This is what much of the catchment of the River Don, that has flooded Meadowhall, looks like. Strip-burnt and drained for grouse shooting, reducing its capacity to hold water, which flashes off the land. 
There are three components to river flooding: rainfall, land surface and river morphology. When the land is stripped, drained and burnt and the rivers dredged and canalised, heavy rain becomes much more dangerous. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
What makes this even worse is that much of the damage that is likely to have contributed to this flood has taken place in national parks. Their management is an utter disgrace.
