Winter flooding of 2013–14 on the Somerset Levels

Prince Charles and several senior politicians visited the area and controversy arose about the role of the Environment Agency.

[2] The area's topography consists of two basins mainly surrounded by hills, the runoff from which forms rivers that originally meandered across the plain but have now been controlled by embanking and "clyses" (the local name for a sluice).

[8][9] It is a mainly agricultural region, typically with open fields of permanent grass surrounded by ditches with willow trees.

Access to individual areas of the Moors and Levels, especially for cattle, was provided by means of "droves", i.e. green lanes, leading off the public highways.

Some of the old roads, in contrast to the old hollow ways found in other areas of England, are causeways raised above the level of the surrounding land, with a drainage ditch running along each side.

Around 70% of deep peat in the Somerset Levels and Moors is likely to be losing carbon due to intensive livestock grazing, cultivation and direct extraction.

[13] Maximum tidal heights are about a metre higher than 1607, due to a combination of postglacial rebound (0.6m), global sea level rise (0.2m) and other factors including localised peat shrinkage (0.2m).

[18] Flooding of adjacent moor land was partially addressed during the 13th century by the construction of a number of embankment walls to contain the Parrett.

[21] In the early 17th century, during the time of King James I, abortive plans were made to drain and enclose much of Sedgemoor, which the local Lords supported but opposed by the Commoners who would have lost grazing rights.

[22] In 1632, Charles I sold the Crown's interest in the scheme, and it was taken over by a consortium that included Sir Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch drainage engineer.

[24] At Westhay Moor in the early 19th century, it was shown how peat bogs could be successfully drained and top-dressed with silt deposited via flooding, creating a very rich soil.

[26] The man-made Huntspill River was constructed during World War II with sluices at both ends to provide a guaranteed daily supply of 4,500,000 imperial gallons (20,000,000 L; 5,400,000 US gal) of "process water".

[28][29] Geotechnical problems prevented it from being dug as deep as originally intended and so gravity-drainage of the moors was not possible: thus, water is pumped up into the river throughout the year.

Although the Environment Agency have made plans for the regular winter flooding, still in recent years this has resulted in a number of villages — including Langport, Muchelney and Westonzoyland — being cut off.

It has the capacity to hold 1.2 million cubic metres (42×10^6 cu ft) as part of a scheme by the Parrett Internal Drainage Board to restore ten floodplains in Somerset.

It is not clear why windmills were not employed, as they were on the Fens of East Anglia, but only two examples have been recorded on the Levels: one at Bleadon at the mouth of the River Axe, where a sea wall had been built, and the other at Common Moor north of Glastonbury, which was being drained following a private act of Parliament in 1721, the Glastonbury Inclosure Act 1721 (8 Geo.

[41] The Azores high pressure area influences the south-west of England's summer weather, but convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine.

In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by the Sun heating the land, leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms.

[41] During December 2013, several deep areas of low pressure moved across or to the north of the British Isles, bringing high wind speeds and heavy rain to many locations.

[46] The Ministry of Defence sent Royal Marines from 40 Commando (based at Norton Manor Camp near Taunton) to the Somerset Levels to help with flood protection.

[54] A small unit of Mounted Police patrolled parts of the Somerset Levels after reports of items, including heating oil and quad bikes being stolen from the homes of flood victims on 3 February.

[56] In the middle of February 2014, the Environment Agency began installing giant pumps imported from the Netherlands to alleviate the continuing flooding.

[57] A Dutch team of engineers had arrived in at a sluice at Bridgwater with more than 20 lorries full of kit and pumps to help with the flood relief effort in Somerset on 12 February.

[58] By 21 February 8 high-output pumps located at Dunball were starting to lower the level in King's Sedgemoor Drain allowing floodwater-from the upper Parrett to reach it by way of the Sowy River.

[61] The Environment Agency's south west office had reported that a temporary flood barrier in Bridgwater, Somerset has been vandalised by unknown assailants.

The Environment Agency and others pointed out that it would be more effective to spend money on delaying floodwaters upstream, and that increasing the capacity of rivers by dredging would be of no significant use.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson visited the area on 27 January 2014, and after meeting local MPs, the Environment Agency and various community representatives the night before in Taunton, promised at a media-only press conference at North Moor pumping station that if a local water management plan could be developed over the next six weeks, he would approve it.

[68] Jean Venables the chief executive of the Association of Drainage Authorities said engineering measures costing around £60 million, and including a permanent pumping station at Dunball could help to relieve future flooding.

[72] The Communities Secretary subsequently appeared on The Andrew Marr Show and apologised "unreservedly" for not dredging the Somerset Levels and said that "the government may have relied too much on the advice" of the Environment Agency.

[75] On 11 February David Cameron, who had visited the area the previous day, ordered that the political bickering in government should end.