Somerset Levels flooding from space

In the past two months, storm after storm has battered the UK, bringing heavy rain, damaging winds and flooding.

Without a doubt, the worst hit area in terms of the severity and longevity of the flooding has been the Somerset Levels.

As a vast low-lying floodplain housing a number of rivers that flow out into the Bristol Channel, it it prone to flooding. However, the constant deluge of heavy rain this winter has caused flooding on a scale not seen for many years.

Nasa satellites circle the earth constantly, snapping pictures of our planet below and act as an important record of how our landscape responds to the man-made and natural phenomena scouring the surface.

Two images below, released by Nasa, show a comparison of the Somerset Levels before and after the flooding that has taken place.

The top image above was taken on 4 November 2013 and shows the Somerset Levels as they would normally look.

The image below that was taken on 16 February 2014 and shows the Somerset Levels severely flooded, with vast areas of land covered in water.

Although the rain has eased this week, south west England has already had 109 per cent of its average February rainfall in the first 11 days of the month.

The Environment Agency still has two severe flood warnings for the Somerset Levels, with the flooding set to continue.

Whilst the next few days will see the weather deliver the area no more than some showers, the threat of heavier rain will return from this weekend onwards.

Don’t forget, you can get the latest forecast on the Channel 4 Weather website. I also post regular updates on Twitter – @liamdutton