The floods of 2000: Was climate change to blame?

Flooding in Yalding, Kent, in October 2000. Rain swept across Britain, swelling rivers already at bursting point after the country's most widespread floods in 50 years Photograph: Barry Phillips/Rex Features An aerial view of flooding near Newark-on-Trent, Nottinghamshire, after the River Trent burst its banks Photograph: Sandy Stockwell/Corbis A toll bridge in Selby, North Yorkshire, over a swollen river Ouse Photograph: Gerry Penny/AFP/Getty Images A bus ploughs through floodwater at Bathford near Bath, Somerset Photograph: David Bebber/Rex Features Residents use duckboards to get about in Shrewsbury after floods in December 2000. Homes and businesses that had only just recovered from the earlier floods were once again under water Photograph: David Jones/PA Railway lines near Exeter on the high-speed Exeter to Paddington route slumped after storm waters washed away supports in November 2000 Photograph: Jo Stevenson/Rex Features/Rex Features Photograph: JO STEVENSON / Rex Features/Rex Features An inspector checks for gas leaks in a flooded supermarket in the centre of Uckfield, Sussex, in October 2000 Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters Fire officers rescue an elderly woman from an old people's home after the river Ouse burst its banks in Lewes Photograph: Dylan Martinez/Reuters Lewes station after one month's rain fell in a single day Photograph: Chris Ison/PA The army help to shore up flood defences in Barlby, North Yorkshire, in November 2000 Photograph: John Furlong/Rex Features The river Severn near Worcester, central England, in November 2000 Photograph: Stewart Writtle/AP York town crier John Redpath warns residents of the historic city that the floodwater was continuing to rise Photograph: Dan Chung/Reuters