Weather

[Bob]

Looking at the weather good luck to everyone in Scotland and northern England.

Let's hope everyone is safe.

[Northern Bongolow]

everything is nailed down here bob thanks.

[Bob]

Does look pretty grim, good luck.

[mikeonb4c]

Remains coming your way tomorrow Bob. Here in south Manchester we have wind but have to be rained on - weird, we must be very close to the rainline. Looks catastrophic in Cumbria Keeping all fingers crossed for them

[alant54]

Good luck to HARRY and all those in the midst of this terrible weather.....

We think it's bad here in North Cheshire but it's nothing compared to what Lancashire and Cumbria are experiencing.......Best wishes to all in those areas.....

Alan

[MountainGoat]

No problems in my part of the Scottish Borders as the River Tweed seems to be coping well here. But then I have been very lucky, had to go down to Blackburn and back last Thursday and did it without any problems. Now two days later the buses can't get through flooded Hawick to Carlisle and the trains have stopped running between Carlisle and Preston.

[Bongoplod]

Came home today from static at Bolton le Sands,Carnforth,All electric in Morecambe,Lancaster,Carnforth and surrounding areas off due to main substation flooded,as per northwest news.,
50 mph winds and extreme torrential rain on the site,me and Charlie got drenched on his morning/night walk for his number twos,but had no choice
Informed by site that services wont be back untill AT LEAST tuesday,

No electric,heat,phone or internet,and couldnt take all freezer contents home so all binned
Should`ve been there all week,but no point due to above.........BUMMER!!

BUT....nowhere close to the problems others had in the area due to flooding etc,so Im a happy chappy really

Brian

ps.....pity anyone camping

[Bob]

Crikey Brian, but as you say, at least you can just go home.

Pretty grim for some poor souls.

[MountainGoat]

In the case of Cumbria it appears to be the same old story. The 2005 floods were supposed to be once in a lifetime occurrence, so after promising to spend millions shoring up flood defences the government quietly delayed most of the schemes to divert the money elsewhere as soon as they thought we had forgotten about the last storm and their promises. Now they have been caught with their pants down.

[BigPanzer]

Hi,
What annoys me is the number of reporters flying round in helicopters that could be more usefully employed on other duties. But to all the poor folks who are up to their knees in freezing cold diluted sewage up there, don't worry. "Call Me Dave" will no doubt put in an appearance wearing brand new wellies, do the Canute bit and everything will be OK. And don't we have a "Flood Minister"? No doubt dressed as a fairy and with a magic wand to wave. And how are said poor affected folk expected to obtain house insurance after this has happened (again)?

Peter

[mikeonb4c]

In 1995 me and a couple of colleagues in a then well known construction industry training provider set up courses for the industry on coastal and flood protection. We did it because with the Tory government cancelling the road programme and a civil engineering industry desperate for alternative employment, and given the global climate indicators (even then!) it seemed worth flying the flag for a possible new and important area of work that would contribute to our economic future (think of how exportable expertise in this area might become). We got some delegates from local authorities and public bodies amongst the ranks of those interested in these far flung ideas and whose employers had a training budget, but the Government did not (as as far as I am aware) reallocate any of its savings on the cancelled roads programme in order to (1) invest in the future and (2) keep people in work, and the whole thing petered out. So, where are we now:

1) Local authorities and public bodies degraded / impoverished / functions outsourced so no investment likely from there
2) Big names in construction (Atkins/Amey etc.) now in the facilities management business where they attempt to profit from the outsourcing under (1)
3) Failure to invest in preventative protection work
4) Huge national costs incurred from (a) repairing flood damaged property and infrastructure and (2) belatedly building (inadequate) flood defences
5) A beyond measure impact on the lives and wellbeing of those whose lives have been profoundly affected by the various extreme floods, not to mention the lives of those who (long ago) lost their livelihoods through the failure to give an industry work that would have kept them in jobs and the nation in valuable skills
6) Internships and 'employment' for our youngsters where the Job Centres (no doubt now run by an outsourced private contractor whose sole interest is placing any peg in any hole in order to get paid) tell them they must take a job cold calling people to sell them PPI insurance, or else lose their unemployment benefit (sorry, Universal Credit).

I could go on.......

