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- Don't get in your car if a flood threatens. More people drown in cars than anywhere else. It takes just two feet of water to sweep a car away, and once it does there's virtually nothing you can do.
- Autumn 2000 was the wettest in the UK for 270 years. In total, five major rivers reached record flood levels, causing an estimated £1 billion worth of damage.
- Boscastle 2004 was the worst flash flood on record in the UK.
- The 1953 east coast storm surge was the worst UK flood on record.
- On 8 January 2005 the River Eden burst its banks, devastating the city of Carlisle and inundating about 2000 homes and businesses. The floodwater receded in about 72 hours but left behind three dead and 6000 homeless.
- The River Lyn in Devon broke its banks on the night of 15 August 1952. It carried over 300,000 tonnes of rock in a raging torrent of water through the village of Lynmouth smashing everything in its path. Thirty-four people died, mostly in houses that were simply swept away.
