Abstract
An analysis of nearly 250 years of flood records on the river Eden at Appleby-in-Westmorland has enabled a flood frequency relationship to be established. The most severe floods were in the late 18th and early 19th century. With such a long history of flooding, some remedial measures would have been expected but the local people have, to some extent, adapted to the flood hazard by means of temporary and permanent flood proofing methods such as a cemented board across a doorway and removable flood boards. These measures were overwhelmed during the 2015 flood, as were the flood gates installed by the Environment Agency in 1998. A higher level of protection from floods at Appleby is called for.
Highlights
Forty years ago, Smith and Tobin (1979) wrote: “as a result of inadequate planning policies and partial alleviation strategies, the responsible authorities have failed to contain the flood hazard”
The most severe floods were in the late 18th and early 19th century. With such a long history of flooding, some remedial measures would have been expected but the local people have, to some extent, adapted to the flood hazard by means of temporary and permanent flood proofing methods such as a cemented board across a doorway and removable flood boards. These measures were overwhelmed during the 2015 flood, as were the flood gates installed by the Environment Agency in 1998
Even the greater use of historic flood information (Reed & Bayliss, 2001) has failed to produce a realistic assessment of the flood hazard, and subsequent meetings organised by the British Hydrological Society (Todd & Black, 2010), did not lead to much more historical flood frequency analysis
Summary
Forty years ago, Smith and Tobin (1979) wrote: “as a result of inadequate planning policies and partial alleviation strategies, the responsible authorities have failed to contain the flood hazard”. Improvements have been made in many areas of the UK, Appleby-in-Westmorland justifies the sentiments of Smith and Tobin. The lack of combining evidence is called into question in this paper, which is a description and analysis of major floods on the river Eden at Appleby from 1771. The river Eden rises on the steep edge of the Pennine Hills and flows NNW towards Appleby, where it drains a catchment area of 337 km (Figure 1). With a catchment area of 337 km, the river is most responsive to long duration rainfall from Atlantic depressions as in 1968 and 2015 (Smith & Tobin, 1979; Cumbria County Council, 2016). Most floods are winter events, mainly due to the catchment size and response time of about 7 hours, as shown by gauging station records at Great Musgrave (Cumbria County Council, 2016)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
