Regional Environment Adviser James Copeland said he expected to see the flooding increase further upstream, but didn’t expect the contrast to be quite so stark.
“Looking at the footage at Rawcliffe Bridge, you wouldn’t think we’d just experienced a major storm,” he said.
“But travel just a few miles upstream and the picture is very different with large areas of farmland – often behind flood banks – under several feet of water.
“It’s a dramatic testament to the fact that conveyance needs to be given much higher priority.”