0:00:23 > 0:00:25For all its drama and power,
0:00:25 > 0:00:28the impact of our recent extreme weather
0:00:28 > 0:00:30is NOTHING compared to history.
0:00:33 > 0:00:36Though 2014 was the wettest winter ever recorded,
0:00:36 > 0:00:39with floods of biblical magnitude,
0:00:39 > 0:00:43the human costs are not even on the same scale as in the past.
0:00:45 > 0:00:46In the 17th century,
0:00:46 > 0:00:50a devastating flood on the Somerset Levels
0:00:50 > 0:00:52killed over 1,000 people.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55And historical records show Britain has had storms
0:00:55 > 0:00:59that decimated whole regions in a single day.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07In the Great Storm of 1703,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10our Navy came close to collapse
0:01:10 > 0:01:13when 8,000 sailors perished.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17There's been plenty of extreme weather,
0:01:17 > 0:01:20but which is the worst we've ever had?
0:01:22 > 0:01:24What makes a storm the worst?
0:01:24 > 0:01:28Should it be judged by the wind speed?
0:01:28 > 0:01:29Or perhaps its duration?
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Or maybe even because of the destruction it caused?
0:01:32 > 0:01:36And if its destruction, is that measured by how widespread it was?
0:01:36 > 0:01:39Perhaps the cost of the destruction,
0:01:39 > 0:01:42or maybe even because of the number of lives that were claimed?
0:01:44 > 0:01:48In our modern world, death tolls are a fraction of those of history.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52But does that mean that our storms are somehow less momentous?
0:01:54 > 0:01:57Or is it just that roughly the same meteorological events
0:01:57 > 0:02:01can produce very different outcomes on the ground?
0:02:08 > 0:02:10I'm Dr Lucie Green.
0:02:10 > 0:02:13I spent my career as a solar scientist
0:02:13 > 0:02:15studying the sun's effect on us.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17My work builds on a wealth of knowledge
0:02:17 > 0:02:20created by centuries of weather science.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25Mostly, these breakthroughs in our understanding
0:02:25 > 0:02:28have been driven by the need to combat the extremes of weather
0:02:28 > 0:02:30Britain is subject to,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33perched out on the exposed edge of the Atlantic.
0:02:34 > 0:02:37We haven't just been battered by brutal weather,
0:02:37 > 0:02:41we have bettered it by learning to adapt to its challenges.
0:02:41 > 0:02:45Modern Britain was forged by the extremes of its weather.
0:02:47 > 0:02:51One biting winter so cruelly exposed our national reliance on coal
0:02:51 > 0:02:55that Plan B accelerated in the nuclear age.
0:02:56 > 0:02:58When the Thames froze over in 1814,
0:02:58 > 0:03:01civil engineers were able to prevent a reoccurrence
0:03:01 > 0:03:04with a new generation of sleeker bridges
0:03:04 > 0:03:06that improved the river's flow.
0:03:07 > 0:03:11And pioneering meteorologists took to the skies
0:03:11 > 0:03:15to make the long-held dream of forecasting the weather a reality.
0:03:15 > 0:03:18Risking death from asphyxiation,
0:03:18 > 0:03:22some flew higher than Everest to find the sky's secrets.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30Join me on a journey through some of the most terrifying weather
0:03:30 > 0:03:32to ever hit our shores, and find out
0:03:32 > 0:03:36how these extreme events tested us British to our limits.
0:03:50 > 0:03:55On the 30th January, 1607, at roughly 9:00 in the morning,
0:03:55 > 0:03:58a wall of water, moving faster than a greyhound can run,
0:03:58 > 0:04:00hammered up the Bristol Channel
0:04:00 > 0:04:04and overran the rudimentary sea defences here in North Somerset.
0:04:04 > 0:04:07It wiped out entire villages, and formed an inland sea
0:04:07 > 0:04:10that was over three feet deep
0:04:10 > 0:04:13and stretched for over 200 square miles.
0:04:27 > 0:04:30The waters raced in from the Bristol Channel,
0:04:30 > 0:04:34over there on the horizon, and came all the way up to Glastonbury Tor.
0:04:34 > 0:04:38The extent of the flooding, and the devastation it caused,
0:04:38 > 0:04:41meant that as many as 1,000 people died.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44And these were poor people from rural communities -
0:04:44 > 0:04:47men, women and children who worked on the land.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50And where I'm standing now became an island.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04The water breached both sides of the Bristol Channel,
0:05:04 > 0:05:08flooding communities in South Wales and North Somerset.
0:05:20 > 0:05:23Striking in the morning, the floods hit
0:05:23 > 0:05:26at a time when everyone had left their homes
0:05:26 > 0:05:28and were outside working.
0:05:32 > 0:05:35The scale of the destruction was catastrophic.
0:05:35 > 0:05:38Whole villages were obliterated.
0:05:41 > 0:05:45And in this time before the scientific age,
0:05:45 > 0:05:48the terrified survivors looked to God for answers.
0:05:49 > 0:05:53This is All Saints' Church in Kingston Seymour.
0:05:53 > 0:05:56And even though we're roughly one mile from the coast here,
0:05:56 > 0:06:00the floodwaters came about five feet up the side of the building.
0:06:00 > 0:06:02It must have been shocking to see,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05and it prompted a moment of deep religious reflection,
0:06:05 > 0:06:09with a widespread conclusion that the waters were the result
0:06:09 > 0:06:11of God's punishment
0:06:11 > 0:06:12for the sins of the nation.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20This disaster sparked a host of written pamphlets
0:06:20 > 0:06:23that declared the floods a divine "warning".
0:06:24 > 0:06:28In Britain's overwhelmingly agricultural society,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30with everyone working in the fields,
0:06:30 > 0:06:34our ancestors were especially vulnerable to extreme weather.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38When the heavens opened, there was little they could do
0:06:38 > 0:06:41other than look to the same heavens for salvation.
0:06:45 > 0:06:50Today, the "hand of God" has been replaced by the insights of science.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55So, what do you think happened on that fateful day?
0:06:55 > 0:06:58We know that at 9 o'clock in the morning, it was high tide.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00And it was one of the biggest tides of the year.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02And we know it was really windy on that morning.
0:07:02 > 0:07:05We know it was a fearful storm with strong westerly winds,
0:07:05 > 0:07:07and on top of that, there was a storm surge.
0:07:07 > 0:07:10And a storm surge is what the weather does to the sea surface.
0:07:10 > 0:07:14The low pressure and the strong winds can cause the sea to rise
0:07:14 > 0:07:16by 2 to 3m around the British coastline.
0:07:16 > 0:07:20And that's a storm surge, and it's an addition of sea water
0:07:20 > 0:07:22over hundreds of square kilometres,
0:07:22 > 0:07:25which on top of that already big tide,
0:07:25 > 0:07:27would have just rushed over the top of any sea wall
0:07:27 > 0:07:30and there'd have been nothing to stop that volume of water.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39Now, there is a competing theory, isn't there,
0:07:39 > 0:07:43that it was possibly caused by a tsunami rather than a storm surge?
0:07:43 > 0:07:44What do you think about that?
0:07:44 > 0:07:47It has been suggested, but there's really no need to suggest that.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50We know that the tide was the highest tide in a century.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53We're almost certain from the historical records that it was windy.
