List of natural disasters in the British Isles - wikipedia List of natural disasters in the British Isles This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( July 2007 ) This is a list of natural disasters in Great Britain and Ireland. List of natural disasters to have affected the British Isles, ordered chronologically Colour scheme used in this table : Geological event Cold weather event Hot weather event High winds event Wet weather event Famine Sickness epidemic Year Disaster event Notes ; disaster type, people killed, region affected, etc. 70 - 75k ybp Prolonged volcanic winter Long lasting volcanic winters following the Toba catastrophe have been hypothesized to have killed every human not living in Africa at the time. 6100 BC Tsunami Caused by the Storegga Slide struck east Scotland with 70 - foot ( 21 m ) wave after landslip in Norway. 535 - 536 Extreme weather events of 535 -- 536 The most severe cooling in the Northern Hemisphere in the last 2,000 years, likely caused crop failures and freezing for the Anglo - Saxons. 10th century Regular heatwaves Extended droughts with regularity : also through the period summers lasted half a year and were often warm or very warm - some notably extreme summers. 1091 London tornado of 1091 2 deaths, the early London Bridge, 600 houses, many churches ( inc. St Mary - le - Bow ) 1235 Famine England ; 20,000 die in London alone 1252 - 1253 Both dry years and excessive heat Considered by some ( e.g. Brooks ), as the driest pair of consecutive years known in the record. The summer ( and possibly the spring in London / south ) of 1252 was outstandingly dry / hot, with the ensuing drought ruining crops and many people died from the excessive heat. Spring / summer 1253 was also noted as dry / hot London / south. 1315 - 17 Great Famine of 1315 -- 17 Throughout Europe 1287 St. Lucia 's flood Not known by that name the flood killed hundreds in England. This flood along with the South England flood of February 1287 contributed to the decline of Dunwich as a major port 1324 10 years of hot summers Drought in summer ( London / south ). Possibly the start of ten or so years of warm, often dry summers. 1348 - 50s Black Death in England Killed somewhere around 50 % of the population 1360s Black Death in England Killed a further 20 % of the population 1485 -- 1551 Sweating sickness Sporadic outbreaks kill many thousands 1540 - 1541 Great heat and drought Dry, in 1538 - 1539. In 1540 - 1541, the River Thames was so low that seawater extended above London Bridge. Reports at the time suggest that there were many deaths due to the ' Ague ', and 1540 is described in contemporary chronicles as the ' Big Sun Year '. 1580 1580 Dover Straits earthquake Estimated to have been 5.3 -- 5.9 M. Two deaths in England. 1607 Bristol Channel floods, 1607 30 January 1607 ( possible tsunami ). Flooding in the Bristol Channel hit Carmarthenshire, Glamorgan, Monmouthshire, Devon, and Somerset 1623 - 24 Famine Said to be the last peace - time famine in England 1638 The Great Thunderstorm Widecombe - in - the - Moor, Devon, four killed and sixty injured 1651 - 53 Famine Famine throughout much of Ireland during the Cromwellian conquest of Ireland 1665 Great Plague of London Bubonic plague killed an estimated 100,000 people, 20 % of London 's population 1665 Derby plague of 1665 The bubonic plague spread north, but was stalled by the famous quarantine of Eyam 1665 - 1666 Long drought followed by a hot summer Every month from November 1665 to September 1666 was dry. The climatological summer ( June, July and August ) of 1666 was amongst the top 10 or so of warm summers in the Central English Temperatures ( CET ) series ( began 1659 ). CET also suggests that July 1666 had a mean value of 18 ° C ( 64 ° F ), and August was 17 ° C ( 63 ° F ). The heat and long drought added to a heightened risk of fire in populated areas. Lack of rain and hot temperatures helped spark the Great Fire of London. As a result, this year saw an end to the Great Plague of London due to extreme heat and fire. 1690s Famine Known as the seven ill years it occurred throughout Scotland, killing 15 % of the population 1703 Great Storm of 1703 Up to 15,000 deaths, ships lost, mass damage to buildings and trees 16th - 18th centuries Little Ice Age Long - lasting period of lower - than - normal average temperatures 1709 Great Frost of 1709 Extremely cold winter, temperatures as low as − 12 ° C ( 10 ° F ) on 5 January 1729 Tornado Bexhill - on - Sea struck by a waterspout that came ashore 1740 Irish Famine ( 1740 -- 41 ) Somewhere between 310,000 and 480,000 people starve in Ireland due to cold weather affecting harvests 1755 Tsunami Following the Lisbon earthquake, Cornwall was struck by a 10 ft ( 3.0 m ) wave 1770 Flooding and storms In August throughout southern England. A flood was thought to have occurred in Lynmouth, Devon in 1769 and the date may have transposed to 1796. 