Just in case anyone is feeling home sick for the UK, here is a little update of our lovely summer weather, it is absolutley bucketing down with rain, I have just walked 2 minutes from my car to my work and I am drenched.

The poor folk of Cornwall have had there lifes destroyed by floods.

This is the Great British summer!!! My last one I hope (fingers crossed)

We had about 8 inches (20 cm) of rain this weekend - beat that! (BTW, I'm in the US).

In fact, we get more annual rainfall than many parts of the UK (and I'm not in Washington or Oregon), much of it in the summer.

The problem with rain in the UK is not the "coming down in buckets" variety - I think most parts of the South have the UK beat there; it's the insidious, constant, depressing drizzle that differentiates the UK from the US. It never ends. Whereas you get it spread over 200 days of the year, we get it over with in 50 days of short-term downpour followed by steamy streets and sunshine - now, that's my kind of rain!

It has been comming down in bucket loads the last day or so, but yes I do agree with you as regards to the drizzle worst type of weather ever!!

Not exactly. It was very localized - Bocastle - I think we're talking about a couple of hundred people affected.

20 miles away in Bodmin they didn't even notice it was raining.

I certainly new it was raining when I was walking the dog at 9am this morning and then again this afternoon walking to work, I got bloody soaked twice. Granted it keeps poring then stopping which is even worse cause you aren't prepared for it.

Consider it a gentle introduction to what Oz has to offer :

- the summer treat : fires destroying thousands of square miles of bush

- large-scale flooding

- months (and even years) without rain

- sun that has only one thing on its mind - skin cancer...yours


Buddy, brace yourself, you ain't seen nothing yet!

NZ is having some wild weather too. Hundreds flooded, houses blown away, people killed, the roof blew off Wellington airport. snow, Is the weather going mad all over the world?

After living in the Oz sun for 6 months I love the rain over here in the UK, talking to my friend in Brissy yesterday and passed the comment that it was raining, she said "you lucky things what I would give to go out and get soaked in the rain" You see it doesnt matter where you live the weather can get very boring!!

It must be awful for the folk in Boscastle,thank god we are not often on the receivng end of that sort of freak weather.

Susan (glad to get a soaking today)

The pictures from Boscasetle are horrendous aren't they. And its almost 52 years to the DAY (spooky) since much the same thing happened in Lynton & Lynmouth (1952). Although most of the damage is in Boscastle there were a few other local hamlets affected as well.

Well, we had a mini-tornado in our neighbourhood in suburban New Jersey last Wednesday. We basically had a tropical thunderstorm and in the space of a block of about 2 square miles about 50 trees (including some very old oak trees) came down - many by their roots as the weather has been very wet lately and the ground was sodden.

The scary thing about living in the US is that all the power lines are overhead, not underground like most of the UK. About 5 houses up from ours a telegraph pole snapped in half, bringing down power, phone and cable TV lines - with the live wires sparking on the ground. Luckily no-one was injured but it was like a disaster area in our immediate vicinity with a number of cars crushed. We were without power for 29 hours.

I was once getting into my car in Malaysia with thunderbolts going off all around me...now that was scary, and you don't know what being wet is until you've been caught out in a tropical storm - umbrellas are useless and if you then walk into an air-conditioned room, well, it's just horrible.

I actually prefer the mild and temperate English climate, I really do.

and dont forget the wild weather here in Florida! we had 'charlie' last week. luckily for us he turned a bit south of us, but they certainly had a devastating time down south. :scared:

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I was once getting into my car in Malaysia with thunderbolts going off all around me...now that was scary, and you don't know what being wet is until you've been caught out in a tropical storm - umbrellas are useless and if you then walk into an air-conditioned room, well, it's just horrible.
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Ah! Those wonderful Malaysian thunderstorms .... come down without warning, but it could all be over in a flash (unless it is the monsoon season!) ... and the sun could be shining again within 10 minutes. Your rain drenched T-shirt is soon dry ... and then drenched again with sweat as it is once again 90 degrees in the shade!

It's spelt "Cockhead"

Well we have been enjoying the UK weather to be honest...

After almost 7 yrs of sun sun sun in LA it is so nice to actually see some weather... Try 110 degrees, not being able to go out because of the heat.
Huge air conditioning bills.
I don't have to water the garden or pay loads for the water. I don't have to hose down the dusty driveway or constantly dust the house.(So dry and dusty in LA)
That wonderful smell after the rain stops, fresh and grassy... Much nicer than dusty LA smog.......
I am looking forward to Autumn/Fall.... Can't wait to take the kids out to the forest to cruch through all those leaves... LOL

Oh and no forest fires here either....

Excuse me for having my own opinion mate, I thought that was what this forum is about!!!! Looks like you are the "cockhead"