0:07:53 > 0:07:56That's what all of the parish registers
0:07:56 > 0:07:58and all of the chronicles of the time say.
0:07:58 > 0:08:01And the other thing to take into consideration is that
0:08:01 > 0:08:0312 hours later on the east of the country, in East Anglia,
0:08:03 > 0:08:05they had flooding there as well.
0:08:05 > 0:08:07So the same weather system then wreaked havoc
0:08:07 > 0:08:09on the other side of the country.
0:08:09 > 0:08:15Whatever the cause, the impact of the flood was devastating.
0:08:22 > 0:08:24For the peasants farming the fields,
0:08:24 > 0:08:27there was nowhere to escape as the waters raced in.
0:08:28 > 0:08:33In the 17th century, few people could swim and there was no warning.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38The extreme death toll resulted from the farming methods of the era
0:08:38 > 0:08:40as much as the weather itself.
0:08:45 > 0:08:49In 1607, the floods took victims
0:08:49 > 0:08:51because they were working in the fields.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Today, those jobs have been replaced by machinery.
0:08:54 > 0:08:59So if an identical flood were to happen now,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02would it still be viewed as an extreme event?
0:09:03 > 0:09:07In death toll, certainly not,
0:09:07 > 0:09:10but the devastation was so severe,
0:09:10 > 0:09:14such events spurred learned men to look beyond the divine for answers.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Enlightenment science began the centuries-long quest
0:09:19 > 0:09:22for the answers to Britain's extreme weather.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26They started collecting data,
0:09:26 > 0:09:29and the 17th century saw a new concept -
0:09:29 > 0:09:30the weather diary.
0:09:33 > 0:09:35When I was a young girl, I kept a weather diary,
0:09:35 > 0:09:37and this is one of them.
0:09:37 > 0:09:40Every single day, I would make a note
0:09:40 > 0:09:42of whether it was sunny and warm
0:09:42 > 0:09:45or cold and windy or wet,
0:09:45 > 0:09:48and also how the weather affected my daily life.
0:09:48 > 0:09:52These were perhaps the first steps of the scientist coming out in me.
0:09:52 > 0:09:55But little did I realise at the time, that I was following
0:09:55 > 0:09:58in the footsteps of a 300-year-old tradition.
0:10:05 > 0:10:08One of the early diaries was kept by a man
0:10:08 > 0:10:11known by some as the father of meteorology.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18He was first curator of experiments at the Royal Society,
0:10:18 > 0:10:21and his archives are held here today.
0:10:21 > 0:10:24But he's also something of a forgotten genius.
0:10:24 > 0:10:26There are no known images of him,
0:10:26 > 0:10:30even through he laid the foundations for weather forecasting.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36That pioneer was Robert Hooke,
0:10:36 > 0:10:38and he turned the art of chronicling the weather
0:10:38 > 0:10:40into a scientific endeavour.
0:10:43 > 0:10:46This guide was written by Robert Hooke
0:10:46 > 0:10:49and in the text, he lays out a methodology
0:10:49 > 0:10:51to turn the record of weather
0:10:51 > 0:10:54into something that's scientifically useful.
0:10:54 > 0:10:58For the first time, a set of instructions were created
0:10:58 > 0:11:03to tell people how to monitor wind, temperature and air pressure.
0:11:03 > 0:11:06It's a far cry from the more descriptive journals
0:11:06 > 0:11:11that I kept as a child, and it meant that weather turned from something
0:11:11 > 0:11:14that was merely opinion into something that was
0:11:14 > 0:11:16scientifically useful information.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20Robert Hooke's far-sighted idea
0:11:20 > 0:11:25was for a network of scientific observers across the kingdom
0:11:25 > 0:11:27to make weather deducible,
0:11:27 > 0:11:29an early vision of a Met Office.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Hooke died in March 1703,
0:11:35 > 0:11:38just months before one of Britain's extreme weather events.
0:11:41 > 0:11:45Documenting this would fall to a more famous writer.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49Once he could get out of jail, that is.
0:11:51 > 0:11:55November 1703, and a "friendless and distress'd" man
0:11:55 > 0:11:56is released from Newgate Prison,
0:11:56 > 0:12:00which stood on that site just behind me, now the Old Bailey.
0:12:02 > 0:12:04The man described himself as
0:12:04 > 0:12:06"ruined" and "without hope of deliverance".
0:12:06 > 0:12:08Yet an event was about to happen
0:12:08 > 0:12:11that would both devastate the country,
0:12:11 > 0:12:13but also change this man's fortunes.
0:12:13 > 0:12:15His name? Daniel Defoe,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20and he was about to chronicle the greatest storm in Britain's history.
0:12:32 > 0:12:36It swept in from the Atlantic, pounding Britain with
0:12:36 > 0:12:40hurricane-force winds of up to 100mph.
0:12:42 > 0:12:46The storm path stretched from Birmingham to the south coast,
0:12:46 > 0:12:49and ripped up the country as it moved east.
0:12:50 > 0:12:52Roofs tore off.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54Houses blew apart.
0:12:56 > 0:13:01By the time the maelstrom subsided, over 8,000 Britons were dead.
0:13:08 > 0:13:12Daniel Defoe was staggered by the ferocity, the damage and the impact.
0:13:12 > 0:13:16Surely such a mighty storm should be remembered?
0:13:18 > 0:13:20He placed adverts in two newspapers
0:13:20 > 0:13:22and solicited accounts from across the country
0:13:22 > 0:13:26to "preserve the Remembrance of the late dreadful tempest".
0:13:27 > 0:13:29His call reached across the country
0:13:29 > 0:13:32to mayors, harbour masters and clergymen.
0:13:32 > 0:13:36Eyewitnesses recorded like never before,
0:13:36 > 0:13:40their testimonies brought to life by modern-day counterparts.
0:13:40 > 0:13:44"On one side whereof runneth the river Severn,
0:13:44 > 0:13:47"which by reason of the violence of the late storm
0:13:47 > 0:13:51"beat down and tore to pieces the sea wall in many places,
0:13:51 > 0:13:53"and levelled it almost with the ground,
0:13:53 > 0:13:57"forcing vast quantities of earth a great distance from the shore,
0:13:57 > 0:14:02"and stones, many of which were above a hundredweight."
0:14:05 > 0:14:08"In the midst of this churchyard grew a vast tree,
0:14:08 > 0:14:11"thought to be the most large and flourishing elm in the land,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14"which was torn up by the roots,
0:14:14 > 0:14:17"some of which are really bigger than one's middle,
0:14:17 > 0:14:18"and several than a man's thigh."
0:14:18 > 0:14:21"Damages about our church testify
0:14:21 > 0:14:25"how strong and boisterous the winds were,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29"for they unbedded three sheets of lead upon the uppermost roof,
0:14:29 > 0:14:32"and rolled them up like so much paper."
0:14:34 > 0:14:39Daniel Defoe compiled these reports into a unique book, The Storm.
0:14:41 > 0:14:45And this is it, the product of Daniel Defoe's diligent efforts.
0:14:45 > 0:14:48It's astonishing to be holding it.
