The Cherwell river, which flows through the county of Oxfordshire and central Oxford, burst its banks on Tuesday following a period of heavy rainfall. In response, the Environment Agency issued flood warnings across Oxfordshire, 27 of which remain in place as of Friday. The chaos comes after Storm Henk caused national disruption, with heavy rain and gusts of wind in excess of 80 mph being recorded in parts of the UK.
Several colleges of the University of Oxford, particularly those adjacent to the Cherwell, have been affected by the higher river levels. Lady Margaret Hall, located near the river, communicated via Instagram that the floodwater had made it as far as the college hockey pitch.
St Hilda’s was similarly troubled, releasing a social media post showing the extent of the flooding which had submerged large parts of the college’s gardens.
Christ Church’s Instagram page meanwhile reposted an earlier image from a student, remarking that Christ Church Meadow had become a “lake” with the image showing large parts of the meadow to be underwater.
Within Oxfordshire, residential streets in the town of Abingdon, 6 miles southeast of Oxford, were left covered with flood water causing damage to property. One local resident was critical of the town’s existing flood defences, citing the claim by developers that the culverts used were designed to cope with “1 in 100” flood events. Speaking to the Oxford Mail, the resident asserted that the rain brought by Tuesday’s storm “has not been a 1/100 year amount of rainfall.”
The flooding has also led to travel disruptions with the A34 closing on Tuesday before being re-opened on Thursday. The Oxford bus company also released a statement via X calling the flooding on Abingdon Road “increasingly concerning” and warning that all services operating in the area were “suffering severe disruption.”
The flooding throughout Oxfordshire has coincided with national disruption brought by Storm Henk. Elsewhere in the Thames Valley a party boat sank whilst moored at Temple Pier in London on Wednesday. Additionally, around 50 people were evacuated by firefighters after a canal near Hackney Wick was unable to cope with the unusually high discharge. Welfare checks were carried out on around 100 more residents who were able to remain in their homes.
The MET office has forecast drier conditions from today onwards, although the earlier flood warnings issued by the Environment Agency remain in place.
Oxford City Council have informed Cherwell that updates about flood prevention work being undertaken by the council, as well as residents advice and details of the self-fill sandbag scheme set up at Redbridge Park and Ride, can be found at the council’s severe weather webpage.
For more up to date news about the flooding please visit: Check for flooding in Oxford – GOV.UK (check-for-flooding.service.gov.uk)
