Boscastle Flood 2004: What Happened and What to See Now

Short answer: On the afternoon of 16 August 2004, around 75mm of rain fell in about two hours on the hills above Boscastle, and a flash flood of roughly two billion litres swept down the valley through the village. Around 50 cars were washed into the harbour and out to sea, buildings were wrecked, and dozens of people were airlifted to safety by rescue helicopters. Remarkably, nobody died.

What happened in the Boscastle flood?

On 16 August 2004, a summer afternoon, an intense storm stalled over the high ground above Boscastle. About 75mm of rain fell in around two hours, and the Valency and Jordan rivers, which meet in the village, rose with frightening speed. Roughly two billion litres of water poured down the valley and through the village.

• Around 50 cars were swept from the car park, through the village and out to sea.
• Buildings, bridges and shops along the river were badly damaged.
• Rescue helicopters lifted dozens of people from roofs, trees and cars. Accounts of the numbers vary, from about 90 to around 120.
• Nobody died.

Boscastle today

The village was rebuilt, and new flood defences followed. Walking down the river from the Cobweb car park to the harbour, it's hard to picture the water that came through. The first Christmas tree in the harbour went up in the year of the flood, and the village has lit one most Decembers since.

What to see

• The river walk from the car park to the harbour, along the route the water took.
• The harbour itself, protected by walls built in 1584 and owned by the National Trust.
• The Valency Valley, the river that flooded, now a peaceful woodland walk: Boscastle walks.

More: first time in Boscastle · the Boscastle guide.