0:14:48 > 0:14:52This is the definitive account of an extreme weather event
0:14:52 > 0:14:54from over 300 years ago,
0:14:54 > 0:14:58and each page carries its own personal and touching story.
0:14:58 > 0:15:02And it even smells like a musty old room.
0:15:02 > 0:15:05One account is from Brighton, where I used to live,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09or Brighthelmston, as it was known then, and it reads:
0:15:09 > 0:15:12"Brighthelmston being an old built and poor,
0:15:12 > 0:15:13"though' populous town,
0:15:13 > 0:15:16"was most miserably torn to pieces
0:15:16 > 0:15:19"and made the very Picture of Desolation,
0:15:19 > 0:15:22"that it look't as if an Enemy had sack't it."
0:15:22 > 0:15:26This reads more like a war journal than a story about weather.
0:15:28 > 0:15:32If the storm was harsh on land, it was horrific at sea.
0:15:40 > 0:15:46Seeking refuge, 700 merchant ships were smashed together in the Thames.
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Around the coast, a fifth of all sailors in Britain's Navy
0:15:51 > 0:15:55were drowned, and over 100 ships wrecked.
0:15:59 > 0:16:04At the time, British sea power was fuelling dreams of a global empire.
0:16:04 > 0:16:07The storm came close to halting this.
0:16:11 > 0:16:15It was the first weather event to be a news story on a national scale.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Much of this was down to Defoe's reportage,
0:16:20 > 0:16:23but he also strived to make the eyewitness accounts he gathered
0:16:23 > 0:16:27as scientifically valid as they were dramatic.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31He didn't just advance journalism, but weather science too.
0:16:33 > 0:16:35This would be a continuing theme
0:16:35 > 0:16:38in Britain's encounters with extreme weather.
0:16:38 > 0:16:40We learned from them, and began to see
0:16:40 > 0:16:43how to control the weather's worst impacts.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48Up to the 18th and into the 19th century
0:16:48 > 0:16:50was a period where, in some years,
0:16:50 > 0:16:53average winter temperatures were as much as
0:16:53 > 0:16:55two degrees lower than today.
0:16:55 > 0:16:58It has become known as the Little Ice Age.
0:16:59 > 0:17:03This meant bleak winters, food and fuel shortages -
0:17:03 > 0:17:06in short, much suffering and hunger.
0:17:08 > 0:17:12The raw cold gave birth to London's very own glacier
0:17:12 > 0:17:15as the Thames froze over.
0:17:16 > 0:17:21London, the world's richest port, blocked solid.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24An economic disaster.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32Ship owners fretted, but the rest of London partied,
0:17:32 > 0:17:34at frost fairs on the ice.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39With the authorities desperate to get the Thames moving,
0:17:39 > 0:17:43merchants and buskers plied their trade on London's gateway.
0:17:45 > 0:17:49Every kind of food was for sale on that impromptu street -
0:17:49 > 0:17:52there was coffee, absinthe, winter ale,
0:17:52 > 0:17:55even one account of a sheep being roasted.
0:17:55 > 0:17:57They sold it for a shilling a slice
0:17:57 > 0:18:00and rather ingeniously marketed it as "Lapland mutton".
0:18:02 > 0:18:06The raucous feasting was washed down with home brew.
0:18:06 > 0:18:12Some of the stalls sold "purl", a brew of gin and wormwood wine.
0:18:12 > 0:18:13But due to its ruinous effects,
0:18:13 > 0:18:16these stalls became known as "fuddling tents".
0:18:16 > 0:18:18And for their visitors,
0:18:18 > 0:18:21they must have had a perilous journey home across the ice.
0:18:24 > 0:18:29Rowdy crowds, ice and potent booze - a health and safety nightmare.
0:18:31 > 0:18:34'I asked an expert on the frost fairs, Georgina Young,
0:18:34 > 0:18:37'just how dangerous it could be.'
0:18:37 > 0:18:40Well, they could be quite hazardous. The prints we have of the frost fairs
0:18:40 > 0:18:43show people falling through the ice, they show people slipping over.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44And slips and trips
0:18:44 > 0:18:46could be quite serious at that time.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49If you broke a bone in 1814, that was no minor thing.
0:18:51 > 0:18:53How many accidents were there?
0:18:53 > 0:18:55Well, the records aren't all that clear.
0:18:55 > 0:18:58But we certainly know that on several occasions at frost fairs,
0:18:58 > 0:19:00people did fall through the ice and die,
0:19:00 > 0:19:03and there are accounts of people having been unable to be rescued,
0:19:03 > 0:19:07having fallen through. But I think the number of incidents
0:19:07 > 0:19:10of slipping and tripping must have been enormous.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15The frost fair left a legacy of some bizarre mementos,
0:19:15 > 0:19:17which the museum has preserved.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22- What's this? - This, as far as we know,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26is the only surviving piece of gingerbread from the 1814 frost fair.
0:19:26 > 0:19:29So gingerbread was quite commonly sold on the ice.
0:19:29 > 0:19:32Spicy foods go down well in a cold climate.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35So gingerbread was sold. It was obviously sold to be eaten,
0:19:35 > 0:19:38but this has a lovely story, in that the family retained it.
0:19:38 > 0:19:41So the person who bought this actually hung onto it,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44and passed it on to their daughter, who then passed it to the museum.
0:19:44 > 0:19:47So they kind of kept something that was supposed to be eaten
0:19:47 > 0:19:48on the ice and just held on to it
0:19:48 > 0:19:50until it became so special as a memento
0:19:50 > 0:19:53that they thought it's worthy of museum preservation.
0:19:53 > 0:19:54And how about this one?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57This was also "printed on the Thames" as well, is it?
0:19:57 > 0:19:58This is really amazing.
0:19:58 > 0:20:02It's printed on the very last day of the very last frost fair.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06And it's a comic message from A Thaw to J Frost -
0:20:06 > 0:20:09or Jack Frost - telling him to quit the Thames.
0:20:09 > 0:20:11It's a indication that the ice is starting to melt
0:20:11 > 0:20:13and the days of the frost fair are numbered.
0:20:13 > 0:20:16So, a sort of tongue-in-cheek message for people to
0:20:16 > 0:20:18- get back on the safety of dry land? - Absolutely, it's one of
0:20:18 > 0:20:20the last things that would have been
0:20:20 > 0:20:22printed on the ice before everyone packed up and got off.
0:20:22 > 0:20:24LUCIE LAUGHS
0:20:27 > 0:20:31It's 200 years since anyone bought souvenirs at a frost fair.
0:20:33 > 0:20:36That's partly because our winters are slightly milder,
0:20:36 > 0:20:40but it's also because of the actions of 19th-century engineers
0:20:40 > 0:20:43striving to improve navigation on the Thames.
0:20:45 > 0:20:48To do this they removed one ancient river hazard -
0:20:48 > 0:20:52the chaotic Old London Bridge.
0:20:54 > 0:20:56This picture shows Old London Bridge with
0:20:56 > 0:20:59the frost fair in the foreground.
0:20:59 > 0:21:01The view is the same as the one behind me.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04You can see that the old bridge was supported
0:21:04 > 0:21:07by this series of very narrow arches.
