THE floods which hit Northern England in 2009 and in 2015 were the largest for 600 years, according to a new study involving Bassenthwaite Lake.

The research was published in a journal entitled 'Earth Surface Processes and Landforms'.

Richard Chiverrell, a professor in physical geography at the University of Liverpool, said: "This research study places the extreme flooding events of the last 20 years in a far longer context."

He added: “The unprecedented nature of the recent phase of extreme floods accords with statements from the Environment Agency that climate changes and associated impacts on the frequency and magnitude of extreme events are one of the greatest challenges facing our society.”

A team of researchers led by the Universities of Liverpool and Southampton analysed lake sediment records from the floods of 2009 and 2015 - the latter occurring during Storm Desmond - and compared them with a 558 year record from Bassenthwaite Lake in the Lake District. 

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A distinct layer of coarser sediment is left in the lake sediment record as material washes in from the surrounding hills and streams, providing researchers with a means of recording each flooding event.

Sediment layers with the largest grain sizes reflect flooding that was higher energy and more extreme in magnitude. 

David Sear, a professor in physical geography at the University of Southampton, said: 

"What we have been able to do for the first time, is take sedimentary records from lake beds and convert them into the kind of data used by flood risk managers.

"These are the events that cause most damage and cost to society so improving our ability to estimate their chance of occurring is important."