persistent and exceptionally mild cyclonic’ activity which, along with Storm Desmond, included the major storms of Abigail, Frank and Gertrude.