Abstract. The last decade has witnessed severe flooding across much of the globe, but have these floods really been exceptional? Globally, relatively few instrumental river flow series extend beyond 50 years, with short records presenting significant challenges in determining flood risk from highmagnitude floods. A perceived increase in extreme floods in recent years has decreased public confidence in conventional flood risk estimates; the results affect society (insurance costs), individuals (personal vulnerability) and companies (e.g. water resource managers). Here, we show how historical records from Britain have improved understanding of high-magnitude floods, by examining past spatial and temporal variability. The findings identify that whilst recent floods are notable, several comparable periods of increased flooding are identifiable historically, with periods of greater frequency (flood-rich periods). Statistically significant relationships between the British flood index, the Atlantic Meridional Oscillation and the North Atlantic Oscillation Index are identified. The use of historical records identifies that the largest floods often transcend single catchments affecting regions and that the current flood-rich period is not unprecedented.

Abstract. The application of historical flood information as a tool for augmenting instrumental flood data is increasingly recognised as a valuable tool. Most previous studies have focused on large catchments with historic settlements, this paper applies the approach to the smaller lowland system of the Sussex Ouse in southeast England. The reassessment of flood risk on the Sussex Ouse is pertinent in light of the severe flooding in October 2000 and heightened concerns of a perceived increase in flooding nationally. Systematic flood level readings from 1960 and accounts detailing past flood events within the catchment are compiled back to ca. 1750. This extended flood record provides an opportunity to reassess estimates of flood frequency over a timescale not normally possible within flood frequency analysis. This paper re-evaluates flood frequency at Lewes on the Sussex Ouse downstream of the confluence of the Sussex Ouse and River Uck. The paper considers the strengths and weaknesses in estimates resulting from contrasting methods of analysis and their corresponding data: (i) single site analysis of gauged annual maxima; (ii) combined analysis of systematic annual maxima augmented with historical peaks of estimated magnitude; (iii) combined analysis of systematic annual maxima augmented with historical peaks of estimated magnitude exceeding a known threshold, and (iv) sensitivity analysis including only the very largest historical flood events. Use of the historical information was found to yield much tighter confidence intervals of risk estimates, with uncertainty reduced by up to 40 % for the 100-year return frequency event when historical information was added to the gauged data.

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Few publications may claim to have transcended the original field in which they were written, by shaping a wide range of research areas and philosophies. In this short paper we reflect on the manner in which Gilbert F. White’s 1945 publication ‘Human adjustment to floods’ has not only shaped how we study and perceive flooding, but has also had a significance beyond its original aims, revolutionizing the ways in which hazard and risk are conceptualized more generally. Before considering the impact of ‘Human adjustment to floods’, we briefly review academic understanding of floods in the decades leading up to the 1940s and later place the 1945 paper in the context of White’s subsequent contributions to research which both developed and built on his ideas.

Abstract. The application of historical flood information as a tool for augmenting instrumental flood data is increasingly recognised as a valuable tool; most previous studies have focused on large catchments with historic settlements, this paper applies the approach to the smaller lowland system of the Sussex Ouse in Southeast England. The reassessment of flood risk on the Sussex Ouse is pertinent in light of severe flooding in October 2000 and heightened concerns of a perceived increase in flooding nationally. Systematic flood level readings from 1960 and accounts detailing past flood events within the catchment are compiled back to c.1750. This extended flood record provides an opportunity to reassess estimates of flood frequency over a timescale not normally possible within flood frequency analysis. This paper re-evaluates flood frequency at Lewes on the Sussex Ouse downstream of the confluence of the Sussex Ouse and River Uck. The paper considers the strengths and weaknesses in estimates resulting from contrasting methods of analysis and their corresponding data: (i) single site analysis of gauged annual maxima; (ii) combined analysis of systematic annual maxima augmented with historical peaks of estimated magnitude; (iii) combined analysis of systematic annual maxima augmented with historical peaks of estimated magnitude exceeding a known threshold, and (iv) sensitivity analysis including only the very largest historical flood events. Use of the historical information was found to yield much tighter confidence intervals of risk estimates, with uncertainty reduced by up to 40% for the 100 yr return frequency event when historical information was added to the gauged data.

