After 200 years, the normally dry Malham Cove has been turned into a spectacular waterfall

The Malham Cove huge limestone formation in the Yorkshire Dales has been dry for hundreds of years – and possibly as far back as the last Ice Age. The vertical face of the cliff is about 260 feet high. The top of the cove is a large area of deeply eroded limestone pavement, of a strange pattern rarely seen in England. The impressive Malham Cove looks out over the Village of Malham and has been attracting visitors for centuries.
After nearly 200 years, on December 6, 2015, Malham Cove briefly became England’s tallest waterfall, for one day only, as Storm Desmond drenched the country with heavy rain and for “the first time in living memory“ has brought a waterfall back to life. People are saying for one day, and one day only, it was the biggest unbroken waterfall in England. The 80m (260ft) drop was about two-and-a-half times bigger than England’s usual record holder, the tallest unbroken waterfall Hardraw Force, which stands at around 100ft, also in the Yorkshire Dales.

Desmond created an atmospheric river in its wake, bringing in moist air from the Caribbean to the British Isles. As a result, rainfall from Desmond was unusually heavy, with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute designating Desmond an extreme weather event as a result of the expected rainfall.
Local residents and tourists gathered to see the phenomenon. Alan Hulme, Yorkshire Dales National Park’s head of ranger services, who has lived in Malhamdale for 30 years, has been trying to find out the last time water tumbled over the top of Malham Cove, with some people saying it happened in the early 19th century, others in 1720 and some going as far back as the Ice Age. “Limestone is pretty porous and so water is absorbed into the ground fairly rapidly, and there is a large cave system as well. But once the caves fill up with water then water stops being absorbed by the limestone after travelling through the soil and instead travels on the top of it. It was truly amazing. The cove was formed in the Ice Age and melt-water created a natural amphitheatre 300 metres wide and about 70 metres high. We are struggling to find out the last time it flowed as a waterfall but people are saying for one day, and one day only, it was the biggest unbroken waterfall in England,” he said.