On the 29th of May 1920, severe thunderstorms broke out over parts of northern England. One such storm produced a cloudburst over the Lincolnshire Wolds, close to 120mm fell in 3 hours. Huge torrents of water poured into local streams and rivers including the river Ludd which flows through the market town of Louth. A flash flood devastated the town, destroying everything in its path including businesses, homes etc. 23 people were killed in the tragedy.

Only 1.42 inches of rain was recorded in Louth itself but 3 miles to the west, 4.59 inches of rain fell in 3 hours at Elkington Hall. 2 miles to the south at Hallington, 4.10 inches fell in 2 hours.

A witness at Benniworth, 12 miles WSW of Louth said that rain poured so fast at 2.30pm GMT that house pipes could not carry it and in a moment fields were at least 8 inches deep. the same wtiness saw a huge cloud in the shape of an egg which kept twisting round. 3 flashes of lightning, very vivid and lightning and the cloud seemed to come earthward.

From the Times of 31st May 1920

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On the 29th of May 1920, severe thunderstorms broke out over parts of northern England. One such storm produced a cloudburst over the Lincolnshire Wolds, close to 120mm fell in 3 hours. Huge torrents of water poured into local streams and rivers including the river Ludd which flows through the market town of Louth. A flash flood devastated the town, destroying everything in its path including businesses, homes etc. 23 people were killed in the tragedy.

Only 1.42 inches of rain was recorded in Louth itself but 3 miles to the west, 4.59 inches of rain fell in 3 hours at Elkington Hall. 2 miles to the south at Hallington, 4.10 inches fell in 2 hours.

A witness at Benniworth, 12 miles WSW of Louth said that rain poured so fast at 2.30pm GMT that house pipes could not carry it and in a moment fields were at least 8 inches deep. the same wtiness saw a huge cloud in the shape of an egg which kept twisting round. 3 flashes of lightning, very vivid and lightning and the cloud seemed to come earthward.

Thanks for posting this, Kev. You might find the following vintage video montage of interest.

Roger

Louth Lincolnshire -The Great Flood - 29th May 1920.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d2ZS6Rm__4

How did it compare to the 1975 deluge in Hampstead Heath, London?

6.72 in but over a restricted area, and one fatality
http://www.hampsteadscience.ac.uk/HampsteadStorm_HSS_talk_oct2018.pdf
I was there! We were driving back from Dover to in'laws in Finchley after being on holiday, arriving a couple of hours after the storm and nothing special was to be seen.

Other high rainfall incidents to be found at 
http://www.cbhe.hydrology.org.uk/all-events.php?page=662
of which the 5/9/1958 Knockholt storm has a particular resonance - I was there again! - and IIRC this holds the UK record for a 2-hour period, 4.54 in of the final total of 5.14 in, but no fatalities.

So back to the thread, the unusual feature of the Lincolnshire cloudburst was IMO the number of fatalities

12th August 1996 at Folkestone.

"Hold my beer". 

The Met Office has 1km grid rainfall data going back to 1891 but with local thunderstorms - particularly prior to 1960 - it is often the case that they slip through the net if there is no reporting station nearby and the storm is very localised

In this case, the details are captured very well on the 1km grid for that date and location as shown below

There was heavy rainfall of 25-50 mm over a ide area but the centre of the storm seems to be about 10 miles SW of Louth and recorded about 120mm rain

As with Lynmouth, Boscastle and many others, the local river system rapidly overflowed and transported the floods downstream in this case to Louth as marked