The south of England saw heavy rainfalls associated with these storms which caused widespread flooding, power cuts and major disruptions to transport.

A series of low pressure areas developed or formed over North America explosively deepening over the Atlantic/gulf stream before reaching the European coast.

Flooding occurred in Tyneside, Teesside, along the Yorkshire coast, around the Humber and the Wash, where in particular the town of Boston, Lincolnshire was badly affected by when the high tide overtopped defences.

[14] Coastal flooding particularly affected the south and west of the UK, with severe damage reported in Wales, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.

The only railway that runs south-west of Exeter was severed on 3 February when a 165 ft (50 m) section of the Riviera Line track was damaged at Dawlish.

[16][17] In a press release, First Great Western had initially said the line would only be closed until Wednesday as a result of the "poor weather conditions", but this was extended the until the end of the week.

[17] The Tamar Bridge between Plymouth in Devon and Saltash in Cornwall was closed to all traffic for a period after wind speeds surpassed 70 mph (110 km/h).

"[15] Lib Dem MP for Torbay, Adrian Sanders, said the loss of the main line was "a disaster" and called on the Transport Secretary to intervene.

Controversy arose about the role of the Environment Agency, with claims that the need for ongoing dredging of the main rivers had been neglected.

However, Professor of Water Management at Cardiff University,[22] and other hydrologists made clear that dredging does not offer a useful solution to flooding on the Levels.

[23] A stormy period from the 23–27 December 2013 brought heavy rainfall to southern England, especially in a swathe from Dorset through Hampshire, Surrey and Kent.

[14] The first storm brought travel disruptions, especially as the flooding affecting Yalding and the electrical substations at Gatwick Airport leaving the northern terminal without power on Christmas Eve.

[24] After Cyclone Dirk on Christmas Day, saturated ground led to localised flooding in southern England, as the storm brought up to 60mm of rain to the UK.

A major incident was declared including parts of Leatherhead and Dorking; Fire Brigade unions calling off a planned strike for the counties.

[28] Many residents in Wraysbury and Datchet berated the bank-damaging flows admitted into the Jubilee River, an anabranch for Windsor and Maidenhead.

Thames Water claimed to have no record of receiving that request and as a consequence, the gate was not closed... ...the Aqueduct had partially collapsed while causing significant damage.