Rare footage of the previous record flooding in 1947.

This was caused by massive sudden snow melt - that's right, amazing as it may seem these days, the previous winter had snowed, and snowed, and stayed cold and the snow had NOT melted, esp up in Wales, where the Severn headwaters rise.

Suddenly it warmed up and the river had, in effect, an entire winter's rain fall dumped into in in a matter of a few days.

Flood at Gloucester ranked 4th in the annual flood peak level list from 1770 to 1970.

Coda re 2007 - listening to a Radio 4 program about science a flood expert commented that in the late twentieth century planning experts debated whether or not rainfall could cause a 1947 type event. In 2007 they got their answer.