History of floods on the River Vistula

The history of floods on the River Vistula in Poland, covering the period from AD 988 to the present is reviewed. General information is given on the River Vistula, its basin and its floods, for the Upper, Middle, Lower Vistula and the Vistula Delta. Information on floods in the pre-instrumental period is derived from documentary sources. It is only since the re-establishment of Polish independence in 1945 that instrumental data make it possible to analyse floods on relatively homogeneous, uniform and gap-free observational material. In order to extend the flood-related records, recourse must be made to historical hydrology. Sources of flood-related information are examined and the particularities of the situation, driven by the history of Poland, are explained. Interpretation is offered of changes in flooding, caused by land use, river training and climate change. Changing characteristics of floods of different generation mechanisms (convective or advective rainfall, snowmelt, ice-jam) are discussed.