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Using the information about past floods reported by member states and combining that information with available data from global datasets on floods and additions by national authorities on a voluntary basis, provides already a more complete overview of European floods. Between 1980 and 2010, 3 552 distinct flood phenomena (floods) were evidenced in 37 European countries. As shown in Figure 4.3, the highest number of floods is reported for the year 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, approx. 3 400 km² of land have been inundated by the floods and the total damage cost by floods have been assessed to more than 2 billion Euro. Germany, Slovakia, Hungary, Republic of Serbia, Bulgaria, France and other countries were affected as well (ETC/ICM 2015). The apparent increase of the number of reported floods has not been crosschecked with the natural flooding of the rivers. Therefore, based on Figure 4.3 no one can make any conclusion about trends or patterns of flooding in Europe as, besides the length of time series, reporting bias (see also (EEA 2012a) (*))the reporting across Europe is not homogeneous.

(*) to be updated for final version