[4] Prior to 1947, three similar events occurred in the second half of the 19th century where prolonged rainfall led to widespread flooding throughout England in the month of November, namely 1894, 1875, and 1852.

[12] A succession of slow-moving low pressure systems crossed the UK during Autumn 2000 associated with the jet stream being in a more southerly position than average.

[14] Much of the rock in this area is impermeable and there had already been significant rainfall in the south-east allowing for increased surface flow and river levels.

Several fronts passed over central and northern England in the following weeks causing flooding in Shropshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.

[16] 24 out of 27 UK Met Office regions except northern Scotland received higher than normal rainfall during the month, making this the wettest September since 1981.

[19] A complex of low pressures, named Heidrun & Imke[22] by FU Berlin formed from the remnants of Tropical Storm Leslie.

Homes in Yalding and Maidstone were flooded, however there had been fears that a high tide might lead to the River Medway bursting its banks.

Flooding affected York during the summer and autumn of 2000 as the River Ouse reached its highest levels since records began.

Overall the autumn of 2000 was the wettest since 1872, and more rain fell in September, October and November than in any other 3-month period since rainfall records began in 1727.

The resulting report entitled Learning to Live with Rivers specifically criticised a reluctance to use computer models and inadequate representation of the dynamic effects of land use, catchment processes and climatic variability.

More broadly, the report noted that sustainable flood risk management could only be achieved by working with the natural response of the river basin and by providing the necessary storage, flow reduction and discharge capacity.