[Gasy]

As said
Cumbria took a right bashing again
The new flood defences in cocker mouth were breached the first night ( more of our money wasted)
Another bridge down

Last time
My niece , boyfriend and dog were rescued out of there 1st floor flat , by stepping out the window into a rowing boat
The water had reached the top step of the stairs

Hope every one is ok

[helen&tony]

Hi
That aside, Mike, we are feeling the change brought about by global warming, and ridiculous consumption of food in an increasing population indoctrinated into rampant greed with advertising tweaking the human frailty. Look at photographs just post-war and look now. A once healthy population now slavering at the chops to consume more and a look at a modern group photo will prove it...plus it'll show why we're suffering more ailments that the NHS was not designed to cope with! This over-indulgence not only needs more pasture for animals (quick, decimate some natural woodland), it also needs more ploughed fields...quick , decimate some more natural woodland (where all the birds and bees come from)...Oh dear, wildlife is decreasing...you know , the creatures that manage our environment and keep it healthy (man doesn't)....oh hell, lets find another well-kept country to degrade and rape into some blinkin' food producer.
It's not enough that industry ruins the environment with pollution, and we drive around in cars belting all manner of gunk into the air, we have to destroy everything "in the march for progress"
The changes in weather pattern have been printed for us to read many years ago, and we still blither about doing anything....well....as the phrase goes "Live the Dream"....the advertisers love that hackneyed bullshine phrase, and, boy are we living it....get used to the "NOW" weather....it was foretold!
Ah....and whilst on the subject of human stupidity, look at where the greed has got us...with no land available, the modern "experts" in building are putting up new constructions on flood plains, old watercourses which had dried up (temporarily, as it seems), reclaimed marshland (what plonker thought up that one)...just because the Dutch have the brains to do that properly, it doesn't mean that John Bull can do the same!!!!!....
Flooding is a dreadful thing, and I feel deeply sorry for those affected, but having seen it once, I always buy a house with geography in mind....
Cheers
Helen

[mikeonb4c]

Hi
That aside, Mike, we are feeling the change brought about by global warming, and ridiculous consumption of food in an increasing population indoctrinated into rampant greed with advertising tweaking the human frailty. Look at photographs just post-war and look now. A once healthy population now slavering at the chops to consume more and a look at a modern group photo will prove it...plus it'll show why we're suffering more ailments that the NHS was not designed to cope with! This over-indulgence not only needs more pasture for animals (quick, decimate some natural woodland), it also needs more ploughed fields...quick , decimate some more natural woodland (where all the birds and bees come from)...Oh dear, wildlife is decreasing...you know , the creatures that manage our environment and keep it healthy (man doesn't)....oh hell, lets find another well-kept country to degrade and rape into some blinkin' food producer.
It's not enough that industry ruins the environment with pollution, and we drive around in cars belting all manner of gunk into the air, we have to destroy everything "in the march for progress"
The changes in weather pattern have been printed for us to read many years ago, and we still blither about doing anything....well....as the phrase goes "Live the Dream"....the advertisers love that hackneyed bullshine phrase, and, boy are we living it....get used to the "NOW" weather....it was foretold!
Ah....and whilst on the subject of human stupidity, look at where the greed has got us...with no land available, the modern "experts" in building are putting up new constructions on flood plains, old watercourses which had dried up (temporarily, as it seems), reclaimed marshland (what plonker thought up that one)...just because the Dutch have the brains to do that properly, it doesn't mean that John Bull can do the same!!!!!....
Flooding is a dreadful thing, and I feel deeply sorry for those affected, but having seen it once, I always buy a house with geography in mind....
Cheers
Helen

Good points. Mind you we were reminded on news reports that places like Carlisle were historically built (and had existed for centuries) in order to be safe from the effects of rain in a county well known for getting lots of it. What's happened in recent years is unprecedented, so they could perhaps be forgiven for thinking, especially if they bought 20 years ago, that they were not at risk. And with the growing number of flash flood incidents, the finer points of topography rather than just geography will have to be understood by housebuyers choosing a house that they hope will be safe from flooding. And since housebuilders and other developers are building in flood plains and/or affecting how water can drain away across the land, there's that little bit of crystal gazing to be mastered also.

"Its like a jungle sometimes, it makes me wonder how I keep from goin under"

[helen&tony]

Hi
Historically built, maybe, but modern building can cause the defeat of existing defences by ignoring the lie of the land and building in such a way as to divert natural drainage that the original plan had made use of in designing said original flood defences . Anything in the name of a fast buck nowadays with complete disregard for the consequences!
Cheers
Helen