Based on current output I wonder if winter 2013/14 could possibly not only be the wettest winter ever, but the wettest season ever. I believe that was autumn 2000 with just over 500mm... Hopefully not... Andrew
Yes, and I dont recall that one causingproblems anywhere near this scaleon the Somerset Levels.(An argument for dredging?) It did however bring the Exe within inches of inundating low lying parts of Exeter even though flood preventionhad beeninstalled since the floods that occured there during the exceptionally wet autumn of 1960.
Maybe not the Somerset levels, but I remember the Ouse around York being at unprecedented levels and half of Sussex (not quitr literally) being under water.
Was absolutely incredible seeing the amount of water coming down the Severn through Shrewsbury after the late October storm. See below for the content from a met office article on the wet winter.
The flooding that occurred across much of England and Wales in the autumn and early winter of 2000 was the most extensive since the snowmelt-generated floods of March 1947. In all, 10,000 homes and businesses were flooded at 700 locations. Peak flows on five major rivers - the Thames, Trent, Severn, Wharfe and Dee - were the highest for sixty years, and the River Ouse in Yorkshire reached its highest level since the 1600s. Many river catchments were subjected to multiple flood events, especially in south-east England.
Two areas were particularly hard hit. In mid-October, large areas of Kent and Sussex were left underwater as rivers such as the Ouse at Lewes (East Sussex), the Uck at Uckfield (East Sussex) and the Medway at Tonbridge (Kent) burst their banks. Hundreds of homes and businesses were flooded to a depth of several feet, floodwater and landslips closed roads and rail travellers faced widespread delays and cancellations.
By early November, it was the turn of Yorkshire, with flood warnings on the Ouse and its tributaries such as the Derwent and Aire. On the 4th, the River Ouse at York was 5.3 m above its normal summer level and the associated flooding there was reported as the worst in 400 years of records; some 5000 properties were affected. Around this time there were similar scenes along the Severn, where water levels at Shrewsbury and Worcester were the highest since 1947.
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/interesting/autumn2000.html