Map of the Week: Very boisterous weather
"November," say the scientists, "was a singular month in hydrological terms".
There is almost a tone of boyish zeal in the latest report from the Hydrological Survey for the United Kingdom, with the experts describing the "very boisterous weather conditions and exceptionally high rainfall" which swept across most of the country last month.
If your working life centres on rainfall and river flow data, you may be forgiven for allowing your enthusiasm to permeate through the normally objective and dispassionate narrative. Records were broken all over the place.
"The UK registered its wettest November on record (in a series from 1914) and, more remarkably, a new 24-hr maximum rainfall for the UK was established in the Lake District", the survey people report today [2.1Mb PDF].
As I reported here last month, Seathwaite Farm in Borrowdale experienced 316.4mm in just 24 hours - an event likely to occur only once every two thousand years. Today's report reveals how "the site also recorded remarkable totals of 402mm over 37 hrs and 495mm over 4 raindays (provisionally 4000 & 3000 years)".
It wasn't just the Lake District, of course. Overall, UK rivers disgorged more water into the sea last month than in any since they first started measuring these things back in 1961.
"Very exceptional flows" were recorded "from north Wales to well into Scotland". The River Nith was higher than it has been in November in a 53-year series. Severe flooding in Northern Ireland saw Lough Earn spill over "causing extensive agricultural flooding".
Boy, did it rain. "In contrast to much of 2009," the scientists say, "November saw a relentless sequence of low-pressure systems crossing the British Isles". It was wet on all but two or three days culminating in extreme rainfall totals, particularly across high ground in the Lake District.
"With catchments saturated and most responsive rivers in high spate, the extreme rainfall over the 17-20th triggered a devastating flood episode in Cumbria," the report reminds us. "Many rivers in the Lake District (including the Derwent, Cocker and St Johns Beck) exceeded their previous maximum flow by a wide margin as did outflows from Windermere (in a 70-year series)."
They refer to "very severe impacts on communities", the collapsed bridges and landslips contributing to severe transport disruption.
If there was any good news, it was that the heavy rain filled up the reservoirs. "Entering the winter," they report, "the water resources outlook is notably healthy in almost all regions but, with catchments generally saturated, many river basins are very vulnerable to further significant rainfall."
I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~51~RS~)
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We have 233% rain oh well.
But then we don't live on floodplains or next to neglected waterways, the more intervention of defence is ultimately providing nature with offensive moves down the river up the river ?
who knows?
river basins could probably do with a jolly good dredging but you would get someone complain about damage to the environment. wonder how much the average river bed has risen in the last 100 years.
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Not wishing to seem dismissive, but here up north it always hammers it down, and usually at weekends as well.
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Lough Earn? I presume this should be Lough Erne, the 2nd largest lake by area in the UK.
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We had a lot of rain but over an extended period in Mid-West Wales so my house didn't flood this year (yet). We will be on alert over the New Year period as the last time we didn't flood in Oct/Nov, we flooded on New Years Eve.
End of Feb is always a danger period.
On another note, I see Sir Liam Donaldson has announced his retirement, on Fergus Walsh's blog he quotes The Health Secretary Andy Burnham as saying
"Sir Liam has fulfilled his duties in this important public office with great distinction, wisdom and good humour. He has brought courage and foresight to the role of improving the nation's health. His bold and once-controversial proposal to turn public places smoke-free shows the difference he has made."
So would Andy Burnham have sacked Professor David Nutt for his controversial proposals ?
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Wow Bob talk about turning the subject on its head LMAO!!!
So would Andy Burnham have sacked Professor David Nutt for his controversial proposals ?
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Still think we are looking at a hose pipe ban down in London sometime next week if things don't get any better
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Wet, wet, wet. Now, cold, cold, cold. When are we gonna get, hot, hot, hot? My suburban garden in SW London almost flooded! Still managed to harvest tomatoes and beans 'til late November, but we need more heat before I can get two crops a year. When will we get the Meditterranean climate those global warming monkeys have promised us?
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Lippylippo quite right too!!! Everyone including myself would complain if I introduced my son at the age of 14/15 to a herbal vapouriser instead of a bong or joint, or maybe cut down speed with some glucose powder to make it really weak... but when it comes to giving children a drug that is know scientifically known to damage the limbic system cause mental illness and depression everyone moans.
apparently its going to snow tomorrow for millions, clubbers included :D
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What have you done with the ISLE of MAN?, It rains here as well you know. Its not good enough that you take our license fee then air brush us out of existence
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Alan Connor:
Yes, the weather has been very boisterous and unstable.....And, thanks for standing in for Mark Easton.
=Dennis Junior=
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re comment @ #12
You couldn't tell us what part of the world you are in please (the US I guess, judging by the spelling), that way we can asses if it's safe to use the roads ourself, all of the accidents you listed were caused not by the weather but by your own poor driving ability. :-(
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it doesn't look like it's going to get any better any time soon. Well there'll be a break soon, but then right back where we started. Although I don't know how right it'd be, since these guys are wrong 90% of the time. Weather forecasting seems to only be marginally correct if you are looking 1 day in advance, 2 tops.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/weather/forecast/10209
http://www.wunderground.com/global/stations/03772.html
http://uk.weather.com/weather/10day-UKXX0085?cm_ven=yahoo_uk&cm_cat=citypage&cm_ite=weather&cm_pla=go10daysforecast&style
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