somerset floods

• Somerset Levels


  Coastal plain and wetland area in Somerset, England
• Thousands of years ago, the Somerset Levels were covered by the sea, but today it's a landscape of rivers and wetlands – artificially drained, irrigated and modified to allow productive farming
• Somerset Levels

  • One of the lowest areas in the UK
  • Much of the area lies below the high-water mark of spring tides
  • Very flat with a maximum altitude of 8m above sea level
  • Rivers Axe, Sheppey and Brue in the north, rivers Cary, Yeo, Tone and Parrett drain into the Bristol Channel in the south
• Somerset Levels experienced floods greater than any other in living memory

  January 2014
• Estimates suggest that 10% of the Somerset Levels area was underwater when the flooding was greatest
• Physical causes of flooding


  • Quick succession of prolonged Atlantic storms, with persistent rainfall and gale-force winds
  • Rivers could not cope with the significant amount of rain that fell
  • High tides in the Bristol Channel and its narrowing created tidal surges that blocked the floodwater trying to escape
• Human causes of flooding


  • Less dredging of the river channels leading up to 2014, reducing the capacity of rivers to transport water
  • Change in farming practices, with more land converted from grassland to grow maize, making the land less able to retain water
• Social impacts


  • Over 600 homes and 16 farms evacuated, resulting in many people requiring temporary accommodation
  • Several villages cut off after roads were flooded
  • Power supplies cut off during low temperatures
• Economic impacts


  • Cost of flood damage over £10 million
  • Agricultural industry hardest hit, with over 14,000 hectares of agricultural land flooded for 3-4 weeks, and 1,000 livestock evacuated
  • Main roads and train services disrupted
  • Fuel costs for emergency pumps £200,000 per week
  • Estimated £1 million lost by local businesses
  • £200 million cost to tourism industry
  • Incidents of fuel, heating oil and quad bike theft
  • Insurance costs increased in flood-hit areas
• Environmental impacts


  • Extensive contamination of floodwaters by sewage, oil and chemical pollutants
  • Significant debris required clearing after floodwaters receded
  • Stagnant water needed re-oxygenation to avoid harm to marine ecosystems
  • Soil damaged after being underwater for nearly 3 months, took over 2 years to restore in some areas
• Immediate response


  1. Met Office issued amber warning, public advised to prepare

  2. Rescue boats used, fire brigade visited hundreds of properties

  3. Army sent in with specialist equipment, 65 pumps used to drain 65 million m3 of floodwater

  4. Local people provided support through Flooding on the Levels Action Group (FLAG)

  5. Government provided £15m to meet immediate costs
• Long-term response


  1. Somerset Levels and Moors Action Plan developed, including measures such as reintroducing dredging, constructing a tidal barrage and additional permanent pumping stations

  2. 20-year plan for the Somerset Levels totalling £100 million