1783 `` Laki haze '' Sulphurous gas from an eruption in Iceland suffocates more than 10,000 in Britain, followed by about 8,000 deaths in winter 1816 Year Without a Summer Caused by the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, crops devastated, unknown thousands die 1816 - 19 Typhus epidemic Ireland 1831 - 50 Cholera pandemic Part of the 1829 -- 51 cholera pandemic, beginning in London, 55,000 die in outbreaks across England and Wales 1836 Lewes avalanche Lewes, the only major avalanche recorded in England 1839 Night of the Big Wind A European windstorm swept across Ireland causing hundreds of deaths and severe damage to property. Gusts were over 100 knots ( 190 km / h ; 120 mph ) 1840s Great Irish Famine Potato blight devastates food sources, resulting in starvation and disease that kills somewhere around a million people. See European Potato Failure. 1840s Highland Potato Famine Another starvation event, similar to the above, that occurred in Scotland 1848 Moray Firth fishing disaster 100 fishermen and 124 boats lost at sea during a storm in Scotland 1852 Holmfirth Flood Bilberry Reservoir embankment collapses, causing 81 deaths and a large amount of damage to property. 1859 Royal Charter Storm Named for the Royal Charter the storm, which lasted for two days, sank 133 ships killing 800. 1864 Great Sheffield Flood Dale Dike Reservoir bursts, destroying 800 houses and killing 270 people. ( not strictly a natural disaster because it was structural failure caused by human error ) 1871 Great Gale of 1871 Occurring in the North Sea on Friday 10 February 1871 it killed at least 50 people. 1879 Tay Bridge disaster A European windstorm on 28 December 1879 caused the Tay Rail Bridge to collapse killing between 60 and 75 people. 1881 Eyemouth disaster 189 fishermen died during a storm in Scotland 1881 Blizzard of January 1881 Around 100 die in one of the most severe blizzards ever to hit the southern parts of the United Kingdom 1884 1884 Colchester earthquake Several people killed, and 1200 buildings destroyed in Essex 1894 - 1895 Winter of 1894 -- 95 in the United Kingdom Conditions were such that many people died of hypothermia or respiratory conditions 1911 1911 United Kingdom heat wave Heat wave lasted from early July to mid-September. Newspapers ran deaths by heat columns 1918 - 19 1918 flu pandemic Worldwide influenza pandemic nicknamed the Spanish flu 1928 1928 Thames flood A disastrous flood of the River Thames in London. 14 drowned and thousands made homeless. 1931 1931 Dogger Bank earthquake At 6.1 on the Richter Scale, was the largest earthquake in British history, but caused only minor damage as was offshore. 1946 - 47 Winter of 1946 -- 1947 Right after WWII, blizzards block roads and cause blackouts, resulting in industrial stagnation. Followed by heavy flooding in March, causing £ 250 -- 375 million of damage. 1952 Lynmouth flood of 1952 34 people were killed, with a further 420 made homeless. Over 100 buildings were destroyed. 1953 North Sea flood of 1953 307 were killed in the United Kingdom, in the counties of Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. 1955 1955 United Kingdom heat wave Heat wave and drought throughout the country. 1962 - 63 Winter of 1962 -- 1963 Coldest winter for hundreds of years, temperatures as low as − 16 ° C ( 3 ° F ). 1968 Great Flood of 1968 Flooding causes extensive damage to Southern England. 1968 1968 Hurricane Hurricane - force winds cause 20 deaths in the Central Belt of Scotland. In Glasgow alone, over 300 houses were destroyed and 70,000 homes were damaged. Electrical power also failed in Glasgow, leaving the whole city in darkness. In total the storm felled 8,000 hectares of forest across Scotland ( 1.6 million cubic metres of timber ). The storm, which affected Northern England, Scotland and N. Ireland received little attention from the BBC or the national press. 1976 Gale of January 1976 The gale of 2 -- 5 January resulted in severe wind damage across western and central Europe and coastal flooding around the southern North Sea coasts. At the time, this was the most severe storm over the British Isles. 