Storm Desmond
5 - 6 December 2015 - Storm Desmond brought strong winds and heavy rainfall with the worst impacts in Cumbria.
Storm Desmond was the fourth named storm of the season and brought severe gales with gusts up to 81 mph. This was accompanied by record-breaking rainfall which brought flooding to areas across the north of England.
Honister Pass in Cumbria recorded 341.4 mm of rainfall in the 24-hours up to 1800 GMT on 5 December 2015 making a new UK record.
The same period of rainfall also set a new 48-hour record (from 0900 to 0900 hrs) with 405 mm rainfall recorded at Thirlmere in Cumbria in just 38 hours.
Gust speeds and rainfall totals
| Site Name | Area | Max Gust (mph) |
|---|---|---|
| Capel Curig | Gwynedd | 81 |
| Needles Old Battery | Isle of Wight | 78 |
| High Bradfield | South Yorkshire | 77 |
| Redesdale Camp | Northumberland | 73 |
| Loftus | Cleveland | 70 |
| Aberdaron | Gwynedd | 69 |
| Charterhall | Berwickshire | 68 |
| Valley | Gwynedd | 67 |
| Site Name | Area | Rainfall Total mm |
|---|---|---|
| Thirlmere | Cumbria | 405 |
| Shap | Cumbria | 262.6 |
| Keswick | Cumbria | 178.4 |
| Blencathra | Cumbria | 174.8 |
| Capel Curig | Gwynedd | 170.6 |
| Tyndrum | Perthshire | 141 |
| Eskdalemuir | Dumfriesshire | 139.2 |
| Bainbridge | North Yorkshire | 136 |
| Cluanie Inn | Ross & Cromarty | 132.8 |
Impacts of Storm Desmond
The record-breaking rainfall associated with Storm Desmond caused severe disruption flooding 5,200 homes across Lancashire and Cumbria.
Several major roads across the north of England and Scotland were flooded and there was major disruption to rail services in the north of England while a landslide closed a section of the West Coast mainline between Preston and Carlisle.
43,000 homes across north-east England were left without power and on 5 December 61,000 homes in Lancaster lost power when the electrical substation was flooded.
Storm Desmond satellite imagery