Graph: Reported European floods between 1980 and 2010

Between 1980 and 2010, 3,563 distinct flood phenomena (floods) were evidenced in 37 European countries.[1]

As the chart shows, the highest number of floods is reported for 2010 (321 floods), when 27 countries were affected. This number is associated with the 'central European floods', which occurred across several central European countries during May and June 2010. In Poland, more than 20 people lost their lives, approximately 3,400 km2 of land was inundated by the floods and the total cost of flood damage has been assessed as more than EUR 2 billion (2,000 million). Bulgaria, France, Germany, Hungary, Serbia, Slovakia and other countries were affected.

The apparent increase in the number of reported floods has not been cross-checked with the natural flooding of the rivers. Therefore, no conclusions can yet be made about trends or patterns of flooding in Europe.

Note: Flood severity is an assessment of flood phenomena magnitude. It considers the reported values on frequency, reported total damage (in Euros and descriptive classes), number of flood events within one flood phenomena unit and severity classes as reported in the Dartmouth Flood Observatory database. All phenomena with fatalities are in the 'very high' severity class. 

Data source: EEA