Britain suffers second wettest year on record

Persistent wet weather led to rainfall of 1,330.7mm (52.4 inches) in 2012, just 6.6mm (0.26 inches) short of the highest recorded annual total set in 2000, according to Met Office records, stretching back more than a century.

Initial evidence released by the Met Office also suggests the UK is now getting more annual rainfall than in the past and it may be falling in more intense downpours.

Almost 8,000 homes and businesses were flooded last year as drought in early 2012 gave way to repeated storms and bands of rain, with the UK seeing record-breaking monthly rainfall totals in April and June and the wettest summer in a century.

Farmers’ crops were hit by the unusually wet summer, while much of the country’s wildlife struggled in the poor conditions.

In Yorkshire, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden had been hit by major flooding three times in as many months by August and the wet weather also led to the cancellation of the Great Yorkshire Show – costing £4.5m, of which £2m was lost to organisers and £2.5m to the region’s rural economy.

By November more downpours led to pressure mounting on the Government to review its investment in flood defences in the regions as it emerged the three-day closure of the submerged A1 in North Yorkshire cost the UK economy more than £250m.

Councils in the region will have to find savings of nearly £250,000 in their budgets this year after the local levy for flood relief works was upped to £2m.

Councillors on the region’s flood and coastal defence committee voted to raise local authority contributions by 14 per cent to plug a gap left by the loss of Yorkshire Forward match-funding. It was agreed more money must be spent in 2013-14 to protect homes and businesses after last year year’s record rainfall.

New figures show that four out of the five wettest years ever recorded have occurred since the beginning of this century.

The top five wettest years in the records dating back to 1910 are 2000, 2012, 1954, 2008 and 2002.

The UK as a whole had 15 per cent more rainfall than average during the year, with England experiencing almost a third more rain than normal as it recorded its wettest ever year.

The official forecasters said the UK was getting wetter in recent decades, with average long-term rainfall increasing by about five per cent between the periods 1961-1990 and 1981-2010.

“Extreme” days of rain, in which large amounts fall in intense downpours, also appear to have become more frequent.

The Met Office said rising global temperatures could be playing a part in increasing rainfall, as a warmer atmosphere can hold more moisture and increase the potential for heavy rain. The world has seen temperatures rise by around 0.7C since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution,.

The past year saw 10 separate flooding events hitting different parts of the country, with unusually high rainfall totals and river levels around the country. At the end of April, parts of Devon and Cornwall saw more than 24 hours of continuous rain, while in late June, Honister in Cumbria saw 200mm (eight inches) of rainfall in one day.

Yorkshire Water last night said it was doing everything it could to support a family whose home flooded after it was discovered a pump preventing rain reaching their home was out of action as it had not been refuelled. Butcher Nikki Hinds and his wife Karon, suffered their sixth flood in four months, and had just had their home in Castlegate, Malton, restored by their landlord. It was originally thought diesel thieves had been responsible, but the error was later discovered.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said “We’re very sorry. It was never our intention to provide inaccurate information. Unfortunately we were misled by our contract partner responsible for managing the pump, who, when challenged, categorically told us that they had refuelled the pump.

“They assumed, based on a number of similar events in the area, a fuel theft had occurred at the pump. Yesterday, following further investigations, we discovered this was not the case, and in fact our contractor had not refuelled the pump at a critical time.”