Almost all extreme flooding across Europe could be anticipated by looking at previous major events in other similar parts of the continent, according to a new study.
Almost all extreme flooding across Europe could be anticipated by looking at previous major events in other similar parts of the continent, according to a new study.
‘Megafloods’, such those on the Rhine tributaries in Germany in 2021, are extreme events that vastly exceed those previously experienced in each location, causing significant damage and deaths. But they can be hard to anticipate due to their rarity and the lack of data at many sites, which means flood defences and emergency response plans are often insufficient, exacerbating the impacts on communities.
A team of European scientists, including experts at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH), analysed river discharges – the volume of water flowing through a channel per second - from 8,000 gauging stations across Europe from 1810–2021 to identify historic megafloods.
Read More: UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology
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