It’s mid-February, and as I’m sitting writing this, I can hear the now all too familiar sound of rain battering against the sash window, being helped along by yet another storm. Usually I adore the rain, it’s my absolute favourite weather because it gives atmosphere to what would be a normal day. I was wandering around Cheddar Gorge the other day in a downpour, with the low hanging cloud hiding the peaks of the cliff faces, and it felt like I was in Mordor. It’s the same everywhere - Think cities in the rain, the splashes of puddles as people rush for cover, the pitter patter of rain on umbrellas in the evening rush, and as the sun begins to set the city lights reflect off the wet pavements and puddles making them glow. Or perhaps you’re in the forest when the heavens open. As the rain begins to pour you can hear the rain drops bouncing off the green leaves, and the drops that do make it to the forest floor patter away creating a rhythmic tune to complement the songs of the birds sheltering in amongst the canopies. And have you ever sat in the car in silence in the rain and just listened? I can fall asleep to that sound. I also love the smell of petrichor, which is essentially the smell of dirt in the rain after a long dry spell, that earthy yet sweet smell is easily one of my favourites. But even I, a lover of rain, is getting tired of the constant downpours.
It seems then that Mother Nature has gone and left the tap on. It has rained every single day this year in the UK, and even on the odd occasion where we’ve had moments of sunshine, they were usually short lived and came with a light sprinkling of raindrops, but the rainbow was nice to look at. Even today when the sun fought its way through the clouds, soaking everything in a golden warm light, and whilst it was giving off a surprising amount of heat for this time of year, it was rather spoiled by an icy cold breeze and spattering of raindrops.
Sunshine or not, the persistent rain has caused parts of the UK to become islands, places like Tewkesbury which floods every year has now become a remote island, and even down here the somerset levels have become the Somerset ocean, with miles of rolling fields disappearing under water. It’s happening all over the UK as well, rivers are bursting their banks adding to the already massive puddles lining pretty much every single street in the country, causing mayhem and disruptions.
My worry though, is the flooding is only getting worse, as the rain continues to fall, and the water continues to flow down from the hills into streams and rivers that are already overflowing. I reckon by the time the rain finally lets up, all the cities will look like Venice, and we’ll have to swim to work. Cars will be useless because they’ll of all drowned, so we’ll have to row to the shops, and need a speed boat to get up the M5. Guaranteed you’ll still end up with someone sitting in the middle lane though.
My main issue with the constant ongoing flooding however, is the longer the fields are under water, the less likely it’ll be that you’ll find anything in the shop when you do eventually paddle your way there. You see farmers are already being nailed by the weather that even at the best of times never ever does what they want when they want it to. So, when their land is still under three feet of water halfway through February, means that there is no chance of anything growing, and anything in the ground will have been destroyed. It’s also a nightmare for the livestock, because unless the cows and sheep learn to swim or wear armbands, they have the stay in barns and sheds (I’ve forgotten the name for where they’re kept in the winter), and when the fields do finally drain down enough for the cows and sheep to be able to get out into the fields, the grass will have all been destroyed. What’s even more is I’m in cider country, which worries me as I’m a cider drinker, and the flooding sodden ground could be affecting the dozens of orchards I live by.
Hopefully the rain does let up, and if previous years are anything to go by, in six months’ time our problems won’t be flooding, but the opposite, with temperatures sky rocketing drying out the ground that had previously sodden ground, meaning that either way, farmers are going to struggle. I’ll also struggle as I grow pumpkins every year, but that's not as important as farmers being able to grow food, and the grass will struggle meaning livestock will struggle to graze. I’m catastrophising here, of course. But it does make me wander, what if this is the new normal? What if we’re going to have stormy seasons, bringing torrential rain and floods, before summer brings burning hot sunshine. Or maybe it’s just UK weather. Either way, I really feel like something needs to be done. But what?
Between writing that last part and now I’ve taken a break to eat and watch the news and surprise surprise, the weather has taken a turn but not for the better. They’re now saying temperatures will be below freezing tonight, meaning that not only are there puddles, floods and sodden tarmac everywhere, but now there’s a chance it will all freeze. So, to go out tomorrow I’m going to wear some waders, wellies and ice skates.