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The Worst Floods In UK History: A Dated Timeline Of Major Flood Events

The worst floods in recent UK history include the 1953 North Sea surge, which killed 307 people in eastern England, the summer 2007 floods, which flooded 55,000 homes and killed 13, and the winters of 2013–14 and 2015–16.

What Are The Worst Floods In UK History?

The worst floods in modern UK history, measured by deaths, homes flooded or economic damage, are the 1953 North Sea surge, the summer 2007 floods and the winters of 2013 to 2014 and 2015 to 2016. The timeline below lists major events with figures from official sources.

Date Event Type Key figures Source
End of January 1953 North Sea surge Coastal storm surge 307 deaths in eastern England; About 160,000 hectares of eastern England were flooded Met Office
12 Jan 1978 East coast surge Coastal storm surge Extensive flooding from Humberside to Kent; London escaped flooding by only 0.5 m Met Office
16 Aug 2004 Boscastle flood Flash flood about 75mm of rain fell in two hours - the same amount that normally falls in the whole of August; nobody died Met Office, Environment Agency
Jun–Jul 2007 Summer 2007 floods Heavy rainfall In all, 55,000 homes flooded and 13 people lost their lives; cost between £2.5 billion and £3.8 billion, with a best estimate of £3.2 billion Environment Agency
Dec 2013–Mar 2014 Winter 2013 to 2014 floods Winter flooding Damages between £1,000 million and £1,500 million, with a best estimate of £1,300 million (England and Wales) Environment Agency
Dec 2015–Jan 2016 Winter 2015 to 2016 floods, including Storm Desmond Heavy rainfall Damages between £1.3 billion and £1.9 billion, with a best estimate of £1.6 billion (England); 341.4mm of rainfall in the 24-hours up to 1800 GMT on 5 December 2015, making for a new UK record for any 24-hour period Environment Agency, Met Office
2020 Storms Ciara and Dennis Storms Average insurance claim £32,000 Environment Agency
Oct 2023 Storm Babet Storm, heavy rainfall 2,146 properties flooded in England (reported by 27 Oct 2023); In the East Midlands, Storm Babet resulted in the highest recorded river levels at 37 locations Environment Agency, Met Office

Figures come from different reports with different methods and dates, and are not strictly comparable. Events are included where an official figure was verified.

Which UK Flood Caused The Most Deaths?

The deadliest flood in modern UK history is the North Sea surge at the end of January 1953, which killed 307 people in eastern England, according to the Met Office. It was the greatest surge on record in the North Sea.

Deaths in other major events, from official sources:

Event Deaths Source
North Sea surge, 1953 307 (eastern England) Met Office
Summer floods, 2007 13 Environment Agency
Boscastle, 2004 None Met Office

The Met Office notes that in 1953, because telephone lines in Lincolnshire and Norfolk were brought down, virtually no warnings of the storm's severity reached counties further south until it was too late. The surge also flooded large areas of the Netherlands.

Which UK Flood Was The Most Expensive?

The most expensive UK flood in the Environment Agency's published cost studies is the summer 2007 floods, with a best estimate of £3.2 billion. The winters of 2015 to 2016 and 2013 to 2014 caused best-estimate damages of £1.6 billion and £1.3 billion.

Event Best estimate Range Area covered
Summer 2007 £3.2 billion £2.5–3.8 billion England
Winter 2015 to 2016 £1.6 billion £1.3–1.9 billion England
Winter 2013 to 2014 £1,300 million £1,000–1,500 million England and Wales
All floods, January 2016 to November 2019 £708 million between £504 million and £924 million England and Wales

Each study uses its own method and price base. The 2016–2019 study states its figures in 2024 prices.

Which Rivers Have Flooded Most Often?

The rivers with the most recorded floods can be counted from the Environment Agency's Recorded Flood Outlines, which hold all our records of historic flooding from rivers, the sea, groundwater and surface water since 1946. The ranking below is calculated from that record.

The Environment Agency cautions: "The absence of coverage by Recorded Flood Outlines for an area does not mean that the area has never flooded." Live levels on every monitored river are on river levels.

Are UK Floods Becoming More Frequent?

The evidence points to more extreme rainfall and some increase in river flooding, but the picture varies from place to place and year to year. The Met Office reports that wet extremes are becoming more common, while hydrologists find that increases in peak river flows hold up nationally but not everywhere.

What the evidence says:

Evidence Finding Source
Extreme wet months the number of months where counties are recording monthly rainfall totals of at least twice the 1991-2020 monthly average has increased by over 50% compared to the number in 1961-1990 Met Office, State of the UK Climate
Winter rainfall For 2015-2024 the winter half-year is now 16% wetter than 1961-1990 for the UK Met Office
Rainfall variability Compared with temperature, the Met Office notes there is much more variability with rainfall Met Office
Peak river flows The claim of increased flooding generally holds up regionally and nationally, although a more complicated picture of spatio-temporal variability is shown UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, National River Flow Archive (Hannaford et al., Hydrology Research, 2021)
Properties at risk The 43% rise in properties at risk of surface water flooding in the 2024 national assessment doesn't reflect a real-world increase in risk. It is almost entirely due to improvements in data, modelling and use of technology Environment Agency
Future By 2100, extreme once-a-century sea-level events are expected to become annual Environment Agency

Two cautions apply. Rising counts of properties at risk partly reflect better mapping, not only more flooding. And trends in river flows depend on the period and region studied, so short records can suggest a trend that a longer one does not.

Which Places Have Flooded Most Recently?

The places that have flooded most recently appear in the event pages above and on each town's flood risk page, which lists recorded floods alongside its current flood risk band. Current warnings show where flooding is expected now.

floodriskchecker.co.uk is an independent website. It is not run by, or affiliated with, the Environment Agency, Defra, SEPA, Natural Resources Wales or any government body.

Sources (Verified 17 Sep 2026)

Claim Source
1953: 307 deaths, 160,000 hectares, greatest surge, warnings failure; 1978 surge Met Office, Floods case studies
Boscastle Met Office · Environment Agency
2007: homes, deaths, cost Environment Agency blog · Costs of the summer 2007 floods
2013 to 2014 costs Environment Agency
2015 to 2016 costs; Storm Desmond rainfall Environment Agency summary · Met Office
2016–2019 costs Environment Agency, Evidence on the costs of floods in England and Wales
Ciara and Dennis average claim Environment Agency, National assessment 2024
Storm Babet Environment Agency · Environment Agency, East Midlands
Rainfall trends Met Office, State of the UK Climate stocktake
Peak flow trends National River Flow Archive
Surface water increase not real-world; future sea levels Environment Agency, National assessment 2024