The NHMP team have written a briefing note on the rainfall and river flow records during December 2015, available on the CEH blog, or as a PDF.
December was an extraordinary month in both meteorological and hydrological terms, with some of the most widespread and severe flooding witnessed in the UK.
The purpose of this briefing note is to collate some of the key points from the monthly Hydrological Summary, and to provide some additional context beyond the space and format constraints of the Summary. Neither the Hydrological Summary nor the briefing note provide a fully comprehensive review of the severity of the December 2015 floods. Both documents are based on currently available information and analysis conducted as part of routine reporting by the National Hydrological Monitoring Programme (NHMP). Selected additional datasets have been provided by the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. We wish to thank the Measuring Authorities for their support in providing information at short notice while responding to ongoing flooding. Fuller analysis of the meteorology, hydrology and impacts of the winter 2015/2016 (including subsequent flooding in Scotland in January) flooding will be conducted over the coming months by the NHMP and partner organisations.