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On 20 July 2007, many places in central southern England and the south Midlands had their wettest day on record. This resulted from up to 18 hours of rainfall, often heavy, over an area stretching from the Thames Valley north-westwards across the Cotswolds and Severn Valley to mid-Wales. The highest totals were recorded in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire, Oxfordshire and adjacent counties. Localized flooding soon affected thousands of homes and businesses and caused severe road and rail transport disruption across a wide area. Many rivers subsequently burst their banks, including the lower Severn, the upper Thames and their tributaries. The flooding was exacerbated by the preceding unsettled weather, with over twice the average rainfall across the south and west Midlands in May and June. The location of places mentioned in this article are shown in Figure 1.