0:21:07 > 0:21:09Quite different to the bridge today.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13And that's key - these narrow arches hampered the flow of the river
0:21:13 > 0:21:17and trapped pieces of floating ice, essentially forming an ice dam,
0:21:17 > 0:21:22whereas today the fast-flowing river moving through the broad arches
0:21:22 > 0:21:24freezes over much less easily.
0:21:26 > 0:21:30The Old London Bridge also acted like a weir, preventing
0:21:30 > 0:21:34the salty, tidal Thames mixing with upstream fresh water.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37All the newer incarnations of the bridge
0:21:37 > 0:21:40allow brackish water further upstream.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Just as salt is used to prevent icy roads,
0:21:42 > 0:21:45salt water acts as an antifreeze here.
0:21:46 > 0:21:49And the river itself has changed dramatically.
0:21:49 > 0:21:52In 1870, embankments were built,
0:21:52 > 0:21:54halving its width and speeding its flow.
0:21:56 > 0:22:00The Thames once lapped the river gardens of the Strand.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03In fact, strand means "shore" in Old English.
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Now the river is over 100m away.
0:22:09 > 0:22:13The water gates of Somerset House once welcomed Admiralty yachts,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16but now just greet delivery trucks.
0:22:19 > 0:22:23So yes, the winters were on average colder back then.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26But the Thames froze because it was quite a different river.
0:22:30 > 0:22:34The Victorians had shown they had the power to change
0:22:34 > 0:22:35the impact of severe weather.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39And soon, solitary weather watchers were being
0:22:39 > 0:22:42organised into a countrywide network of observers.
0:22:45 > 0:22:48But Victorian meteorologists were caught by surprise
0:22:48 > 0:22:52when Britain's coldest ever temperature was recorded in 1895.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57I'm travelling into the Cairngorm Mountains to visit
0:22:57 > 0:23:00the site of this record-breaking low
0:23:00 > 0:23:05and to find the reasons behind this extreme - in the village of Braemar.
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Welcome to Ice Station Braemar.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15The inside of this curious little hut holds the record for
0:23:15 > 0:23:19the official coldest place in Britain not once but twice over.
0:23:19 > 0:23:22In 1895 and again in 1982,
0:23:22 > 0:23:26a mind-numbing temperature of minus 27.2 Celsius
0:23:26 > 0:23:28was recorded in this building.
0:23:28 > 0:23:31That's ten degrees lower than your freezer.
0:23:34 > 0:23:36It may have lost its grandeur,
0:23:36 > 0:23:38but this is a royal palace to weather data.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44The station was a gift from Queen Victoria's husband
0:23:44 > 0:23:47Prince Albert back in 1855.
0:23:48 > 0:23:52Robert Hooke's 17th-century dream of predicting the weather
0:23:52 > 0:23:56through diligent measurements was realised in the Victorian Age.
0:24:00 > 0:24:03From the heart of the village, it is hard to see why
0:24:03 > 0:24:05Braemar gets such extremes.
0:24:05 > 0:24:09It becomes clearer as you head into the surrounding heights.
0:24:14 > 0:24:19For most of the UK, in the coastal regions, the sea regulates
0:24:19 > 0:24:25our temperature. Scorching summer heats are cooled by sea breezes,
0:24:25 > 0:24:30whilst in the winter, the warmth of the ocean heats the air around us.
0:24:30 > 0:24:33But Braemar is right in the heart of Scotland.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37It's over 50 miles to the sea in every direction.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40There's nothing here to stop those extreme temperatures.
0:24:43 > 0:24:47These mountains are stunning, but they are also a mammoth parasol.
0:24:51 > 0:24:54In midwinter, the sun is so low in the sky
0:24:54 > 0:24:58it barely makes it above the peaks surrounding Braemar,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01and the village gets less than 3½ hours of sunshine a day.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07From this viewpoint, you can see that Braemar
0:25:07 > 0:25:09is nestled in the bottom of this valley,
0:25:09 > 0:25:12and that turns it into something that is known as a frost hollow.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18During the night, cold, dense air sinks down onto the town
0:25:18 > 0:25:20and the temperature plummets.
0:25:20 > 0:25:23So if you put all these things together, you can see why
0:25:23 > 0:25:26the town's weather station has the record
0:25:26 > 0:25:28for coldest temperature in Britain.
0:25:33 > 0:25:36Braemar's weather centre was just a tiny part of
0:25:36 > 0:25:38a growing network of weather stations.
0:25:39 > 0:25:43Since its birth in 1854, the Met Office had begun cataloguing
0:25:43 > 0:25:46every nuance of Britain's meteorology.
0:25:47 > 0:25:51Archived data meant weather patterns could be detected,
0:25:51 > 0:25:54giving advance warning of extremes.
0:25:54 > 0:25:56And not just for bitter winters.
0:26:00 > 0:26:04During one searing heat wave in 1858, the Thames
0:26:04 > 0:26:08turned into a concentrated, fermenting mass of sewage.
0:26:11 > 0:26:14Parliament considered relocating as temperatures hit
0:26:14 > 0:26:20record highs of over 32 degrees and the smell became hard to bear.
0:26:20 > 0:26:22Surely better science could prevent this?
0:26:24 > 0:26:26Ambitions were high.
0:26:26 > 0:26:29Victorian researchers had tamed the chemical elements,
0:26:29 > 0:26:31making reactions predictable.
0:26:35 > 0:26:37Were the skies also a giant laboratory
0:26:37 > 0:26:40to be understood and controlled?
0:26:40 > 0:26:43Scientists might then become rainmakers and defeat drought.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50To gain knowledge, some meteorologists
0:26:50 > 0:26:52would put themselves in peril.
0:26:53 > 0:26:57James Glaisher was more weather boffin than Victorian adventurer.
0:26:57 > 0:26:59Yet, in the daring spirit of the age,
0:26:59 > 0:27:03he realised the best way to study the sky was to be up in it.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12In 1862, Glaisher raised funds for the Mammoth -
0:27:12 > 0:27:14then the largest balloon ever built.
0:27:16 > 0:27:19Once full of hydrogen, the balloon was cast off.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22The only way down again was to pull a release valve.
0:27:32 > 0:27:35They had a pilot - Henry Coxwell -
0:27:35 > 0:27:38but finding a scientist proved fruitless.
0:27:39 > 0:27:43Eventually, the 53-year-old Glaisher agreed.
0:27:43 > 0:27:47Unbeknown to him, he was about to risk his life for meteorology.
0:27:49 > 0:27:50Could the Mammoth help him
0:27:50 > 0:27:53discover the mysteries of the atmosphere?
0:27:59 > 0:28:04To do this, Glaisher took with him more than 20 instruments.
0:28:04 > 0:28:07One was to prove important - the wet/dry thermometer.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14As liquid water becomes vapour, it chills its surroundings.
0:28:16 > 0:28:18That's why humans sweat to cool down.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22By measuring the strength of this cooling,
0:28:22 > 0:28:25you can estimate how dry the air must be.
0:28:26 > 0:28:29The drier the air, the lower its humidity.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32The key to the experiments is this. It's a hygrometer.
0:28:32 > 0:28:37It contains two thermometers - a wet thermometer and a dry thermometer.
0:28:37 > 0:28:40On the wet one, the water evaporates and it lowers
0:28:40 > 0:28:41the temperature reading.
