September has officially been the wettest on record, smashing the previous title held since 1974.

The constant rain means 2024 has already seen more rainfall than in an average year.

September has also been Reading’s most thundery month for 55 years. Thunder was recorded on seven days this month — only one month has ever had more days with thunder (May 1969, with 11 days).

Dr Stephen Burt, meteorologist at the University of Reading, said: “Since the university began recording rainfall, back in 1901, our wettest September to date was 1974, when 145.7 mm was recorded. The September average, from 1991-2020, is just under 50 mm.

“As of Monday, 30 September, this month’s rainfall total stood at 154 mm, making this the wettest September on our records."

The government has recently released their latest set of flood warnings for the county given the consistent rain we will continue to see over the next few days. 

The current alerts that stand are the River Thames from Pangbourne to Purley where water levels have remained high since last week. 

A warning has also been put up for the River Thames from Mapledurham to Sonning where flooding of low-lying land and roads is expected to continue over the next few days.

Periods of light rain are expected throughout today Tuesday, October 1 with a potential for some heavier patches, however, this is not expected to make a large impact on river levels. 

Lower River Loddon has also been flagged as a flood risk. River levels are rising on the River Loddon following heavy rainfall. Flooding of low lying land and roads is possible from the early afternoon. 

Lower River Loddon at the River Thames confluence at Twyford also has had a flood warning issued for it. Property flooding is not currently expected.

A warning has further been released for River Thames for Shiplake, Lower Shiplake and Wargrave. 

River levels are high but steady on the River Thames following a period of sustained rainfall. Flooding of low-lying land and roads is expected to continue today.

With that in mind, Flood Re is a re-insurance scheme created by the UK government and insurance industry to help homeowners in flood-risk areas get affordable flood insurance.

The existence of Flood Re has spared the UK some of the resulting impacts of flooding such as insurance being withdrawn and its potential impact on house prices. 

A spokesperson for Flood Re said "We are aware London and the Thames Valley face frequent flood risks from the River Thames. The Environment Agency reports that over 500,000 properties in London are at risk of flooding from various sources."

As such, it is vital that those in vulnerable areas are aware of Flood Re and Build Back Better in particular.

BBB enables participating insurers to offer relevant customers access to reimbursement costs of up to £10,000 to invest in property flood resilience (PFR) measures, over and above work to repair damage and loss caused by a flood.