Somerset Levels Flashcards
How low lying are the Somerset levels?
No part is higher than 8m above sea level.
Facts/ impacts of storms in 2014?
12 major storms.
More severe gales than any winter since 1871.
Most rainfall since 1766.
More rainy days and days when high winds combined with high tide.
Human causes?
Dredging (deepening) of river channels didn’t actually help- during high rainfall, sediment is deposited on channel bed raising it to where it was before.
Artificial levees can make problem worse by raising channel bed further as river naturally adjusts to new banks.
Physical causes?
Jet streams- high level winds at 6-10km altitude blew across Atlantic to the UK. They drive low pressure weather systems with wind and rain that normally end up in northern Scotland but in winter 2014 they moved 800km south over southern England.
Future?
Sea level rise could make these floods more common and more severe.