0:28:41 > 0:28:43Whereas the dry one just gives us the temperature
0:28:43 > 0:28:45of the ambient air around it.
0:28:45 > 0:28:48The difference in temperature on these two thermometers
0:28:48 > 0:28:52can be used to tell the humidity of the air around us.
0:28:52 > 0:28:56So on the wet thermometer I have a reading of eight degrees,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00and on the dry I have 14 degrees, and I can use those numbers,
0:29:00 > 0:29:05look them up on my chart... and I see that I get
0:29:05 > 0:29:09a relative humidity of about 24%.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12And that's at a height of 500ft above ground level.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15This is exactly the type of instrument that Glaisher
0:29:15 > 0:29:19would have used on his early, pioneering balloon flights.
0:29:22 > 0:29:24Rising higher and higher,
0:29:24 > 0:29:28Glaisher found humidity dropped, with air getting ever drier.
0:29:30 > 0:29:34He also observed that the atmosphere was like a swirling sea,
0:29:34 > 0:29:37with different currents moving at different speeds.
0:29:38 > 0:29:42Glaisher had taken an early step in understanding
0:29:42 > 0:29:44high-altitude conditions.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Today, we know such currents - like the jet stream -
0:29:47 > 0:29:50are key drivers of Britain's weather systems.
0:29:54 > 0:29:58My balloon barely reached 2,000ft.
0:29:58 > 0:30:00The courageous Glaisher went much, much higher.
0:30:07 > 0:30:11By now, the duo had soared to the height of Everest.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15With the higher altitude, oxygen levels dropped,
0:30:15 > 0:30:18and Glaisher was soon struggling to breathe.
0:30:25 > 0:30:29Glaisher's sight started to fail, he lost control of his limbs
0:30:29 > 0:30:33and then he blacked out. But still, the balloon rose.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41The pilot, Coxwell, could not release the balloon's gas.
0:30:41 > 0:30:45As it rose, the balloon had spun wildly,
0:30:45 > 0:30:48wrapping the gas release cord into the rigging
0:30:48 > 0:30:50and out of the men's reach.
0:30:50 > 0:30:54With no way down, the balloon soared higher and higher.
0:30:54 > 0:30:55Death looked inevitable.
0:30:58 > 0:31:04The balloon was seven miles up - higher than a jumbo jet.
0:31:04 > 0:31:06Glaisher was unconscious.
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Now it was left to Coxwell alone to bring them down.
0:31:11 > 0:31:14He climbed into the rigging to try and seize the release valve,
0:31:14 > 0:31:18but his frostbitten hands were losing feeling.
0:31:19 > 0:31:23Instead, he was forced to pull the release valve with his teeth.
0:31:23 > 0:31:24It worked.
0:31:26 > 0:31:29Finally, the balloon began to descend.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34For a full seven minutes, James Glaisher was out cold.
0:31:35 > 0:31:39Finally, Glaisher awoke. "I have been insensible," he said.
0:31:41 > 0:31:43And then got straight back to making his measurements.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49Glaisher's readings suggest he had reached
0:31:49 > 0:31:53a world-record-setting 37,000ft,
0:31:53 > 0:31:55higher than any human before.
0:31:57 > 0:32:00He had helped our understanding of the atmosphere,
0:32:00 > 0:32:03but the dream of switching off drought remained elusive.
0:32:05 > 0:32:09EPIC, STIRRING MUSIC
0:32:10 > 0:32:13Meanwhile, The Met Office's influence was growing.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17By harnessing greater scientific understanding of the processes
0:32:17 > 0:32:21that drive weather, the accuracy of its forecasts was improving.
0:32:22 > 0:32:26At the start of the 20th century, radio technology began to help
0:32:26 > 0:32:29supply data more swiftly to forecasters.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38Yet extremes were still often surprises.
0:32:40 > 0:32:47London flooded in 1928 and drought struck between 1932 and '34.
0:32:50 > 0:32:52But these were nothing compared to weather
0:32:52 > 0:32:55so extreme it brought the country close to collapse.
0:33:02 > 0:33:06In 1947, Britain was limping from a global conflict.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Its infrastructure was crippled and the economy near bankruptcy.
0:33:12 > 0:33:15A vicious winter was the last thing the nation needed.
0:33:17 > 0:33:20It came from nowhere.
0:33:20 > 0:33:25On the 17th of January, 1947, it was a balmy 14 degrees Celsius.
0:33:25 > 0:33:27But the temperature soon dropped.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30The first frost came in on January the 20th,
0:33:30 > 0:33:34and it was followed three days later by snow.
0:33:34 > 0:33:39Snow fell somewhere in Britain every single day for almost eight weeks.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42It was the heaviest snowfall that the country had experienced
0:33:42 > 0:33:44since records began.
0:33:47 > 0:33:49The snow ground everything to a halt.
0:33:49 > 0:33:53The rail network, on which the country still depended,
0:33:53 > 0:33:55blocked up with 15ft drifts.
0:33:58 > 0:34:01Coal still fuelled Britain then, but the mines were struggling.
0:34:01 > 0:34:0675,000 extra miners were needed to meet demand
0:34:06 > 0:34:09and there was no cash to buy imported coal.
0:34:11 > 0:34:14The Minister of Fuel and Power, Manny Shinwell,
0:34:14 > 0:34:16had faith that the new spirit
0:34:16 > 0:34:21of his recently nationalised coal industry would increase its yield.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24But he had gambled on a warm winter.
0:34:24 > 0:34:28Coal stocks, which were already low after the Second World War,
0:34:28 > 0:34:31were at breaking point even before the winter weather set in.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Now they reached crisis levels.
0:34:36 > 0:34:40The total reliance on coal for heating, for the rail network,
0:34:40 > 0:34:44for power stations and for industry left Britain vulnerable.
0:34:45 > 0:34:50The place just shut down! Two million workers were sent home.
0:34:52 > 0:34:54But home brought few comforts.
0:34:56 > 0:34:58I think this is awful. No coal,
0:34:58 > 0:35:02no toast, no bread, no fat, no bacon, no eggs...
0:35:03 > 0:35:07People queued for hours to collect coal.
0:35:07 > 0:35:08They tried to keep smiling through
0:35:08 > 0:35:10as they waited for their meagre ration.
0:35:12 > 0:35:16The victors of World War II struggled in houses with little coal
0:35:16 > 0:35:19to heat them or power to light them.
0:35:19 > 0:35:22Government opponents talked of "shivering with Shinwell".
0:35:24 > 0:35:26There are many moving stories.
0:35:26 > 0:35:31At one Manchester depot, a man demanded extra coal at gunpoint.
0:35:31 > 0:35:33When the gunman came before magistrates,
0:35:33 > 0:35:35it was clear where their sympathies lay.
0:35:35 > 0:35:39He was fined £1 and had his revolver confiscated.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43In desperation, people burned anything they could get hold of -
0:35:43 > 0:35:46railway sleepers, coal dust mixed with cement -
0:35:46 > 0:35:49some even burning shoes.
0:35:49 > 0:35:51The country was dying of cold.
0:35:54 > 0:35:57In the first three months of 1947,
0:35:57 > 0:36:01over 25,000 more people died than the previous year.
