Horncastle Floods of 7th October 1960

[A Face like Thunder]

Today is the 60th anniversary of the floods which devastated the town of Horncastle in Lincolnshire. 178mm of rain fell in 3 hours, - still a 3-hour record in the UK - raging torrents swept cars away, 100 homes were swamped and one man drowned. At one time, water in the town centre was level with the roofs of telephone kiosks, the town centre had to be evacuated and 500 emergency workers were drafted in to clear up the aftermath and help those who had been made homeless by the floods (Paul Simons in Times 'Weather Eye').

October 1960 was a very wet month and it was to be another 40 years before anything similar was seen in the UK. My family had only just returned from 3 years overseas and I found my first term at grammar school a frankly depressing affair!