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What?

When?

Where?

Why?

So What?

What?

Large scale flooding across the British Isles.

When?

The first signs of flooding appeared on the 9th of October when the River Uck in East Sussex burst its banks. The floods continued into late November.

Where?

The floods affected most of Britain. Areas such as York and Selby were amongst the worst affected in Yorkshire. The River Ouse caused major problems in York. Hundreds of buildings were affected by flood water.

Why?

The floods were caused by a series of deep depressions from the Atlantic. There are two possible explanations for this. These depressions are either the result of extreme weather or the sort of weather associated with global warming.

Computer models have shown that temperatures are increasing around the world. The show temperatures in the UK are rising by 1 and possibly 3 degrees over the next 80 years. This means drier summers and warmer, wetter winters.

So What?

In York thousands of sandbags were filled and distributed by emergency workers toiling round the clock; police, fire, ambulance and the army helped to evacuate stranded families from their homes by gang plank or by boat.

Environmentalists have stated that Britain needs thousands more trees to protect it from future flooding.

It is estimated that the damage caused by the floods could exceed £1 billion.