Heavy Rain - Gabriel Evans

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/dec/09/the-guardian-view-on-flooding-more-focus-needed

Water is as much a part of the landscape of Britain as England’s cathedral spires, or the mountains of Scotland and the valleys of Wales. The nation’s cities were built on rivers and its fortunes on the seas. There is an ancient and respectful relationship that recognises the capacity of water not only to sustain but to destroy.
This time last year it was water’s destructive capacities that dominated the headlines, as Cumbria experienced its third catastrophic flood in 10 years. On 5 December 2015, 341.4mm of rain fell on the Honister Pass. Rivers in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England saw record peak flows. The volume of water racing down the Eden, Tyne and Lune peaked at around 1,700 cubic metres per second – enough to fill the Royal Albert Hall in London up to the dome in less than a minute. Between November and January, more rain fell than in any similar period since records began in 1910.
It would be unusual to have another period as wet so soon, and the Met Office, waiting to see whether high or low pressure dominates in the coming days, predicts a relatively calm Christmas. Yet the 21st century has already seen more extreme weather events in Britain than the whole of the previous 100 years, and Carlisle, where some people are still not home again after last year, has had three once-in-a-lifetime events since 2005.