On Saturday 18th July 2009 70 mm of rain fell over the north East UK onto already saturated ground. The river Wear burst its banks, inundating the floodplain around the city of Durham and flooding many properties. As the water in the river started to drop, a section of the banking collapsed into the river. The flood water that was held back on the floodplain now suddenly had a shortcut back into the river. As the floodwaters tore back into the river channel they eroded a huge gully that has been called the Durham Canyon. The erosion feature is up to 4.5 metres deep, up to 30 metres across and 180 metres long. 12,000 cubic metres of soil were washed into the river from a field of Barley at Shincliffe near Durham.