Chew Stoke Flood was a heavy rain event and severe flash flood which occurred on 10 July 1968, affecting

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

and Southwest England in particular the

Chew Valley The Chew Valley is an affluent area in North Somerset, England, named after the River Chew, which rises at Chewton Mendip, and joins the River Avon at Keynsham. Technically, the area of the valley is bounded by the water catchment area of ...

and some areas of Bristol, notably Bedminster. The

River Chew The River Chew is a small river in England that flows for some through the North Somerset countryside to form the Chew Valley before merging with the River Avon. The spring from which the Chew rises is just upstream from Chewton Mendip. The ...

suffered a major flood in 1968 with serious damage to towns and villages along its route, including sweeping away the bridge at

Pensford Pensford is the largest village in the civil parish of Publow in Somerset, England. It lies in the Chew Valley, approximately south of Bristol, west of Bath and north of Wells. It is on the A37 road from Bristol to Shepton Mallet. Pensfor ...

. On 10 July 1968, torrential rainfall, with falling in 18 hours on

Chew Stoke Chew Stoke is a small village and civil parish in the affluent Chew Valley, in Somerset, England, about south of Bristol and 10 miles north of Wells. It is at the northern edge of the Mendip Hills, a region designated by the United Kingdom ...

, double the area's average rainfall for the whole of July, led to widespread flooding in the Chew Valley, and water reached the first floor of many buildings. The damage in Chew Stoke was not as severe as in some of the surrounding villages, such as

where it swept away the bridge over the A37 and damaged the railway viaduct so badly that it never reopened. It also flooded 88 properties in

Chew Magna Chew Magna is a village and civil parish within the Chew Valley in the unitary authority of Bath and North East Somerset, in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. The parish has a population of 1,149. To the south of the village is Che ...

with many being inundated with of water. Fears that the Chew Valley Lake dam would be breached caused considerable anxiety. On the southern side of the Mendip Hills at

Cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and t ...

the flow of water swept large boulders down the gorge and damaged the cafe and entrance to Gough's Cave, washing away cars. In the cave itself the flooding lasted for three days. A Spanish plume weather pattern saw a low over the northwest of Spain track across the Bay of Biscay, hot and humid air advected to the eastern side of the low leading to severe storms. The wake of the storm left 7 fatalities in the United Kingdom.

References

External links

Environment Agency, Learning the lessons: The Chew Valley floods of 1968Met Office, Chew Stoke floods 1968
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chew Stoke Flood Of 1968 Floods in England 1968 natural disasters 1968 disasters in the United Kingdom 1968 in England 1968 floods September 1968 events in the United Kingdom 20th century in Somerset

See also

References

External links