The Big Flood of November 2000
_{As seen through the lens of the Leader Photographers}

The 17 Pages that follow are copied from the special LEADER supplement that was issued in November 2000 to commemorate the actions of the Emergency Services and demonstrate the damage created by the storms and flooding that occurred in the towns and villages like Rossett, Bangor-on-Dee, Llangollen, Mold and Ruthin. Areas of Flintshire and Wrexham also experienced severe flooding.
Links to further coverage of flooding issues
_{A link to download this supplement in pdf format can be found at the end of the article.}

This document was assembled in 2022 and as a result some of the locations in the supplement have not been identified from the Police Helicopter Flyby which apparently took place on or about the 7th Nov 2000 although they may now be recognised by members of the public who were actually living in the area at the time.

During 2000 there was extensive rainfall in NE Wales during the 2 week period of October and November ending on the 7th November. Many roads were flooded and a number of villages and hamlets such as Trevalyn in Rossett were cut off and isolated by the flooded roads for over a week.

The peak flooding occurred on the 6th November 2000 after flood gates were opened on Bala Lake and apparently at the Nant-y-Ffrith reservoir above Mold. The resultant surge of water from the reservoir created the massive floods depicted in the centre of Mold and destroyed bridges along the River Alyn in Pontblyddyn and Burton Rossett along with other damage to properties.

The cement works at Padeswood were flooded along with numerous other businesses and workshops.  The flooding extended across most of north East Wales and it occurred at a time when the impact of Climate change was barely recognised. This was the largest flooding experienced in re-cent times and eclipsed the earlier 1976 flood event on the 25th/26th September of that year following the record hot summer. In the 1976 event the flood areas were similar to those pictured in the supplement but the reservoir releases of 2000 were not a feature of that flooding event.

Many thanks are expressed to the LEADER and their staff for photographically recording the 2000 Big Flood and leaving for future generations a warning of the damage and disruption major flooding can create.