Storm Christoph

19–21 January 2021 · 2020-21 season · named by Met Office · England, Wales

▶ Replay this storm hour by hour the rain, the rivers and the warnings on one clock, and the moments that mattered at your door

189 mmpeak rainfall

600flood warnings & alerts (England)

A rain-led flooding storm: up to 188.8mm fell in Powys and 169mm in Lancashire, causing severe flooding across northwest England and north Wales that forced ~2,000 families to evacuate; the Dee at Bangor-on-Dee and the Mersey reached record/near-record levels, with ~400 homes flooded.

Flood footprintEnvironment Agency warning history, England · storm total

7severe warnings

285flood warnings

308flood alerts

509areas

105counties

268rivers & seas

Counted from the Environment Agency's warning record for England (18–21 January 2021). 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

Lower Dove Brooks and Egginton Brook in Derbyshire4
River Churnet and River Tean4
Stoke Trent4
Burton Trent3
Lower Dove Brooks in Staffordshire3
River Blithe and River Swarbourn3

Counties

North Yorkshire78
Derbyshire64
Staffordshire60
Worcestershire31
Shropshire30
Nottinghamshire28

Rivers & seas

River Trent30
River Severn28
River Derwent22
River Weaver14
River Wye14
River Ouse13

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

Gauge	Total mm
White Barrow	207.9
Ennerdale Black Sail	175.8
Honister	163.4
Seathwaite Farm	156.0
Footholme	151.4
Holne Priddons Farm	143.0
Chipping	142.2
Gorpley	136.0
Mickleden Middle Fell Farm	132.8
Dartmoor	131.9
Marsden Butterley	129.4
Littondale	128.2

The riverspeak vs warning level

Station	Peak	% of warning
Skipton Eller Beck · Eller Beck	2.79 m	372%
Canklow Washlands · Ulley Brook	2.87 m	369%
Prestbury Road · Wymans Brook	0.17 m	342%
Fenton Dam · Bushy Beck	5.49 m	335%
Worksop · River Ryton	3.50 m	333%
Todmorden Millwood · River Calder	2.46 m	326%
Waterhouses · River Hamps	1.49 m	320%
Hunsingore · River Nidd	2.23 m	319%
Shipston · River Stour	3.02 m	311%
Skirfare Bridge · River Skirfare	1.75 m	300%
Haslingfield Burnt Mill · River Rhee	1.19 m	298%
Whitewater Bridge · River Maun	2.36 m	295%

Gauge records cover 18–22 January 2021 (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.