affected in June and July 2007 floods as of 24 July (marked in blue) affected in June and July 2007 floods as of 24 July (marked in blue) England was affected by the June and July floods, with the North badly hit in June, the West badly hit in July, and many areas hit in both. It was England's wettest July on record.
Gloucestershire was the worst affected county – with both some minor flooding in June, and major flooding in July. and
administrative counties affected by the flooding are given below.
Bedfordshire By 25 July, a number of low-lying parts adjacent to the river in
Bedford and
Luton were flooded and one man drowned attempting to swim across the River Great Ouse in Bedford. Parts of
Felmersham and
Turvey were also flooded.
Berkshire on 20 July On 20 July, the
M4 was closed after a landslide caused by flooding between Junctions 12 and 13 eastbound. Approximately 1,100 properties in
Thatcham were affected by flash flooding. By 21 July,
Newbury and
Maidenhead town centres were flooded, the shopping mall in Maidenhead was closed and parts of the
Glade Festival were flooded. Officials warned that the
River Thames, the
River Ock, and its tributaries from
Charney could burst their banks. In
Reading, rail services to the southwest were affected, and westbound trains from
Paddington could go no further. 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.
Buckinghamshire On 3 June,
Stoke Goldington suffered flash flooding affecting 25 homes. Stoke Goldington was affected again on 3 July, with 10 houses being flooded. By 21 July, seventy homes and businesses were flooded by the
River Ouse in
Buckingham and 30 people spent the night in the town's Radcliffe centre,
Cambridgeshire On 24 July, four bridges in
St Neots were shut when the river level peaked, and the Environment Agency warned residents in the St Neots,
Paxton and
Offords areas to expect flooding that night. By 25 July, parts of
St Ives were flooded. Later the same day, the Environment Agency advised residents near the
River Great Ouse that the peak had passed and further flooding was unlikely.
County Durham 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. On 23 June, flash floods affected parts of
Darlington and Stanhope Road, Northgate, St Cuthbert's Way, Parkgate and Haughton Road were closed after water levels rose by about 2 feet (0.6 m). It has also led to Woodland Road to improve its drainage to prevent such flooding on one of the main roads out the town. On 17 July, flooding affected
Peterlee town centre, closing shops and a local school.
Cumbria A 64-year-old man hit his head and died after trying to bail out his flooded home in
Alston, Cumbria.
Derbyshire in
Chesterfield On 25 June, flooding affected properties in
Coal Aston,
Calow and
Chesterfield town centre, and the A617 was covered by more than of floodwater causing traffic delays.
Gloucestershire On 19 July,
Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service attended 1,800 calls in a 48-hour period, compared with the usual 8,000 calls a year. On 22 July,
Gloucester City A.F.C.'s Stadium was flooded, and the Tewkesbury road at
Longford was completely impassable by the Longford Inn.
Tewkesbury was completely cut off with no road access, parts of the town were under around of water and flood waters entered
Tewkesbury Abbey for the first time in 247 years. Tewkesbury's
Mythe Water Treatment Works were flooded. On 23 July, 50,000 Gloucestershire homes were left without electricity after a major electricity substation in
Castle Meads had to be turned off. Efforts to stop flooding at Walham substation succeeded; the Castle Meads substation was repaired the next day. By 24 July, an estimated 420,000 people were without running water, including most of the population of Gloucester, Cheltenham, and Tewkesbury. 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. 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. On 28 July, the body of a 19-year-old man, reported missing seven days earlier, was recovered in Tewkesbury.
Greater London On 20 July, flooding occurred in many parts of Greater London. Water and power supplies were not disrupted but parts of South West London were under of water.
Heathrow Airport cancelled 141 flights. Two of four rail lines in South Croydon were closed by landslips. The
M50 motorway near
Ledbury was closed on 22 July due to flooding. More than 5,200 people in and around
Bromyard were without clean water on 22 and 23 July after the pumps at the
Whitbourne works failed. Once supply was restored residents were urged by
Welsh Water to boil their tap-water until further notice. The village of
Hampton Bishop, 3 miles (5 km) from the city of
Hereford, was surrounded and flooded by water after the
River Lugg burst its banks. On the afternoon of 24 July the
Fire Service began pumping flood water out of the village, but not before 130 residents were evacuated. Some 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. Residents of East Bromyard were rescued after the River Frome burst its banks.
Lancashire On 12 June,
Lostock Hall and
Penwortham near
Preston were hit by flash floods. On 3 July, heavy rain caused flooding in
Earby and
Ribchester, affecting homes and causing the Royal Lancashire Show to be cancelled on 9 July. On 4 July, the
Blackburn Mela was cancelled due to ground conditions. On 18 July,
Walton-le-Dale near Preston was hit by flash floods. and Witney were flooded. Oxford, particularly
Botley, was flooded and some 300 people were evacuated. On 22 July, the Environment Agency warned of further flooding and 1,500 people in Abingdon were evacuated. Forty thousand sandbags were transported from
Grantham in Lincolnshire to Abingdon and Oxford. By 23 July, Oxford, Abingdon,
Kidlington and
Bladon were affected; some 3,000 homes including the home of
William Morris at
Kelmscott were flooded and 600 residents were evacuated, with many taking refuge in
Oxford United Football Club's
Kassam Stadium. On 24 July, the Thames in Abingdon rose 3 feet (0.9 m) in less than 12 hours to a "perilously high" level Repair costs to the railway were estimated at £2 million. On 26 June, the
Burway Bridge collapsed, disrupting one of the main roads into
Ludlow, severing a gas main and causing the surrounding area to be evacuated. On 1 July, a woman was pulled out of the River Severn at
Jackfield on the
Telford and Wrekin border near
Ironbridge. By 24 July, the UK National Ballooning Championships in
Ludlow had been cancelled for the first time in their 32-year history.
