As it weakened, the front moved north into Scotland on 16 June and left England and Wales with a very unstable airmass, frequent heavy showers, thunderstorms and cloudy conditions.

[15] By 21 July, many towns and villages were flooded, with Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, London and South Wales facing the brunt of the heavy rainfall.

Climate researchers have suggested that the unusual weather leading to the floods may be linked to this year's appearance of La Nina in the Pacific Ocean,[16] and the jet stream being further south than normal.

The flood waters affected the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Burghfield, which handles the United Kingdom's nuclear warheads, resulting in a suspension of work for almost a year.

[36] On 15 June, heavy rainfall caused the postponement of the fourth test match between England and the West Indies at the Riverside Ground, Chester-le-Street.

[39] On 25 June, flooding affected properties in Coal Aston, Calow and Chesterfield town centre, and the A617 was covered by more than 2 feet (0.6 m) of floodwater causing traffic delays.

Combined military and civil emergency services tried to stop floods reaching the Walham electricity substation in Gloucester supplying half a million people.

Coors, Carlsberg, Scottish and Newcastle, Inbev and Greene King brewing companies offered 23 beer tankers to help supply drinking water.

[53] It was not until 7 August – 16 days after Mythe Treatment Works stopped pumping – that the tap water for the 140,000 homes affected was again declared safe to drink.

[54] In terms of casualties, a man and his 24-year-old son died from asphyxiation from carbon monoxide poisoning on 27 July when attempting to stop flooding in the unventilated Tewkesbury Rugby Football Club cellar.

The village of Hampton Bishop, 3 miles (5 km) from the city of Hereford remains surrounded and flooded by water after the River Lugg burst its banks.

[62] Houses, including the Herefordshire home of Daily Mail writer Quentin Letts, were flooded by a torrent of water gushing from what had previously been only a small, unnamed brook north of Ross-on-Wye.

[76] Several nature reserves in the Tame Valley, including Ladywalk and Kingsbury Water Park were badly affected, just as ground- and reedbed- nesting birds were hatching young.

Schools opened the doors with parts of buildings flooded with water, the damage in the West Midlands area estimated at 1.9 billion (2007 GDP).

[60] A 68-year-old motorist (Judge Eric Dickinson) died after becoming trapped in his vehicle in flood water near Pershore whilst attempting to cross an old ford in Bow Brook which was by then 2 m deep.

On 26 June 2007 the New Road Ground, home to Worcestershire County Cricket Club, was flooded after the River Severn overtopped its banks, causing the next day's Twenty20 match against Warwickshire to be cancelled.

[84] By 23 July, parts of Worcestershire were under 6 feet (2 m) of water and the Army was brought in to help emergency services supply the inhabitants of Upton-upon-Severn which was cut off by floodwater.

[96] The A59 road at Kex Gill was closed due to a landslip where 100 tonnes (110 tons) of earth slid down the hillside and trapped a couple in their car.

A 14-year-old boy was swept away by the swollen River Sheaf,[102] a 68-year-old man died after attempting to cross a flooded road in Sheffield city centre,[103] and several cattle were washed away, found up to 3.5 miles (5.6 km) across fields in some areas of cultivated land.

By 26 June, the waters in some parts of Sheffield and the surrounding area receded, and over 700 villagers from Catcliffe, near Rotherham's Ulley reservoir were evacuated after cracks appeared in the dam.

[81][106] Emergency services from across England pumped millions of gallons of water from the reservoir to ease the pressure on the damaged dam, and the nearby M1 Motorway was closed between junctions 32 and 36 as a precaution.

[123] On 20 July, flash floods affected the Vale of Glamorgan,[124] causing schools to be evacuated, roads to be closed, and boats used to rescue people from their homes in Barry.

[128][129] On 2 July, houses were flooded and two people evacuated from their home in Cushendall in Antrim after the River Dall burst its banks following heavy rain.

The Health Protection Agency advised people that the risk of contracting any illness was low but that it was best to avoid coming into direct contact with flood water.

On 4 September of that year the Cabinet Office website launched a comments page to let people affected by the flooding contribute their experiences to the review.

In also brings in a new regime whereby new building activity which exacerbates flooding by reducing the capacity of land to absorb water will need to be accompanied by the construction of sustainable drainage systems such as grassy roofs, ponds and soakaways.

[159] The Observer newspaper stated on 22 July 2007 that the Government had been warned in the spring by the Met Office that summer flooding would be likely because the El Niño phenomenon had weakened, but no action was taken.

[160] In response to the criticism, Environment Secretary Hilary Benn said on BBC Sunday AM that "This was very, very intense rainfall, with five inches in 24 hours in some areas; even some of the best defences are going to be overwhelmed".

Conservative leader David Cameron called for a public inquiry into the flooding after visiting Witney, the main town in his Oxfordshire constituency.

[161] Then Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell accused the government of lack of preparation leading to a "summer of suffering", and said, "With sophisticated weather forecasting as we now have, particularly in relation to what's happened over the weekend, there are quite a few questions as to how it was that flood-prevention measures were not in place or were not more effective.