The weather has certainly moved centre stage this month, especially with the flooding and storms over the UK and Ireland. We all know January was wet, but in the UK the month of January was the wettest winter month since 1767.
In England on the Somerset levels the flooding looks biblical. One news report on how the Dutch are helping out, mentioned how it was the Dutch who helped reclaim and drain the land 400 years ago.
The system of ditches are referred to as reens (or rhynes), a word we are familiar with. It seems the case that Dutch expertise is renowned in the field of flooding (and in the flooded field) just as it is in the field of mushroom growing. Let’s hope the Dutch will know how to bring some relief to the embattled denizens of the levels.
One newspaper report also noted that the contingency plans for flooding and environmental damage caused by climate change by 2044 had now been visited on the UK a whole 30 years early. Makes one think, doesn’t it.