Warwickshire By 21 July, flooded parts of
Warwickshire included
Alcester,
Stratford-upon-Avon,
Shipston on Stour and
Water Orton. To a lesser extent, areas of Leamington Spa and Warwick also experienced flooding.
West Midlands 200 people were forced to leave Witton Road and Tame Road in
Aston, Birmingham when the
River Tame flooded. Water entered the streets of
Shirley,
Solihull. In the Dudley borough, flooding damaged local schools, shops and communities. Schools opened their doors with parts of buildings flooded with water; damage in the West Midlands area was estimated at £1.9 billion (2007 GDP).
Wiltshire On 20 July, Swindon had a month's rainfall in less than half a day. More than 50 people were rescued from their flooded homes.
Worcestershire By 19 June,
Worcestershire was affected by flooding. The waters were still rising, endangering the
confluence of the
River Teme and the
River Severn. 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. On 17 July,
Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire was flooded for the second time in three weeks after a
thunderstorm caused flash flooding. By 21 July the
M5 was affected, compounded by the closure of the
Strensham services, and the motorway was closed, stranding hundreds in their vehicles overnight. 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. On 25 June, the region was hit by flooding again. Fire crews received over 1,500 calls in a 12-hour period, dozens of homes in
Beverley and about 50 people at a Hull nursing home were evacuated, boats were used to evacuate about 90 people from 4 feet (1 m) of floodwater in Hull's County Road North, The new Hull
police station had to be vacated because of flooding. The next day, only 12 of Hull's 88 schools were still open, affecting 30,000 out of 38,000 Hull schoolchildren. By 4 July in Hull, six schools were still closed and 120 residents in residential or nursing care had been relocated. By 5 July, an estimated 35,000 people By 27 July, £2.1 million had been allocated to Hull and £600,000 to the East Riding for clean-up and immediate repairs, and £3.2 million to Hull and £1.5 million to the East Riding for further repairs to the region's estimated 101 schools suffering significant flood damage. By 3 September, figures released by Hull City Council had been revised upwards to 7,800 houses that had been flooded plus 1,300 businesses that were affected.
North Yorkshire By 15 June, towns and villages in
North Yorkshire were flooded, with
Knaresborough,
Harrogate and
York being particularly affected. The
A59 road at
Kex Gill was closed due to a landslip where of earth slid down the hillside and trapped a couple in their car. In
Scarborough, the main
A171 Scalby Road flooded outside
Scarborough Hospital, and the ornamental lake at Peasholm Park overtopped its banks and poured down Peasholm Gap into North Bay. Near
Catterick, North Yorkshire, a 17-year-old soldier on a training exercise from
Catterick Garrison died after being swept away whilst crossing Risedale Beck, Hipswell Moor. On 23 June, flooding affected
Middlesbrough. and on 18 July 2007 a cloud burst left parts of
Filey under 3 feet (1 m) of water, just caused by the rain, rather than by a river bursting its banks. Pensioners were stranded in the town's swimming pool and rescued by lifeboat.
South Yorkshire shopping centre showing extensive flooding after the River Don burst its banks On 25 June,
Sheffield suffered extensive damage as the
River Don overtopped its banks, causing widespread flooding in the Don Valley area of the city. A 14-year-old boy was swept away by the swollen
River Sheaf, a 68-year-old man died after attempting to cross a flooded road in Sheffield city centre, and several cattle were washed away, found up to across fields in some areas of cultivated land. The
Meadowhall shopping centre was closed due to flooding with some shops remaining closed downstairs until late September and
Sheffield Wednesday's ground
Hillsborough was under 6 feet (1.83 m) of water. A number of people were rescued by
RAF helicopters from buildings in the
Brightside area, while in the Millhouses Park area to the southwest of the city the River Sheaf overtopped its banks causing widespread damage. There was also widespread flooding in
Barnsley,
Doncaster and
Rotherham, with much of these towns cut off. 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. 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. On 27 June, the Army moved into the
Doncaster area after the
River Don overtopped its banks and threatened the area around what was
Thorpe Marsh Power Station. A man was incorrectly reported missing near the village of
Adwick le Street near Doncaster. just after the flooding
West Yorkshire On 15 June and on 25 June, the villages of
Scissett and
Clayton West and other parts of
Kirklees were flooded by the
River Dearne, the second time worse than the first. On 25 June,
Wakefield was flooded. Six elderly women, including a 91-year-old, were stranded in their homes. The village of
Collingham (near
Wetherby) was particularly affected by the flooding, and one house was looted. ==Affected areas in Wales==