This paper summarises: the characteristics of eruptions that occurred between 1792/3 and 1923; the ways in which human responses evolved during the period and the lessons this history holds for the management of present-day volcanic and volcano-related disasters. People responded to eruptions at three levels: as members of a family and extended family; through the mutual support of a village or larger settlement and as citizens of the State. During the study period and with the exception of limited financial aid and preservation of law and order, the State was a minor player in responding to eruptions. Families and extended families provided shelter, accommodation and often alternative agricultural employment; whilst supportive villages communities displayed a well developed tendency to learn from experience (e.g. innovating techniques to bring land back into cultivation and avoiding the risks of phreatic activity as lava encountered water and saturated ground) and providing labour to enable household chattels and agricultural crops to be salvaged from land threatened with lava incursion. Eruptions were widely believed to be ‘Acts of God’, with divine punishment frequently being invoked as a primary cause of human suffering. Elaborate rituals of propitiation were performed to appease a supposed angry God, but this world-view did not produce a fatalistic attitude amongst the population preventing people from coping with disasters in a generally effective manner. Despite present day emergencies being handled by the State and its agencies, some features of nineteenth century responses remain in evidence, including salvaging all that may be easily removed from a building and/or agricultural holding, and explanations of disaster which are theistic in character. Lessons from eruptions that occurred between 1792/3 to 1923 are that the former should be encouraged, whilst the latter does not prevent people acting to preserve life and property or obeying the authorities. Earthquakes are one category of hazard that caused major damage during, or associated with, several historic eruptions especially those of 1865, 1883 and 1911. This study highlights the vulnerability of the Etna region to this hazard which remains largely un-ameliorated. Attempts to divert lava flows occurred during the 1832, 1879 and 1923 eruptions

Historical data sources are used by a wide variety of disciplines, but rarely do they look outside their particular research fields at how others are using and applying historical data. The use and application of historical data has grown rapidly over the last couple of decades within the meteorological, geophysical and hydrological disciplines, but have done so relatively independently. By coevolving, each discipline has developed separate themes or areas, with varying degrees of uptake beyond their academic communities. We find that whilst the geophysical discipline has been relatively successful in engaging with international policymakers and stakeholders, this has not been reflected within the meteorological or hydrological disciplines to date. This disparity has occurred for a variety of reasons, including varying scales of disaster and social, political and cultural structures. In examining current developments within the disciplines, evidence suggests that this disparity is lessening, as each are using online databases and some citizen science, but that they continue to evolve independently with little unifying structure or purpose. This continued autonomy makes multi-hazard analysis challenging which, considering the potential that historical datasets present in the emerging field of multi-hazards analysis, is a considerable hindrance to this field of research. In looking forward, opportunities emerge for improved understanding of the risks presented to societies by natural hazards in the past, but also for examining how resilience, behaviour and adaptation alter during periods of repose.

Agricultural land management requires strategies to reduce impacts on soil and water resources while maintaining food production. Models that capture the effects of agricultural and conservation practices on soil erosion and sediment delivery can help to address this challenge. Historic records of climatic variability and agricultural change over the last century also offer valuable information for establishing extended baselines against which to evaluate management scenarios. Here, we present an approach that combines centennial-scale reconstructions of climate and agricultural land cover with modelling across four lake catchments in the UK where radiometric dating provides a record of lake sedimentation. We compare simulations using MMF-TWI, a catchment-scale model developed for humid agricultural landscapes that incorporates representation of seasonal variability in vegetation cover, soil water balance, runoff and sediment contributing areas. MMF-TWI produced mean annual sediment exports within 9-20% of sediment core-based records without calibration and using guide parameter values to represent vegetation cover. Simulations of land management scenarios compare upland afforestation and lowland field-scale conservation measures to reconstructed historic baselines. Oak woodland versus conifer afforestation showed similar reductions in mean annual surface runoff (8-16%) compared to current moorland vegetation but a larger reduction in sediment exports (26-46 versus 4-30%). Riparian woodland buffers reduced upland sediment yields by 15-41%, depending on understorey cover levels, but had only minor effect on surface runoff. Planting of winter cover crops in the lowland arable catchment halved historic sediment exports. Permanent grass margins applied to sets of arable fields across 15% or more of the catchment led to further significant reduction in exports. Our findings show the potential for reducing sediment delivery at the catchment scale with land management interventions. We also demonstrate how MMF-TWI can support hydrologically-informed decision making to better target conservation measures in humid agricultural environments.