0:36:04 > 0:36:06How many for lack of warmth?
0:36:09 > 0:36:14This harsh lesson taught us not to rely solely on coal for electricity.
0:36:15 > 0:36:16As the winter warmed,
0:36:16 > 0:36:19plans for nuclear power stations were raced through.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26Reliable electricity from uranium is 1947's legacy.
0:36:26 > 0:36:29No Briton would be forced to burn their shoes again.
0:36:35 > 0:36:37Just a few years later in 1955,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40Scotland suffered another brutal winter.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45Blizzards swept in and cut off isolated regions.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47Yet, this time, the nation was ready.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50The Government launched Operation Snowdrop.
0:36:51 > 0:36:55NEWSREEL: 'The pilot and crew look down upon a white wilderness
0:36:55 > 0:36:57'searching for letters spelt out in the snow.'
0:36:57 > 0:37:01The stricken highlanders were told to write out signals in the show.
0:37:01 > 0:37:06F for food, D for doctor and C for cattle fodder.
0:37:10 > 0:37:1430 helicopters and many planes dropped fresh bread,
0:37:14 > 0:37:16tins and even cigarettes.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21Flight after flight took off from HMS Glory.
0:37:24 > 0:37:27Operation Snowdrop shows that our memory of extreme weather
0:37:27 > 0:37:30can change depending on our preparation.
0:37:31 > 0:37:35But sometimes there's no time to ready yourself for the worst.
0:37:57 > 0:37:59This is Lynmouth on the edge of Exmoor.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02It's incredibly calm and tranquil today,
0:38:02 > 0:38:07but on the evening of August 15th, 1952, it was the scene of what
0:38:07 > 0:38:11one witness called "destruction worse than the heaviest Blitz.
0:38:11 > 0:38:14"It stuns the human mind," they said.
0:38:14 > 0:38:18On that evening, from out of nowhere, a wall of water came
0:38:18 > 0:38:21crashing down this street carrying with it
0:38:21 > 0:38:24over 100,000 tonnes of debris.
0:38:24 > 0:38:26Huge boulders ripped up the road,
0:38:26 > 0:38:28over 20 bridges were obliterated,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31almost 100 buildings destroyed,
0:38:31 > 0:38:34but worst of all, 34 people lost their lives.
0:38:41 > 0:38:43Lynmouth - a picture postcard town -
0:38:43 > 0:38:46was at the height of the holiday season.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Many of the tourists were staying close to the river.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57While Britain slept, Lynmouth was savaged.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01Dawn revealed the carnage.
0:39:04 > 0:39:09I am now standing on the front steps of my hotel.
0:39:09 > 0:39:13What you see in front of you, this raging torrent,
0:39:13 > 0:39:20was originally the main road from Minehead through Lynmouth to Lynton.
0:39:20 > 0:39:27About half-past nine there was a tremendous roar.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32The West Lyn had broken its banks and dashed against the side of
0:39:32 > 0:39:33the hotel, bringing with it
0:39:33 > 0:39:36thousands of tonnes of rocks and debris.
0:39:37 > 0:39:42At about 2am the rear portion of the hotel collapsed
0:39:42 > 0:39:44with a tremendous roar.
0:39:46 > 0:39:53But luckily, the main building stood and we survived the night.
0:40:06 > 0:40:09The flash flood started far from Lynmouth,
0:40:09 > 0:40:11high on the hills of Exmoor.
0:40:13 > 0:40:17It began when 9 inches - or 23cm -
0:40:17 > 0:40:20of rain fell in 24 hours.
0:40:20 > 0:40:23Three months' rain in a single day.
0:40:25 > 0:40:30Hitting ground already saturated, the rain simply raced into streams.
0:40:31 > 0:40:35These streams united in rivers growing ever stronger.
0:40:37 > 0:40:39And this is where two of the rivers meet.
0:40:39 > 0:40:43The East Lyn and Hoaroak Water, each carrying
0:40:43 > 0:40:47a substantial amount of floodwater collected from across a vast area.
0:40:50 > 0:40:54At this confluence point, a vast wall of water grew,
0:40:54 > 0:40:56as it was funnelled by the steep valley sides.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59And it was headed straight for Lynmouth.
0:41:00 > 0:41:02WATER ROARS
0:41:02 > 0:41:04But this was no steady torrent.
0:41:04 > 0:41:07The flow came in bursts.
0:41:07 > 0:41:10The bridges trapped trees and boulders,
0:41:10 > 0:41:12creating a temporary dam which then breached,
0:41:12 > 0:41:16creating a 12m high wave that swept through here.
0:41:29 > 0:41:33All the water running off 40 square miles of moorland
0:41:33 > 0:41:37funnels into Lynmouth. Yet this did not stop Victorian builders
0:41:37 > 0:41:39thinking they could control it.
0:41:41 > 0:41:44The course of the river had been diverted years before.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48And as this popular tourist destination developed,
0:41:48 > 0:41:51new houses were built on the old river channel.
0:41:51 > 0:41:54But nothing was going to stop this deluge.
0:41:54 > 0:41:56As it came crashing through
0:41:56 > 0:41:58it smashed the houses to pieces,
0:41:58 > 0:42:02carrying everything out to sea - including the people.
0:42:07 > 0:42:12The victims were of every age - babies, teenagers and the elderly.
0:42:13 > 0:42:15Perhaps most tragic of all,
0:42:15 > 0:42:19a woman's body was found which was never identified.
0:42:19 > 0:42:20She remains unknown.
0:42:25 > 0:42:29Lynmouth had flooded before, but never to this magnitude.
0:42:29 > 0:42:31Had something changed in the landscape
0:42:31 > 0:42:33to multiply the effect of the rain?
0:42:37 > 0:42:39To make Exmoor more profitable, Victorians had drained
0:42:39 > 0:42:42the mossy bogs by digging ditches.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47These bogs - which once acted as sponges -
0:42:47 > 0:42:49now became pasture for grazing sheep.
0:42:51 > 0:42:53Rain on the moors had little to stop it
0:42:53 > 0:42:56flowing straight into rivers, exacerbating floods.
0:43:00 > 0:43:05Today, over £2 million is being spent to fill in the ditches
0:43:05 > 0:43:07and restore the peat bogs.
0:43:09 > 0:43:11Early tests show this should
0:43:11 > 0:43:14cut the water entering rivers by a third.
0:43:19 > 0:43:23About a quarter of Britain was once wetland yet, as our bond with
0:43:23 > 0:43:26the land has altered, we have forgotten this.
0:43:28 > 0:43:31In some senses it feels like we've come full circle.
0:43:31 > 0:43:33And perhaps because we've had a rather short-sighted view
0:43:33 > 0:43:36on the use of this land, human intervention
0:43:36 > 0:43:40that ultimately improved the yield for farming
0:43:40 > 0:43:43actually ends up putting Lynmouth at risk of flooding.
0:43:44 > 0:43:49But now we are looking back to nature to control the flow of water.
0:43:49 > 0:43:50Around the country,
0:43:50 > 0:43:54such actions upstream can help reduce the flow of water downstream.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00Throughout Britain's history, changing our landscape
0:44:00 > 0:44:03has transformed the impact of weather.
