Extreme weather in Britain

Boats are left high and dry on the River Thames near Kew during the severe drought of summer 1976 Photograph: Wesley/Getty Images

Hundreds of ancient trees were uprooted in Kew Gardens by the Great Storm of 1987, the worst to hit Britain since 1703. The storm was responsible for the deaths of at least 22 people in Britain and France Photograph: Robin Anderson /Rex features

A ferry beached by a hurricane in October 1987 Photograph: Rex Features/TDY

In February 2002, trams on the seafront at Blackpool had to be towed to safety as gales and high tides battered the coast Photograph: John Giles/PA

Water levels were still alarmingly low in the Scammonden Reservoir, West Yorkshire, in autumn 2003 following a drought in the summer Photograph: Don McPhee/Guardian

Flash flooding in Boscastle, Cornwall, on 16 August 2004 Photograph: Colin Shepherd/Rex Features

A huge wave crashes over the Cobb wall at Lyme Regis, Dorset, in autumn 2004. The storm-battered Cobb was the scene of Meryl Streep's famous clinch with Jeremy Irons in The French Lieutenant's Woman Photograph: Richard Austin/Rex Features

Coastal defences fail to hold back the sea from the cliffs of Happisburgh, Norfolk, in November 2004 Photograph: Brian Harris/Rex Features

Tornado damage in the Ladypool area of Birmingham, July 2005 Photograph: Jamie Jones / Rex Features/Rex Features

The usual source of the Thames at Kemble near Tetbury was dry as a bone on 24 February 2006. Water levels were at their lowest in 80 years in the south of England and as a result the source of the river had moved 1.5 kilometres to the south-east Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

Exceptionally hot weather in early July 2006 created a pall of choking smog that hung over the capital, seen in this view from Wimbledon Photograph: Eddie Mulholland/Rex Features

Lightning at dawn in Hampshire, July 2006 Photograph: Geoff Dore/NPL/Rex Features

A tornado snakes its way towards Brighton on the south coast in October 2006 Photograph: Jean Hopkins/Rex Features

A house in Kensal Rise, north London, after a tornado ripped through the suburb on 7 December 2006. About 100 houses were damaged, six people were injured and several hundred were forced to leave their homes Photograph: Chris Young/AFP

Shipping containers washed up on the beach at Branscombe, Devon, in January 2007 after the the MSC Napoli was deliberately run aground in Lyme Bay. The cargo ship had been fatally holed during storms Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP

Lightning over London on 3 July 2007 Photograph: Rex Features

A woman walks home in Clapham later that day after an unseasonal hailstorm Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

Chris Clayton from Dudley waits to be rescued from his 4x4, stranded on a flooded road near Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire on 6 September 2008. Heavy rain caused flash floods leading to widespread disruption in many parts of the UK Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images