The Great Flood of 1968 was a flood caused by a pronounced trough of low pressure which brought exceptionally heavy rain and thunderstorms to South East England and France in mid-September 1968, with the worst on Sunday 15 September 1968, and followed earlier floods in South West England during July.[3] This was likely the severest inland flood experienced in the Home Counties during the last 100 years.[1][4]
 Pool River in Catford during the flood | |
| Meteorological history | |
|---|---|
| Date | September 1968 |
| Overall effects | |
| Fatalities | None[1] |
| Damage | More than 14,000 properties flooded.[2] |
| Areas affected | Home counties |
The areas worst hit were Crawley, East Grinstead, Horley, Lewisham, Petersfield, Redhill, Tilbury, Tunbridge Wells and Tonbridge. [5]
On 15 September 1968, the 9:50 Charing Cross to Hastings was diverted along the Edenbridge line, but was surrounded by flood water at Edenbridge railway station. 150 passengers spent 12 hours stuck on the train.
France
editIn the first seven hours of 15 September 1968 three inches of rain fell on Nice. In Toulon a cyclist was killed by an electricity cable that had fallen into the flooded road. The wine harvest was seriously damaged.[6]
See also
edit- 1947 Thames flood
- July 1968 England and Wales dust fall storms, severe storms in July
- Chew Stoke flood of 1968, July flooding event in Somerset.
References
edit- ^ a b Eden, Philip. "September 1968 Floods – London cut off". weatheronline.co.uk. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ "Forty years on from the floods of 1968". 12 September 2008. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
- ^ "Wednesday 10 July 1968" (PDF). Met Office. Retrieved 26 March 2012.
- ^ Jackson, M. C. (January 1977). "Mesoscale and Small-Scale Motions as Revealed by Hourly Rainfall Maps of an Outstanding Rainfall Event: 14-16 September 1968". Weather. 32 (1): 2–17. Bibcode:1977Wthr...32....2J. doi:10.1002/j.1477-8696.1977.tb04471.x.
- ^ Staff reporter (17 September 1968). "Good neighbours ease the burden in flood areas". The Times.
- ^ "Storm havoc in south France". The Times. 16 September 1968. p. 1.