‘The summer 2007 floods in England and Wales – a hydrological appraisal’, attempts to put the floods into context and whether it will be a long term trend.

It reports that fourteen fatalities were linked to the flooding* and over 55,000 homes and 6,000 businesses were flooded and related insurance claims were approaching £3 billion by the end of 2007.

The report says the floods underlined the UK’s continuing vulnerability to climatic extremes but long-term rainfall and river flow records confirm the exceptional rarity of the hydrological conditions experienced in 2007.

The authors however also suggest that ‘storms of the type which triggered the very damaging flash flooding in 2007 may form part of a future climate regime’.

http://www.ceh.ac.uk/documents/CEH_FloodingAppraisal.pdf