Great Flood of 1968
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 | |
Date | September 1968 |
---|---|
Location | Home counties |
Deaths | None[1] |
Property damage | More than 14,000 properties flooded.[2] |
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.
![](../I/Robertson's_Jam_factory_during_the_Great_Flood_of_1968.jpg.webp)
France
In 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
- 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
- Eden, Philip. "September 1968 Floods - London cut off". www.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.