1974 - 1976 Two - year drought and UK heat wave 1974 - 1975 had the mildest winter in England and Wales since 1869. However, during the first few days of June 1975, in and around London snow and sleet occurred. During the next week maximum temperatures of 27 ° C ( 81 ° F ) were recorded each day across the country. The summer of 1976 experienced 5 days of temperatures exceeding 35 ° C ( 95 ° F ) somewhere in the UK. Between 23 June to 7 July, temperatures in London and other parts of Southern England reached above 32 ° C ( 90 ° F ) for 15 consecutive days. The weather was settled and temperatures were above average, with many short and long periods of above 30 ° C ( 86 ° F ) heat, between mid June to mid September. In 1976, the country suffered forest fires, grass fires and water shortages. Summer 1976 was followed by an extremely unsettled Autumn. 1978 1978 North Sea storm surge A storm surge which occurred over 11 -- 12 January caused extensive coastal flooding and considerable damage on the east coast of England between the Humber and Kent. Locally severe flooding occurred in Lincolnshire, The Wash, north Norfolk and Kent. Improvements in flood protection following the devastating flood of 1953 meant that the catastrophic losses seen during that storm were not repeated. The storm caused severe damage to many piers along the east coast of England. Great Storm of 1987 After Michael Fish famously forecast `` very windy '' weather mainly over France, an unusually strong storm occurred in October 1987, with wind speeds widely over 100 mph ( 160 km / h ) along England 's southern coastline, and which killed 18 people in England. The great storm caused substantial damage over much of Southern England, downing an estimated 15 million trees ( including six of the seven eponymous oaks in Sevenoaks ). Burns ' Day storm Winds of up to 100 mph ( 160 km / h ) kill 97 people and cause £ 3.37 billion worth of damage, the most costly weather event for insurers in British history. 1990 - 1991 Winter of 1990 -- 91 Lasting from December 1990 to February 1991 throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and Western Europe. About 42 people died, almost all in the UK and Ireland 1998 1998 Easter floods At the start of Easter 1998 ( 9 -- 10 April ) a stationary band of heavy rain affected the Midlands. This resulted in floods in which five people died and thousands had to be evacuated from their homes. The wettest area, with over 75 mm ( 3.0 in ), stretched from Worcestershire towards The Wash and the flooded towns included Evesham, Leamington Spa, Stratford - upon - Avon, Bedford, Northampton and Huntingdon. On Maundy Thursday ( 9 April ), thundery rain in the south of England moved northwards and became slow - moving from East Anglia through the Midlands to north Wales. This band gave some very heavy downpours with hail and thunder. On Good Friday ( 10th ) the band rotated slowly anticlockwise spreading to Lincolnshire and the West Country and continued to rotate, with sleet and heavy bursts of rain in places. There was sleet and snow across the Pennines and north Wales during the evening. 2000 Flooding Severe flooding in many parts of the UK. Among the worst hit were York, Kent, Sussex, Shrewsbury, Lewes, Uckfield and Maidstone. 2002 2002 Glasgow floods 200 people immediately evacuated, but the water supply of 140 thousand people was affected. 2003 2003 European heat wave More than 2,000 people may have died in the UK alone as a result of the hottest summer recorded in Europe since 1540. Temperatures remained above 30 ° C ( 86 ° F ) for 10 days, between 3 and 13 August. The highest temperature known and accepted was recorded at Faversham, Kent on 10 August when it reached 38.5 ° C ( 101.3 ° F ). Boscastle flood of 2004 Boscastle and Crackington Haven, two villages in Cornwall, were heavily damaged due to flash floods. 2005 Flooding Carlisle, 8 January 2005 See Cyclone Gudrun 2005 Birmingham Tornado 30 injuries caused by the tornado, which uprooted trees, destroyed roofs and picked up cars, causing £ 40 million in damages. 2006 London Tornado Only one injury, but £ 10 million of damage caused. 2007 Storm Kyrill Hurricane - force winds across British Isles, at least 11 people dead 2007 2007 United Kingdom floods Killed 13 people. Gloucestershire suffers many road and rail closures, power cuts and evacuations, with 420,000 inhabitants left without drinking water requiring emergency assistance from the army. Other areas heavily affected include Yorkshire, Hull and Worcestershire. The disaster is estimated to have caused £ 6 billion of damage. 