Storm Chandra — major incident declared as Somerset floods for the third winter running

The storm

Storm Chandra arrived on 26–27 January 2026 as the third named storm to hit the UK within a fortnight, following Storms Goretti and Ingrid in rapid succession. Where its predecessors had brought damaging winds, Chandra's calling card was rainfall — and in Somerset, it set records.

50mm of intense rainfall fell across large parts of Somerset during the event, enough to trigger a major incident declaration by Somerset Council on 27 January. Met Office data confirmed new 24-hour rainfall records in multiple stations across the south-west.

The hydrology

Somerset had already had the second-wettest January on record before Chandra arrived. The ground was saturated; the rivers were already high. When Chandra's rain hit, it had nowhere to go.

The Somerset Rivers Authority reported around 1.2 million cubic metres of water per hour moving through the Parrett and Tone catchments at peak flow — a figure that gives some sense of the scale of the event. A third of January's total rainfall fell during this single storm.

Over 250 active flood warnings and alerts were issued across England during 28 January, including several severe warnings in Somerset and Devon. The Environment Agency deployed mobile pumps and emergency resources; six additional pumps were placed at Northmoor with pipework connected to try to keep pace with inflows.

The affected communities

Ilminster, West Coker, Taunton, Mudford, and West Camel were among the most severely affected settlements. Businesses along the flood plain faced extended closures — some still had not fully reopened weeks after the water receded.

Parliament debated the Somerset flooding specifically on 11 February, with the scale of the event prompting questions about the adequacy of ongoing flood defence investment relative to climate projections.

Pattern and context

Chandra was not an isolated event. The 2025–26 winter saw the Somerset Levels flood in three consecutive winters — a pattern that would have been considered unusual as recently as a decade ago. The Climate Change Committee's May 2026 report flags peak river flows up to 45% higher under mid-century projections, suggesting what currently looks like exceptional is becoming the baseline.

For UK storm chasers and weather observers, winter flooding events like Chandra are increasingly part of the chase calendar — not just summer convection. The interaction between saturated catchments, successive Atlantic systems, and elevated sea surface temperatures driving more intense precipitation is a dynamic worth understanding going into future winters.