Floods could have filled 3 Albert Halls each minute

THE true extent of last month’s devastating floods has been revealed as it emerged that enough water to fill 41 Olympic-sized swimming pools flowed through three rivers in northern England every minute.

The Eden in Cumbria, the Lune in Tyneside and the Tyne in Northumberland swelled to record levels, with 1,700 cubic metres of water passing recording gauges every second.

The normal flow in the rivers is between 36 and 53 cubic metres per second, according to the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH) who released the figures as a summary of Storm Desmond’s impact.

Enough water passed each of the three measuring gauges every minute to fill the Royal Albert Hall, CEH added, revealing that the figures smashed all previous river flow records in Britain.

Storm Desmond set new rainfall records over a 24hour period when 341.4mm fell at Honister Pass in Cumbria on December 4.

The 48-hour record was broken a day later when 405.0mm was recorded at Thirlmere in Cumbria.

By December 26, large rivers in the Pennines such as the Wharfe, Nidd, Irwell and Aire, had their highest flows for more than 50 years, while upland areas in the Lake District, north Pennines and the Cairngorms had three times their normal levels of rain.

The figures come as it emerged private security teams have been drafted in to patrol Cumbria’s flood-hit areas amid concerns they will become a target for looters and vandals.

Cumbria police and the county council told the BBC the move comes after several burglaries in flooded homes, many of which have been left abandoned with broken doors and windows. The patrols are being paid for out of Cumbria county council’s flood relief fund, with staff reportedly being sourced by recruitment firm Randstad.

A spokesman for Cumbria police said: “The security officers are being used to provide additional support to the police, but have not replaced police patrols or undertaken police responsibilities.

“This a precautionary measure to ensure Cumbria remains a low crime area and not a soft target as people recover from the impact of the floods.”

A county council spokesman said: “Anyone who’s been a victim of the floods has been through more than enough already. The last thing they need is to become a victim of crime as well.”

One man has been jailed for stealing from a flooddamaged property in Cumbria in December, another is reportedly charged with burglary and theft of clothing and electrical goods in a flooded area, while a third is on bail after being arrested on suspicion of burglary from a flood-hit home.

405mm A new 24-hour rainfall record, set at Thirlmere in Cumbria on December 5 last year