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Home › UK Storms › Storm Bella
Archive Cat 2 · Moderate

Storm Bella

26–27 December 2020 · 2020-21 season · named by Met Office · England, Wales, Scotland

▶ Replay this storm hour by hour
the rain, the rivers and the warnings on one clock, and the moments that mattered at your door
106 mphmax gust
298flood warnings & alerts (England)
A Boxing Day storm with a UK gust of 106mph at The Needles and 54,000+ power outages; heavy rain on already-wet ground caused flooding across parts of England and Wales, including the Severn and Wye catchments.

Flood footprintEnvironment Agency warning history, England · storm total

1severe warnings
107flood warnings
190flood alerts
281areas
94counties
193rivers & seas

Counted from the Environment Agency's warning record for England (25–27 December 2020). Welsh warnings are held in a separate record and are not counted here, and FloodRadar only began recording Scottish warnings on 16 September 2026 because SEPA publishes no archive. So this is England's share of the storm, not its total.

Worst-hit areas

  • Upper River Tamar3
  • Areas near the River Nene in Peterborough and surrounding villages2
  • Eastern Yar2
  • Isolated low lying properties along the tidal River Waveney2
  • Langney Haven2
  • Lower River Wharfe2

Counties

  • North Yorkshire36
  • Kent25
  • Devon24
  • Norfolk23
  • Gloucestershire20
  • East Sussex18

Rivers & seas

  • River Great Ouse10
  • River Nene7
  • River Severn7
  • River Thames7
  • River Nidd6
  • River Ouse5

Flood mapthe storm's flood footprint

Red/amber rings mark rivers that reached or came close to their own high level during the storm — the most direct evidence of likely flooding (the gauge measures the river, not any one property). Solid dots mark each flood area's reference point, coloured by the most severe warning raised there — a warning means flooding was expected. Shaded shapes are the Environment Agency's recorded flood outlines: land actually observed flooded, published retrospectively (updated quarterly). England data only. An unshaded area means no flood was mapped here, which is not evidence none happened: the Environment Agency mapped only some floods, mapping effort rose sharply after about 2000, and surface-water flooding is largely absent from this record.

The rainstorm-total by gauge

GaugeTotal mm
Honister 123.0
Ennerdale Black Sail 106.6
Seathwaite Farm 97.8
Mickleden Middle Fell Farm 90.4
Kinsford Gate 85.0
Burnbanks 79.0
Bellever Dartmoor 75.7
White Barrow 73.9
Dartmoor 71.1
St Clether 69.0
Holne Priddons Farm 68.9
Garrigill Noonstones Hill 68.6

The riverspeak vs warning level

StationPeak% of warning
Bodiam Avenue · Daniels Brook 0.58 m 360%
Rodbourne · Gauze Brook 1.24 m 352%
Castle Foregate · Bagley Brook 1.47 m 341%
Leighton Buzzard · River Ouzel 1.09 m 333%
Crew Green · River Severn 16.96 m 326%
Todmorden Millwood · River Calder 2.45 m 325%
Skipton Eller Beck · Eller Beck 2.42 m 322%
Broom · River Arrow 1.54 m 316%
Shipston · River Stour 3.05 m 315%
Middlesbrough Albert Park Footbridge · Marton West Beck 0.48 m 312%
Worksop · River Ryton 3.26 m 311%
Olney · River Great Ouse 1.14 m 306%

Gauge records cover 25–28 December 2020 (the storm window ± a day). Frozen 3 Jul 2026.

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FloodRadar compiles Environment Agency warning history, gauge data and public reporting. It is not an emergency service and does not replace official flood warnings — always follow official guidance during a storm.