0:44:04 > 0:44:09There are few clearer examples than where we reclaim land from nature.
0:44:09 > 0:44:15Canvey Island on the Essex coast was one such man-made place.
0:44:15 > 0:44:19We are not the owners of the land, but nature's temporary tenants.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23NEWSREEL MUSIC
0:44:25 > 0:44:28Post war, houses sprung up as families started new lives
0:44:28 > 0:44:30away from ruined London.
0:44:31 > 0:44:34Simple, one-storey, prefabricated houses.
0:44:37 > 0:44:42But they'd built on borrowed land. Nature was ready to take it back.
0:44:49 > 0:44:55On the night of 31st January, 1953, a terrifying storm was
0:44:55 > 0:44:58smashing its way down Britain's east coast.
0:45:05 > 0:45:09A belt of extreme low pressure was drawing the sea upwards
0:45:09 > 0:45:13by over 5m - almost two storeys high.
0:45:18 > 0:45:22And despite striking all along the coast, no warning was issued.
0:45:25 > 0:45:27The first most people on Canvey Island
0:45:27 > 0:45:30knew of the surge of water was when it hit their homes.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35Canvey Island was about to fall victim to the fatal trio
0:45:35 > 0:45:37that create a storm surge.
0:45:37 > 0:45:40First, the air pressure that normally pushes down
0:45:40 > 0:45:42on the surface of the sea reduced,
0:45:42 > 0:45:44creating a bulge in the water,
0:45:44 > 0:45:47and that was on top of an already high tide,
0:45:47 > 0:45:52then gale force winds brought that bulge towards the shore.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55And here at Tewkes Creek is where
0:45:55 > 0:45:59that mass of water burst through the flood defences.
0:46:00 > 0:46:03Families were evacuated across the island.
0:46:03 > 0:46:07Here, Elizabeth Howard and her children escape by boat.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13Her son Ray, who was then just 11,
0:46:13 > 0:46:16explained how the floodwaters struck.
0:46:16 > 0:46:17My sister came into our room
0:46:17 > 0:46:21to say, "There's water
0:46:21 > 0:46:25"gushing down the street", and the street we are covering now,
0:46:25 > 0:46:29it was just...looked out the window and you could see it gushing down.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33'He took me to his family home.'
0:46:33 > 0:46:35How does it feel to see it again?
0:46:35 > 0:46:37Yes, it brings back memories,
0:46:37 > 0:46:38considerably.
0:46:38 > 0:46:44I mean, it was 62 years ago, so that's a very long time ago,
0:46:44 > 0:46:48but it still is in my mind and always will be.
0:46:48 > 0:46:51I've got an aerial shot of Canvey and the floods.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55- Which one of these is yours? - This one here at the end.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58So you can see the extend of the flooding.
0:46:58 > 0:47:00This whole area is covered.
0:47:00 > 0:47:01Absolutely.
0:47:01 > 0:47:06Canvey has an acreage of 4,500,
0:47:06 > 0:47:09so it's a small island,
0:47:09 > 0:47:12but you can see how much flooding took place,
0:47:12 > 0:47:15particularly in certain sections of Canvey,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19and they didn't have lots of money in those days.
0:47:19 > 0:47:23They'd go and buy a plot of land for next to nothing
0:47:23 > 0:47:25and build a little shack.
0:47:27 > 0:47:32Those who could afford two-storey homes had somewhere to escape.
0:47:32 > 0:47:36But poor families living in flimsy, prefab, single-storey homes
0:47:36 > 0:47:39were engulfed by the waters.
0:47:39 > 0:47:44Of the 300 people killed by the storm, 59 were in Canvey.
0:47:46 > 0:47:51Ray Howard would only discover who when he returned to school.
0:47:51 > 0:47:55It was a very sad occasion
0:47:55 > 0:47:58to hear the different stories
0:47:58 > 0:48:03of what had happened to other parts of the island and families.
0:48:03 > 0:48:08Some lost their mums or dads, or their brothers or sisters,
0:48:08 > 0:48:10or all their relatives.
0:48:10 > 0:48:15Boys and girls in certain classes didn't return.
0:48:18 > 0:48:22A simple warning could've saved many such lives.
0:48:22 > 0:48:26Today, Canvey Islanders are not only protected by this flood
0:48:26 > 0:48:28defence wall, they, like much of Britain,
0:48:28 > 0:48:31have a storm surge warning service, too.
0:48:33 > 0:48:37When surges are forecast, the population evacuates.
0:48:37 > 0:48:40Whilst we cannot switch off such weather,
0:48:40 > 0:48:43we've learned to make floods less deadly.
0:48:44 > 0:48:47Today, the houses of Canvey Island shelter behind this
0:48:47 > 0:48:51rather impressive wall of concrete and steel,
0:48:51 > 0:48:54a brutal solution to protecting themselves
0:48:54 > 0:48:57from the potentially destructive force of the sea,
0:48:57 > 0:49:01but with water levels constantly rising,
0:49:01 > 0:49:03how long will this approach last?
0:49:07 > 0:49:10Britain's most extreme weather events have chiefly involved
0:49:10 > 0:49:15excess water in many forms - rain, snow or the sea.
0:49:16 > 0:49:21But, at times, water is the one thing we crave.
0:49:26 > 0:49:29One extreme weather episode is burnt into our national psyche -
0:49:29 > 0:49:35the benchmark by which all summers are judged - scorching 1976.
0:49:35 > 0:49:38MUSIC: "You Sexy Thing" by Hot Chocolate
0:49:38 > 0:49:39In one 15-day blast,
0:49:39 > 0:49:43the temperature reached 32 Celsius degrees every day.
0:49:47 > 0:49:50As the nation basked in the heat,
0:49:50 > 0:49:53they were deaf to Met Office alarm bells.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56Well, I think it's likely to stay pretty hot
0:49:56 > 0:49:59over the next few days. We're getting close to records now,
0:49:59 > 0:50:02so it's difficult to forecast an actual record,
0:50:02 > 0:50:04but I think pretty hot, staying up close to 90.
0:50:06 > 0:50:09Rainfall had been drying up since the previous autumn.
0:50:09 > 0:50:14The next 16 months were the driest since the reign of George II.
0:50:15 > 0:50:19As reservoirs emptied, it gradually hit home -
0:50:19 > 0:50:22could we actually run out of water?
0:50:25 > 0:50:27Crops shrivelled.
0:50:27 > 0:50:29- NEWSREEL:- 'The intense heat
0:50:29 > 0:50:31'and lack of rain has had a disastrous effect on cereals,
0:50:31 > 0:50:34'from the Wash down to the Severn.'
0:50:36 > 0:50:40Fires burning with no water to extinguish them were no joke.
0:50:41 > 0:50:44NEWSREEL: 'The Fire Service has also been hard-pressed in other areas.
0:50:44 > 0:50:46'Thousands of tonnes of sewage
0:50:46 > 0:50:51'have been used on one fire to help conserve dwindling water supplies.'
0:50:51 > 0:50:55Roasting sewage wasn't the only thing causing a big stink.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58Water wars became class wars.
