Norwich: The Great Floods

Norwich rests underwater, devastated by record rains.

Record-breaking rainfall in August 1912 devastated Norwich, as this potent Pathe newsreel shows. More than 8 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, causing serious damage and leaving thousands homeless across Norfolk and Suffolk. Norwich caught some of the worst of the storms, as we see here. A marker showing water levels for the last flood lies at least a foot below the latest waterline. Buildings are reduced to solitary pieces of wall, while in other streets clear gaps can be seen where houses once stood.

Norwich has a history of great floods, with further water misery in 1953 and 1968, while in 2014 flash floods turned streets to rivers.