The sudden swing from the extreme dryness of February to March’s stormy weather comes as new research suggests Britons will need to prepare for greater frequency of extreme rainfall events that can lead to flash flooding.
Such events could be up to four times as frequent by 2080 compared with the 1980s, according to the Met Office.
England recorded its lowest amount of rainfall in February since 1993, and its eighth lowest since records began in 1836. The driest county, Essex, received just 3.5mm of rain in the entire month, or 8 percent of its average.
