Flash floods hit the UK by Philip Avery
Prolonged heavy rain across parts of southern and eastern England yesterday led to widespread flash flooding. A teenager died after becoming trapped in a culvert.
One of the worst affected areas was Oxfordshire where fire and rescue crews were called out to scores of flood-related incidents in Chinnor, Thame, Wheatley and Witney. Dozens of homes were flooded and several roads were closed. Parts of Berkshire were also badly affected with homes being flooded and schools closed due to flash flooding containing raw sewage.
The heavy rain was caused by a thundery low which slowly moved north off the continent bringing warm and humid air from France. The complicated area of low pressure had a series of fronts and troughs associated with it and as it moved across England it encountered cooler, fresher air moving in from the west. Heavy and prolonged rain fell across much of southern central England yesterday giving rise to the flooding.
Some places saw more than a month’s rainfall within 24 hours. Benson in Oxfordshire received 47.4mm (1.9 inches), which was the highest recorded rainfall yesterday.
Much of the flooding is receding now and forecasters are expecting a short spell of drier and settled weather into this coming weekend.
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