When Eva met Frank

Despite the evidence of my own eyes outside the office window, I really can’t take seriously the names of our two recent storms. Eva is the beautiful, adorable niece of a friend and although I don’t doubt there will be/have been childhood storms,  the face we all see and associate with Eva  is one of delightful, sunny smiles. And as for Frank? He’s an elderly, greying spaniel who loves his tummy being rubbed. So you will appreciate why it’s hard to reconcile those benign images with the fierce winds and driving rain that are once again cloaking our water-logged region

"When I said bring a picnic, I didn't mean the table as well" 

Carlisle in crisis

Once again, Carlisle has seen some apocalyptic flooding of houses and buildings in the City Centre. Other parts of Cumbria have also suffered, with Glenridding, Appleby, Cockermouth, Keswick and Kendal all sharing the misery. Despite £38,000,000 of investment in flood defences, weather conditions conspired at the weekend to breach the defences and create flood levels that were higher than any previously recorded. After a sleepless night, Andy and I went out on Sunday morning to witness an unbelievable scene. For those affected, it must have been a terrifying experience followed by the grim realisation that the clean-up will take months