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England’s water crisis needs more than just new reservoirs – here’s what will help
England is facing a water crisis. The UK government has just announced plans to fast-track two massive reservoir projects in Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, warning that without t…
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Drought recedes in Britain after a wet spring – but much of Europe is parched
Be careful what you wish for. Britain’s seesaw rainfall patterns that began last winter have continued, with an on-off pattern of dry and then wet months for many areas. In the south of England, last year’s drought was still affecting parts of the UK in early December, with stores of water in reservoirs and groundwater […]
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Why the drought isn’t over even though it’s rained all week
Only a few days into autumn, and the UK has experienced some truly autumnal weather. Heavy bands of rain and thunderstorms have swept over parts of Britain, particularly in southern England, that up until a few weeks ago were looking dry and parched. The brown and yellow fields and parks have been replaced by a […]
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Europe’s catastrophic flooding was forecast well in advance – what went so wrong?
Hannah Cloke, University of Reading Almost 200 people dead and many others still missing. Billions of euros’ worth of damage. Communities devastated. Thousands of homes destroyed and their occupants traumatised. I am a flood forecaster who helped to set up the forecasting system that was used to predict the recent floods in Germany and surrounding […]
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Heatwaves often end with lethal floods – but when and where they’ll strike is hard to predict
If you’re in the UK, you may not have slept well this week. According to the weather gauges at the University of Reading, where I work, Tuesday 11 August was the third hottest night in records that date back to 1908. But it seems that, as is often the case with summer hot spells, the […]
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As sea levels rise, are we ready to live behind giant walls?
Climate change, it’s fair to say, is complicated. And it’s big. One of the main challenges of responding effectively is simply getting your head around the scale of the problem. This is not unique in the study of the physical world, of course. Scientists and economists spend a lot of time simplifying the complex real […]
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Housebuilding ban on floodplains isn’t enough – flood-prone communities should take back control
February 2020 has brought more than its fair share of bad weather to the north of England, the Midlands and Wales. Shrewsbury, Bewdley and Telford swam in the Severn, while the Ouse invaded York. For some, the adage that it’s grim up north rang true. The recent flooding is a reminder that all parts of […]
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Why flooding is still so difficult to predict and prepare for
Before you read this story, take a minute to stop and look around you. Now imagine your surroundings under two feet of dirty, sewage-filled water. If you’re at home, everything is trashed. Never mind your car, your furniture or washing machine. They will be ruined, but those things can be replaced. Think of your wedding […]
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Heatwave ‘completely obliterated’ the record for Europe’s hottest ever June
June was hot. Really hot. That much we knew. What we didn’t know was just how hot it was – not just in parts of Europe, but around the world. New analysis by the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service, with the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, shows that temperature records weren’t just broken for […]
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Britain is in the middle of a drought – so how come there’s flooding?
Parts of the UK had more than a month’s rain in one day on Monday June 10. More rain on the following Tuesday, particularly in the north of England and Midlands, created localised flooding. Sinkholes appearing on the M25 – one of Europe’s busiest motorways – and closed train lines have created expensive travel chaos. […]
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