0:50:58 > 0:51:01- NEWSREEL:- 'In the middle of dried-up, drought-ridden,
0:51:01 > 0:51:02'water-tortured London,
0:51:02 > 0:51:08'welcome to an oasis. Its name? Hampstead Golf Club.
0:51:08 > 0:51:11'On the day that the Prime Minister has called a cabinet meeting
0:51:11 > 0:51:12'about the water crisis,'
0:51:12 > 0:51:16and as people in some parts of the country have no water at all,
0:51:16 > 0:51:19the ladies and gentlemen of Hampstead Golf Club
0:51:19 > 0:51:22can safely have a round or two in the knowledge that their greens,
0:51:22 > 0:51:24at least, are beautifully soft and moist.
0:51:25 > 0:51:28Such cavalier attitudes wilted.
0:51:28 > 0:51:32Water meters and protocols to enforce restrictions were to
0:51:32 > 0:51:36be the legacy of an era when the nation's tank almost ran dry.
0:51:40 > 0:51:44Though 1976 broke records for lack of rain, Britain's highest
0:51:44 > 0:51:48temperatures were reached more recently, in the summer of 2003.
0:51:50 > 0:51:54I'm on my way to visit the hottest place on our island.
0:51:54 > 0:51:57- NEWSREEL:- 'An exceptional summer gets even hotter - hotter, in fact,
0:51:57 > 0:51:59'than has ever been recorded before.
0:51:59 > 0:52:02'This was the south coast today.'
0:52:02 > 0:52:04Heathrow Airport was the first to break records,
0:52:04 > 0:52:08reaching 37.9 degree Celsius.
0:52:08 > 0:52:11Through the day, other weather stations
0:52:11 > 0:52:14relayed their data to the Met Office.
0:52:14 > 0:52:16Heathrow's record was soon topped.
0:52:17 > 0:52:20Gravesend in Kent earned a place in the record books today,
0:52:20 > 0:52:24topping 100 degrees Fahrenheit at 38.1 Celsius.
0:52:27 > 0:52:2910th August 2003 -
0:52:29 > 0:52:33the date of a battle over extreme weather supremacy.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37It was the hottest day on record - no-one contested that -
0:52:37 > 0:52:42but what was argued over is exactly where that maximum was reached.
0:52:42 > 0:52:47The crown first went to Gravesend with 38.1 degrees Celsius.
0:52:47 > 0:52:52But then the results came in from this volunteer weather station,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55who recorded 38.5.
0:52:55 > 0:52:57But could they take the crown?
0:52:57 > 0:53:00Met Office officials came and checked the equipment,
0:53:00 > 0:53:02and even though it's still argued over today,
0:53:02 > 0:53:08it is this farm in Brogdale that holds that extreme weather record.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13Landscape once again had helped shape our weather.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16This beautiful Kent farm reached this weather extreme
0:53:16 > 0:53:21because it lies close to an "urban heat island" - London.
0:53:25 > 0:53:29The concrete jungle absorbs more heat than vegetation does -
0:53:29 > 0:53:33not least the tall buildings with multiple sunlit surfaces.
0:53:33 > 0:53:38This hot air drifted to Brogdale, helping to warm it to record highs.
0:53:41 > 0:53:46Across Europe, the heat wave of August 2003 caused the biggest fall
0:53:46 > 0:53:51in agricultural output for 100 years, and over 30,000 deaths,
0:53:51 > 0:53:54many of them old people.
0:53:54 > 0:53:57As a result, we've learned to educate those at risk
0:53:57 > 0:54:00to rehydrate as the temperature rises,
0:54:00 > 0:54:04and we've created community cooling centres for the most vulnerable.
0:54:08 > 0:54:12It is very likely, according to Oxford University scientists,
0:54:12 > 0:54:16that human influence had more than doubled the probability
0:54:16 > 0:54:18of such extreme temperatures.
0:54:18 > 0:54:21Future fears about global warming
0:54:21 > 0:54:24tend to focus on the potential for severe heat waves.
0:54:24 > 0:54:27Yet, as a maritime nation, it's the impact on our seas
0:54:27 > 0:54:31and estuaries that I find most worrying.
0:54:31 > 0:54:35Some of our greatest extremes - the floods in 1607
0:54:35 > 0:54:39and the storm surge of 1953 - came from the sea.
0:54:42 > 0:54:45But, across our history of extreme weather,
0:54:45 > 0:54:48we have one real success story -
0:54:48 > 0:54:50the Thames Barrier.
0:54:52 > 0:54:54If a storm surge is forecast,
0:54:54 > 0:54:57giant walls are lifted to block it reaching the city.
0:55:00 > 0:55:04Repeatedly, London has been protected by this technology.
0:55:04 > 0:55:08But has it made London think the threat has subsided?
0:55:09 > 0:55:13In November 2007, weather forecasters predicted a storm surge
0:55:13 > 0:55:16that would be a once-in-50-year event.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20So, would the happenings of 1953 be repeated?
0:55:20 > 0:55:22Well, this time it was a completely different story -
0:55:22 > 0:55:25warnings were issued and the public were alerted.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27The sea defences held...
0:55:27 > 0:55:31just - the water lapped to within 10cm of their tops,
0:55:31 > 0:55:36and this barrier here prevented the surge flooding London.
0:55:36 > 0:55:39Human ingenuity had beaten nature.
0:55:39 > 0:55:42Luckily, the storm passed and didn't end in tragedy,
0:55:42 > 0:55:46but, ironically, it means that this event has all but been forgotten.
0:55:49 > 0:55:53The human memory is a poor weather archive.
0:55:53 > 0:55:56Our successes are forgotten and disasters remembered.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05Weather's impact will always be wedded to human actions,
0:56:05 > 0:56:06for good and for ill.
0:56:11 > 0:56:15When the 1607 floods struck the area near this hill,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18the people felt powerless to prevent it.
0:56:23 > 0:56:27The difference with modern-day storm surges is that we can look to
0:56:27 > 0:56:31science for protection, warning and rescue.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39Today, we have improved our ability to keep the water out,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43and we can have advanced warning of what is coming.
0:56:44 > 0:56:46Yet that is changing.
0:56:46 > 0:56:49We live in a warming world with rising sea levels.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53I've never met a climate scientist who would disagree with that.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59Without knowing the climate ahead,
0:56:59 > 0:57:01predicting the weather extremes of the future
0:57:01 > 0:57:04is still beyond our current ability.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17One message has been clear to me throughout my journey -
0:57:17 > 0:57:20we ignore nature at our peril.
0:57:20 > 0:57:24We reclaim land from the sea and then build insufficient defences,
0:57:24 > 0:57:26but yet are surprised when we suffer
0:57:26 > 0:57:29the tragedy of peoples' homes being drowned.
0:57:29 > 0:57:32We don't increase the fuel stocks, and then people die
0:57:32 > 0:57:33when the coal runs out.
0:57:33 > 0:57:36In 1975, we wasted water,
0:57:36 > 0:57:40yet we were surprised by a drought the following year.
0:57:40 > 0:57:41Time and time again,
0:57:41 > 0:57:46human folly amplifies the impact of nature on our lives.
0:57:46 > 0:57:49So, what does nature have in store for us next?
0:57:51 > 0:57:56One thing is for sure - the future will be no less harsh than the past.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00The only question is - are we up to the challenge?