Storm Desmond

4–6 December 2015 · 2015-16 season · named by Met Office · England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland

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

112 mphmax gust

341 mmpeak rainfall

293flood warnings & alerts (England)

3UK deaths

A landmark rainfall event that set the UK 24-hour rainfall record of 341.4mm at Honister Pass, causing catastrophic flooding across Cumbria (Carlisle, Kendal, Keswick, Appleby), Lancashire and the Scottish Borders; about 5,200 homes flooded and damage exceeded GBP 870 million.

Flood footprintEnvironment Agency warning history, England · storm total

57severe warnings

143flood warnings

93flood alerts

212areas

34counties

89rivers & seas

Counted from the Environment Agency's warning record for England (3–6 December 2015). 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 River Tees and Estuarine Tributaries3
River Eden at Carlisle, Rickerby Park, Swifts and Stoneyholme Golf Courses3
River Eden at Carlisle, Tesco Store Warwick Road3
River Wyre at St Michaels South3
Appleby, Holme and Chapel Street and Cherry Row2
Lower River Coquet2

Counties

Cumberland98
Westmorland and Furness67
North Yorkshire46
Northumberland36
Lancashire34
County Durham16

Rivers & seas

River Eden47
River Kent16
River Greta15
River Tyne15
River Wyre10
River Swale9

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
Thirlmere St Johns Beck	467.8
Honister	440.0
Brotherswater	437.9
Dale Head	398.2
Wet Sleddale	361.0
Burnbanks	333.2
Ennerdale Black Sail	295.2
Seathwaite Farm	292.8
Orton - Shallowford	291.4
Brathay Hall	289.6
Demings Moss	289.4
High Row	276.6

The riverspeak vs warning level

Station	Peak	% of warning
Castle Foregate · Bagley Brook	1.58 m	367%
Brookhouse Farm · Ford Green Brook	3.21 m	338%
Thirlmere · St Johns Beck	3.26 m	326%
Sands Centre, Carlisle · River Eden	7.90 m	316%
Waren Mill · Waren Burn	1.17 m	300%
Lodore · Derwentwater	4.03 m	288%
High River Keer · River Keer	2.58 m	287%
Riding Mill · River Tyne	5.99 m	285%
Stock Beck, Jewsons Yard · Stock Beck	1.69 m	282%
Far Sawrey · Windermere	2.82 m	282%
Portinscale · River Derwent	3.73 m	281%
Roe Bridge · River Brock	4.20 m	280%

Gauge records cover 3–7 December 2015 (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.