In 1342, Europe suffered its worst flood year in 700 years; scientists now say 16 major floods struck the continent within just three years

For centuries, the Magdalena Flood of July 1342 stood out as one of the great flood disasters of medieval Central Europe. A new study published in Nature suggests the disaster was actually part of something much larger: a run of 16 major floods that hit different parts of Europe between late 1341 and 1343. Researchers led by Andrea Kiss, a historian, medievalist and geographer at TU Wien, pieced the sequence together from more than 1,000 entries in contemporary records and other historical evidence. Four of the floods were classified as extreme events, with estimated return periods of 500 to 1,000 years. The researchers found that 1342 had more great and extraordinary floods than any other year in their 700-year European record, while 1343 ranked among the top 10. The repeated flooding damaged settlements, farmland, roads and other infrastructure, while the disruption contributed to food shortages and wider economic problems. The researchers link the unusual cluster to volcanic activity alongside major changes in the Arctic and North Atlantic climate.

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