Flooding in Cornwall

Cornwall and the West Country were affected by heavy rains and flooding on Wednesday of last week. The cause of the flooding was an occluded front associated with a deep Atlantic depression. This slowly moved in from the west during the night of 16/17 November bringing heavy rain across parts of Wales and south-west England. The rain was particularly heavy across Cornwall, where torrential downpours overwhelmed drainage systems, bringing a rapid rise in river levels. Rainfall data from the Met Office indicated that the wettest place in Cornwall was Cardinham, where 50.2 mm was recorded between the hours 10pm on Tuesday and 7am on Wednesday, with a massive 18.6mm in one hour at about 6am.

Some of the worst hit areas were St Blazey, St Austell, Mevagissey and Lostwithiel where a combination of rivers bursting their banks and drains not being able to cope with the intense rainfall, resulted in torrents of water flowing through the streets. Some motorists were trapped in their cars as the flood waters rose to two metres in places. Search and Rescue helicopters were scrambled to assist in the rescue efforts and more than 100 homes were evacuated but there were no reports of serious injuries. Landslides also added to the chaos, severely disrupting train services in south-west England. In parts of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Swansea there were also reports of flooding on many roads with some properties affected.