In the present paper the results of investigations in flashing flow behind a sudden constriction in vertical upflow are described. Flow visualization, laser Doppler and phase-Doppler anemometry have been used to measure local bubble and fluid velocities, local bubble sizes and void fractions. The measurements were performed in the midplane of a two-dimensional channel with a 2:1 stepwise constriction. It was found that bubble nucleation takes place in the recirculation zone immediately behind the constriction, which is the location of the lowest static pressure. These bubbles are transported downstream by the mean flow field, while undergoing further growth. No additional nucleation was observed downstream of the recirculation zone. A periodic, cloudwise behaviour of the bubble formation was found which could be explained by the interaction between the bubble growth and the mean flow field. This interaction results in strong disturbances of the mean flow held, which show up as an increase of the fluctuating bubble velocity by a factor of 3 compared to single-phase measurements in a region of 10 step heights behind the constriction. However, these fluctuations appear more like a periodic change in the mean velocity rather than a higher turbulence level. The measured arithmetic mean bubble diameters rise from approx. 50 mu m in the recirculation region to about 70-80 mu m 50 step heights downstream. Maximum local bubble number density and void fraction were found to be 16000 1/cm(3) and 0.8%, respectively.