River levels in Oxford have peaked and are starting to fall after a week of disruption, with flood defences deployed in several parts of the city. Members of Oxford Flood Alliance have been busy working with residents and the authorities to make sure homes and businesses stay dry. Overall the emergency response has been well managed.

Intense rainfall was experienced across the catchment on Sunday 24 November. Minster Lovell rain gauge recorded 53.2 mm, almost a month’s worth of rain, in just 24 hours. St John’s Lechlade recorded 46.9 mm in the same period. Soils were already sodden after the record-breaking deluge at the end of September and predicting what might happen was challenging. The Environment Agency thought initially that we might see river levels similar to those in January this year.

In the event the floods were not as bad as feared, with the highest levels 150 mm lower than in January. There were two flood peaks in Oxford. The first came on 26 November, driven by the Evenlode and local surface water, the second on 29 November as water made its way down from the headwaters of the Thames. Levels are expected to remain high into early December with a lot of water still flowing through the city.

OFA is deeply frustrated that we have been waiting since the beginning of the year (albeit with a change of government during that period) for the Secretary of State at DEFRA to sign off on the compulsory purchase order for the Oxford Flood Alleviation Scheme. If the scheme were in place we would not have to experience the stress, disruption to daily life and costly emergency response seen over the last week.