2008 2008 Irish flash floods Flash floods throughout August lead to one death and the destruction of 50 houses. 2008 2008 Morpeth floods River Wansbeck bursts its banks causing damage to 995 properties costing £ 40 million. Flooding across the Midlands and North East England associated with a slow moving front of the low pressure system Mattea. 2009 2009 Buachaille Etive Mòr avalanche An avalanche on Buachaille Etive Mòr in Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands, UK, on 24 January 2009 killed three climbers and injured another. 2009 2009 Great Britain and Ireland floods Strong winds and heavy rain across the United Kingdom with the worst flooding concentrated in Cumbria. Four people were killed as a direct result of the flooding. 2009 February 2009 Great Britain and Ireland snowfall There was 55 cm ( 22 in ) of snow causing several deaths and an estimated £ 1.3 billion in damages 2009 - 2010 Winter of 2009 -- 10 Reported to be the coldest weather since 1987. About 22 people died. 2010 - 2011 Winter of 2010 - 11 The winter of 2010 -- 2011 was a weather event that brought heavy snowfalls, record low temperatures, travel chaos and school disruption to the islands of Britain and Ireland. It included the UK 's coldest December since Met Office records began in 1910, with a mean temperature of − 1 ° C ( 30 ° F ), breaking the previous record of 0.1 ° C ( 32.2 ° F ) in December 1981. 2012 2012 Great Britain and Ireland floods A series of low pressure systems steered by the jet stream bring the wettest April in 100 years, and flooding across Britain and Ireland. Continuing through May and leading to the wettest beginning to June in 150 years, with flooding and extreme events occurring periodically throughout Britain and parts of Western Europe. On 9 June, severe flooding began around Aberystwyth, West Wales with people evacuated from two holiday parks. 150 people saved by lifeboats with 4 -- 5 ft ( 1.2 -- 1.5 m ) of water. On 28 June, a large low - pressure area moved across Northern Ireland. Its fronts brought heavy rain and large hail to many areas in England. One man died from the storm. 2013 St. Jude storm Torrential rain and winds of up to 100 mph ( 160 km / h ) hit the south of England and Wales. 600,000 homes were left without power, and 5 people were killed. In Europe another 6 people were killed by the same storm. 2013 2013 heatwave in Ireland and the United Kingdom An extra 760 deaths were reported in the UK. In Ireland the heat wave indirectly caused 30 deaths by drowning. 2013 2013 East Coast Tidal Surge On 5 December 2013 a large depression that passed eastwards over Scotland brought strong northerly winds along the eastern coast of Britain. This coincided with the spring tide and caused a large tidal surge to affect large swathes of the east coast. Many settlements along the coast were severely flooded, with sea defences breached in many locations. 2013 - 2014 Winter Storms of 2013 - 14 During the winter of 2013 -- 14 the British Isles were in the path of several winter storms, which culminated in serious coastal damage and widespread persistent flooding. The storms brought the greatest January rainfall in Southern England since at least the year records began in 1910. The season saw persistent flooding on the Somerset Levels with recurrent fluvial flooding in Southern England of the non-tidal Thames, Severn and in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire and the Stour in Dorset. Briefer coastal flooding and wave battering damage took place in exposed parts of Dorset, Devon and Cornwall. 2015 2015 -- 16 Great Britain and Ireland floods Flooding in Cumbria, Yorkshire, southern Scotland and parts of Ireland. 2017 Hurricane Ophelia During the autumn of 2017, Ireland and the United Kingdom were hit by Hurricane Ophelia, which had completed its transition into an extratropical cyclone shortly before its landfall in Ireland and subjected the island to hurricane force winds. Three people were killed by fallen trees in Ireland and 22,000 people without electricity. This also cut off internet for some households across the UK. See also List of disasters in Great Britain and Ireland by death toll Climate of the United Kingdom Geology of Great Britain Geology of Ireland Tsunamis affecting the British Isles Drought in the United Kingdom Floods in the United Kingdom References Jump up ^ `` 751_999 ''. booty.org.uk. Jump up ^ Bartholomew, James ( 8 August 2004 ). `` Poor studies will always be with us ''. The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 8 May 2010. Jump up ^ `` 1200_1299 ''. booty.org.uk. Jump up ^ `` 1300_1399 ''. booty.org.uk. Jump up ^ `` 1500_1599 ''. booty.org.uk. Jump up ^ `` BBC iPlayer - Northern Ireland - A Short History ''. bbc.co.uk. Jump up ^ `` 1650_1699 ''. booty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 25 March 2014. Jump up ^ Clark, C. ( 2001 ). `` Great storms and floods over southern England, August 1770 ''. Weather. 