Flooding from climate change is real, but no current London catastrophe | Fact check

Kate S. Petersen, USA TODAY
·4 min read

The claim: Video shows Aug. 26 flooding in London due to climate change

An Aug. 26 Facebook video (direct link, archive link) shows clips of stormy weather and flooded urban areas. A narrator claims the footage shows a climate change-related disaster unfolding in England.

"In an unprecedented turn of events, the bustling metropolis of London finds itself in the grip of a relentless and devastating flood," says the narrator. "Climate scientists are attributing this catastrophic event to the intensifying effects of climate change, as warmer atmospheres hold more moisture, leading to extreme rainfall events."

The narrator also says the military has been called in to assist with the disaster.

"Great Britain now," reads the video's caption. "78,000 people under the water!"

The video was shared more than 600 times in two weeks.

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Our rating: False

There was no catastrophic flooding in London on Aug. 26, according to a spokesperson from the UK's national weather service. Most of the clips in the video are old or weren't captured in London.

Video composed of old clips from other places

Jo McLellan, a spokesperson for the UK's national weather service, Met Office, told USA TODAY that the catastrophic flooding described in the video didn't happen.

"We don’t believe, looking at the observations, that there was any flooding in London at all on that day," she said in an email.

Most of the clips in the video show footage that is old or from other places.

These include:

USA TODAY could not source three of the clips in the video.

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While the event described in the video isn't real, sea level rise, which is due to global warming caused by human CO2 emissions, is increasing the frequency of flooding in some coastal areas. Global warming drives sea level rise because warmer water expands and melting ice sheets and glaciers contribute new water to the world's oceans.

USA TODAY reached out to the Facebook user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

The video was also debunked by PolitiFact, Reuters, Lead Stories and Check Your Fact.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: False claim video shows London climate flood disaster | Fact check