Homes may have to be abandoned': how climate crisis has reshaped Britain's flood risk

"A fierce barrage of storms from the Atlantic has drenched south-west England in January, saturating soils and supercharging rivers. It's deja vu, she said. The stress and anxiety is palpable in the community. We've all been here before, we know what happens and it shouldn't. But since 2014, the weather events are becoming more and more frequent and the rain just dumps now."

"Storm Chandra, which pummelled the south-west this week, followed hot on the heels of Storms Goretti and Ingrid. New 24-hour rainfall records were set in places in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. Setting new records is the new normal in the climate crisis. Storm Chandra hits UK and Ireland video Somerset council declared a major incident on Tuesday and across the south-west homes and businesses were flooded, communities cut off, schools closed, trains cancelled and dozens of people were rescued from stranded vehicles."

When flooding hit the low-lying Somerset Levels in 2014, waters rose over two months; recent storms caused similar flooding within two days. A fierce barrage of Atlantic storms in January saturated soils and supercharged rivers across south‑west England. Storms Chandra, Goretti and Ingrid set new 24‑hour rainfall records in Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. Somerset council declared a major incident as homes and businesses flooded, communities were cut off, schools closed, trains cancelled and dozens rescued from stranded vehicles. Torrential winter rains are arriving about 20 years earlier than climate models projected, increasing frequency and intensity and outpacing protective measures, raising questions about potential settlement abandonment.

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