Hydrometeorological extremes have influenced human lives significantly in the past, just as they continue to do today. To analyse these influences in the past, information is needed from before the start of systematic meteorological and hydrological observations. Documentary evidence constitutes a very rich source of information about past hydrometeorological extremes. This paper focuses on impacts of hydrometeorological extremes on agriculture and material property and their socio-economic consequences. It also discusses the potential and limitations of such documentary evidence. Despite documentary evidence’s several limitations (e.g. spatial and temporal uncertainty, uncertainty in the annual distribution of records, in the type of extreme, etc.), it is a promising source of information useful for future studies.