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Introduction
The storms of 28-30 October
The passage of a depression - the example of 30
October storm
Exercises
| 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
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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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