20 December 2012

Updated: Another bout of landslides in the UK today

Posted by Dave Petley

Updated below with additional landslides

The UK is today receiving the effects of another intense rainfall event, as the Met Office Rain Radar image below shows:

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This rainfall, although not truly exceptional, is falling onto ground that has been left saturated during repeated bouts of recent precipitation, leaving conditions that favour landslides and floods.  Unsurprisingly then reports of landslide activity are starting to appear on the newswires and on Twitter, with more to come.  News of landslides so far includes:

The situation seems particularly serious in the Isle of Wight, here there seems to be many incidences of floods.   This twitter feed provides good coverage of these problems.  The southern side of the Isle of Wight is a world-famous landslide prone area, so the long-term effects of this rainfall will be very interesting.  The recent heavy rainfall has already caused multiple closures of coastal paths, especially in South-West England; expect more in the coming months.

The rain is expected to clear away overnight, but there is another large event forecast for tomorrow evening and into Saturday.  More landslides seem inevitable, especially now that the deep-seated landslide systems seem to be active again.