Climate change in the UK: Flooding caused by Storm Christoph
Good Energy has collaborated with award-winning environmental photographer Toby Smith to produce a series of photo-essays visualising climate change in the UK. Toby will be documenting some of the now frequent but still unpredictable extreme weather events across the UK in 2021. The resulting photographs of Storm Christoph will serve as an illustration of how climate change is already directly affecting many aspects of our society.
Heavy rainfall and rapid snow melt has brought severe flooding to many areas of the UK. Homes have been submerged, roads impassable, businesses put once again out of action and agriculture and infrastructure flooded.
Storm Christoph is the first named storm of 2021, triggering numerous severe weather and flood alerts. Despite the continuing national COVID lockdown, thousands of properties and businesses have been evacuated as ‘Danger to Life’ warnings were enforced by local authorities. Many regions experienced flooding at their highest recorded levels in over 10 years – and the increasing frequency and severity of such extreme weather events is incredibly damaging to communities.
It was immediately obvious whilst on the ground that it wasn’t the severity of Christoph’s flooding that was remarkable to the people affected – but how frequent and certain these events are becoming. The gargantuan efforts of preparation, resilience or mitigation against the floods all adding to the individual cost and hardships – before, during and after the floods.
See more of Toby’s work on Twitter @tobysmithphoto
