HS
Hydrological Sciences

floods

Communicating science to the public – an example after the recent floods in Germany

January 25, 2024
Communicating science to the public – an example after the recent floods in Germany
Extensive flooding in the Emsland flood area, photo: Flugschule Dankern

After the wet December 2023, the year 2024 started with widespread flooding in parts of Europe. Flooding during winter times is not unusual but brings particular challenges in terms of spatial extent, and the impact on people can be exacerbated when flooding comes with very low temperatures. The exceptionally wet and warm winter necessarily triggers questions from the public about how this links t ...[Read More]

May the year-end be Exceptional, not only hydrologically!

December 21, 2023
May the year-end be Exceptional, not only hydrologically!
Generated with DreamStudio, "beautiful rainy christmas in a river catchment"

What a hydrological year it has been!  From the winter drought and flash floods detailed in Matano and Avanzi‘s blog post to the remarkably warm and wet November 2023, Europe has witnessed a range of extraordinary weather phenomena. In the Alpine region, the convergence of warm and wet weather resulted in numerous rain-on-snow events (see eg. the streamflow recording below), offering valuabl ...[Read More]

Floods and droughts: two sides of the same hydrological coin

and August 23, 2023
Floods and droughts: two sides of the same hydrological coin

This is not (only) a flood. Inspired by Magritte’s painting: ‘Ceci n’est pas une pipe’ After an alarming dry winter, the European continent has been enduring weeks of a record-breaking heatwave across the southern regions, while coping with scattered, intense precipitation and flash floods. In Zaragoza (Spain), recent flash floods swiftly transformed the previously dry landscape into raging rivers ...[Read More]