Extraordinary persistent rainfall is behind the flooding in the UK.
As with Russia and Pakistan 2010, Texas 2011, and Australia pretty much constantly for the last decade, this is so far out of the ordinary that “natural variability” seems inadequate as an explanation. How many freak seasons do we need before we say there’s a pattern?
Thanks to Dan Olner for the pointer and the UKMO for the image.
The map at the bottom of that page shows the flood warnings now in place along the Thames, further east. The jetstream pattern causing this constant volley of storms is still doing exactly the same thing, so there's no end in sight for the next week or two at least, it seems.