Extreme weather events in UK are becoming more common, starting earlier and becoming more intense. Drought - caused by a lack of rain. Flash floods - caused by too much rain in a short period of time. Strong winds and storms. Significant storms preclude many workers from being able to report to their jobs and that can create significant declines in revenue for the duration of the inclement weather, or even a much longer period of time. What's more, consumer activity is usually suppressed during extreme weather. An enormous volume of debris dumped by the floodwaters had to be cleaned up and stagnant waters had to be re-oxygenated before being pumped back into rivers. However, worse impact of all was the contamination of all flooded areas by oil, agricultural chemicals, livestock effluent, and human sewage. I think that this is the worst impact because of its potential for causing harm to humans and other animals. Socio-economic impacts were doubtless very important to the people affected at the time; for example, some of the evacuated residents were still living in temporary accommodation several months after the event. The economic impact will have been felt by the individuals involved as well as the taxpayer, local businesses and the local authorities.
