UK flooding due to 'wettest June on record'

Parts of northern England received record levels of rain last week in what is set to become one of the wettest Junes on record in the UK.

Over 500 properties in West Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Lancashire have been impacted by the flooding, according to catastrophe modelling firm RMS.

Both residential and small commercial properties have been affected by flood waters, with many small businesses reporting they are unable to conduct business through the course of this week.

According to the Met Office, 24 hour rain accumulations from Friday 22 June, include:

• 3.6 inches in Blencathra, Cumbria
• 3.4 inches in Keswick, Cumbira
• 2.9 inches in Stonyhurst, Lancashire
• 2.3 inches in Levens Hall, Cumbira
• 2.2 in Morecambe, Lancashire

For some places this is in excess of the June monthly average – the average rainfall across the north of England (1971 – 2000) for June is just 2.7 inches.

The heavy rains lead to record levels in some rivers resulting in many rivers bursting their banks. The peak flow of the River Calder at Hebden Bridge was a record 3.2 m on Friday - it burst its banks in Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, and Todmorden. In Cumbria the River Yarrow burst its banks in Croston, as did the Rivers Caldew and Petteril in the north of the county.

At the height of the flooding there were 73 flood warnings in place, 44 across the northwest, 8 in the northeast, 18 in the southwest and 1 each in the Midlands, Southeast and Wales.