| The autumn of 2000 was the wettest
since records began in 1766. In all, 503 mm
of rain fell during this exceptionally wet and
unsettled period. In October, 188 mm of rain
was recorded in England and Wales, followed by
182 mm in November. In all, the total for
2000 was 251 mm above the average for this
season. Not surprisingly, many parts of the United
Kingdom experienced flooding, and there was major
disruption to travel and sporting events as
frontal system after frontal system swept across
the country. |
| The problems began during the period between 9
and 12 October, when a complex low pressure cell
built up over Northern Ireland and Scotland,
bringing heavy rain and wind. Then, between 11 and
12 October, southern parts of the country were
affected by a slow-moving area of heavy rain. In
Kent and Sussex, torrential downpours occurred,
with between four and six inches (100-150 mm)
of rain falling overnight. |
Britain takes a
battering
|
|
Further frontal systems passed over the UK
during the next fortnight or so, as a low pressure
cell gradually established itself to the
north-west of the country. This drove belts of
rain and heavy showers across the country and, in
some parts of the country, quite significant
amounts of rain fell on every day of the month. By
the final week of October, many rivers in the
country were either swollen with floodwater or had
burst their banks.
News bulletins were full of flood warnings and
stories of areas being evacuated as the
Environment Agency issued flood alerts. It was
then that meteorological events took a further
turn for the worse. |
next: The
storms of 28-30
October |
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