What caused the record UK winter rainfall of 2013-14?

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Unusual conditions in the tropics and stratosphere gave rise to the very wet winter of 2013-14, in which there was damaging flooding in many parts of England. Climate change made a secondary contribution by increasing the moisture holding capacity of the atmosphere.

The winter of 2013-14 will be remembered for many years for remarkably widespread and persistent flooding that affected many parts of England, including the low-lying Somerset moors and the Thames Valley.

Rainfall between December 2013 and February 2014 smashed previous winter records in numerous regions – including for the UK as a whole and for Southern England. Some of these rainfall series extend back more than 250 years.

The seemingly unprecedented nature of events – and further exceptionally heavy rainfall and flooding in winter 2015-16 – has led to questions about whether the UK is beginning to witness a dramatic change in its climate.  

In February 2014, the Met Office noted that weather patterns globally were unusual and that this could be linked to the very wet weather. Over the course of a season, even influences from the other side of the globe can change the weather experienced in the UK.  

Today, in a study published in the journal Environmental Research Letters, a team of Met Office and University of Oxford scientists have looked in detail at global conditions in winter 2013-14. They conclude that weather conditions in the tropics and stratospheric wind patterns were largely responsible for creating the succession of winter storms that brought record rainfall. While all tropical regions appeared to have some influence, conditions in the tropical Atlantic sector look to have had a particularly important role.

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/2017/record-uk-winter-rainfall-of-2013-14