The River Taff in Cardiff.
© @rebecca_melenThe River Taff in Cardiff.
The UK has suffered its wettest February on record after three successive storms brought heavy downpours and flooding.

A UK average of 202.1mm has fallen this month, surpassing February 1990 when 193.4mm fell, the Met Office said.

Householders across the country were bracing themselves on Saturday night for further damaging high winds - of up to 90mph.

Some areas were deluged by more than a month's worth of rain in just 24 hours, as safety teams worked quickly to erect flood defences in vulnerable areas.


Heavy rain - from Storm Ciara, Storm Dennis and now Storm Jorge - contributed to record river levels in the Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire.

Jorge, which has brought rain, gales of up to 70mph and snow, prompted weather warnings stretching from Cornwall to the north of Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Parts of Ireland will bear the brunt of the strong winds, with a red warning in place for Galway and County Clare.


Earlier storms flooded at least 3,300 properties

More than 3,300 properties in England are thought to have been flooded as a result of storms Ciara and Dennis, government officials say.

But the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs says the figure, which includes both homes and businesses, is only an estimate as gathering reliable and up-to-date data is difficult.

Ciara swept across the UK on Sunday 9 February, while Dennis came the following weekend, on 15 and 16 February.

Authorities in Wales said earlier this week that more than 1,000 homes had flooded, with reports of more than 300 businesses also affected over the previous two weeks.

(Read more here)