56 : 327 -- 337. doi : 10.1002 / j. 1477 - 8696.2001. tb06504. x. Jump up ^ Volcano ' drove up UK death toll ' Jump up ^ `` Avalanche anniversary in Lewes pub ''. The Argus. Archived from the original on 29 September 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Radicals and Rebels - Stage 3 ''. BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Inside Out - South : Monday 7th October, 2002 ''. BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` About Lewes ''. May 2009. Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Jump up ^ `` On This Day : 1952 : Flood devastates Devon village ''. BBC. 16 August 1952. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Rain - making link to killer floods ''. BBC. 30 August 2001. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` The 1952 Flood Disaster in Context ''. Exmoor National Park. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ Joint, Laura. `` Lynmouth flood disaster ''. BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Hundreds homeless after flood havoc ''. The Times. 16 September 1968. p. 1. Jump up ^ `` Hansard : SCOTLAND ( STORM DAMAGE ) ''. Jump up ^ `` 1975 - 1999 ''. booty.org.uk. Archived from the original on 3 October 2016. Jump up ^ `` Easter 1998 floods ''. M.W. Horner and P.D. Walsh. 25 October 2012. Jump up ^ `` BBC Weather : Flood Facts ''. BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ Jump up ^ `` Lessons Learned : Autumn 2000 floods ''. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Southern Counties > Nature > Walks > Lewes - Radicals and Rebels > Stage 3 ''. BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ Kelman, Ilan ( 2002 ). `` The Autumn 2000 Floods in England '' ( PDF ). The Martin Centre, University of Cambridge. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` U.K. Floods, October 13 -- 14, 2000 : Examination of U.K. Flood Damage During Increased Rainfall in October 2000 '' ( PDF ). Risk Management Solutions. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` THE LEWES FLOOD OF OCTOBER 2000 '' ( PDF ). Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Flood Report : March 2001 '' ( PDF ). Environment Agency. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 19 May 2006. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` The wet autumn of 2000 ''. Met Office. Retrieved 2017 - 02 - 14. Jump up ^ `` Archive : Cumbrian Floods ''. BBC. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Cumbria floods ''. Archived from the original on 4 January 2008. Retrieved 18 May 2009. Jump up ^ `` Windstorm Erwin / Gudrun -- January 2005 '' ( PDF ). Guy Carpenter. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 15 April 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012. Jump up ^ `` England struck by flash flooding ''. BBC. Retrieved 23 May 2012. Jump up ^ Laing, Aislinn ; Stokes, Paul ; Bunyan, Nigel ( 20 November 2009 ). `` Cumbria floods ''. London : Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 November 2009. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_natural_disasters_in_the_British_Isles&oldid=810932604 '' Categories : Natural disasters in the United Kingdom Lists of disasters in the United Kingdom British Isles - related lists Lists of disasters in Ireland Ireland history - related lists Natural disasters in Ireland Hidden categories : All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from May 2009 All articles with failed verification Articles with failed verification from May 2009 Use dmy dates from December 2014 Use British English from August 2013 Articles needing additional references from July 2007 All articles needing additional references Talk About Wikipedia Add links This page was last edited on 18 November 2017, at 11 : 52. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when was the last time a hurricane hit the uk
Answer: 2017; autumn of 2017; 2017; the autumn of 2017; 2017