Britain underwater, thanks Obama. (aka Winter weather watch 2015)

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: smurfy

You have a hovering lawn mower?

When it's windy here, everything hovers..however I was Hoovering, Yuh see round here, anything that sucks stuff off the ground is a Hoover, not a Henry or Henrietta, or a Briggs and Stratton. But, there is a tricky thing, A Flymo is a hover mower, however if you pick up leaves with it, you are Hoovering! otherwise, you are cutting the grass!

a reply to: smurfy
My mower is of the mulching sort. It just sort of grinds stuff up and leaves it there. So I guess that doesn't qualify?

I guess I understand.
But does it only involve things that are sucked off the ground?

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: smurfy
My mower is of the mulching sort. It just sort of grinds stuff up and leaves it there. So I guess that doesn't qualify?

I guess I understand.
But does it only involve things that are sucked off the ground?

Nope, in Ireland when you suck spiders webs off the ceiling, you are Hoovering..not advisable with a lawn mower though, best to use a Vacuum. I don't much care for your habitual mulching though, seems like a fetish.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: smurfy

If I were nuts I wouldn't be into my 42nd year of doing it.
The guys who are nuts, don't usually last very long. You know...that "old bold" thing.


But tell me more about your hovering lawnmower.

I believe you misread what smurfy said, he said the wind saved him from having to HOOVER the garden with his lawn mower. HOOVERING is a another one of our classic British words which means vacuuming. We call our vacuum cleaners hoovers

And technically we do kind of have hovering lawn mowers. They glide on a layer of air when cutting the grass which makes it easier to push around on the grass as they have no wheels.
www.aroundtheclockoffers.co.uk... EBtjuzhiwCPnR938ek5mR4gF6hPTo05bWVFggs8aAlo98P8HAQ

And WOOGLE thanks for the pics I was up in the lake district back in April. Went to many places that you mention must admit though those areas look a lot better without the flood water

Can't imagine what Scafell Pike is like at the minute

a reply to: ThePeaceMaker



I can't believe this is a real thing!

I feel like I'm all cutting edge (sorry) after finally buying a self propelled mower. I sort of doubt these things could handle my lawn, especially if I slacked at all, but seems handy if you have a nice small/flat spot.

a reply to: Domo1
That ain't no lawn mower. It's a glorified weedwacker.

a reply to: Phage

I think you mean whippity string twister. Actually now that I think about it, weed whacker sounds like a Britishism.

a reply to: Domo1

I like the whippity thing better. I will commence to use that terminology henceforth.

Heavy rain brings flood disruption across northern England

Heavy rain brought flooding to communities across the north of England on Sunday despite river levels stopping short of some predictions.

Rivers burst their banks in Cumbria with flooding affecting roads, farmland and train services across the county.

Only a handful of homes are thought to have been affected despite initial fears up to 1,600 properties could be at risk.

In mid and north Wales, train services have been disrupted due to flooding.

In addition to Cumbria, where the main A66 route was flooded at Threlkeld, some of the worst-hit areas were in West and North Yorkshire.

The River Wharfe burst its banks in a number of places as it surged through Ilkley, Otley and Pool, north of Leeds.

Northern Trains had to cancel a large number of services after lines were flooded in West Yorkshire, including in Hebden Bridge and Leeds.

In Stockton-on-Tees, three people were taken to hospital for checks after a taxi overturned in what police described as "awful driving conditions".

What bugs me is that this is becoming a regular yearly thing, and yet little seems to get done. The flood waters recede, people go back to their homes and then next year it happens all over again.

After the 2009 floods, here in Workington they built a new bridge designed to cope with future problems, they also strengthened the river banks running alongside the roads, but they neglected to do anything further upstream where flooding can cause an issue for homeowners.

Another problem which I think we are yet to see (or maybe are starting to see with the sinkholes) is that the North of England is sitting on countless old mine shafts and tunnels, which are known to occasionally collapse in general.

Is it possible that all this excess water could be weakening the old supports and ground around these shafts/tunnels?

It's a terrifying thought that at any given moment the ground may just give way below you, although I have often wondered what it would be like to explore these tunnels.

a reply to: woogleuk

Well here in York it was wet but nothing special - lots of dry spells too. Our problem though is that most of what falls on our (God's) side of the Penines drains through and around the Vale of York.

The result? We may not have got a soaking but we are still underwater!

However, as this is the case multiple times per year, every single year, then this is nothing out of the ordinary. Just an excuse to get the canoe out. And i can't stress that enough, for our part of the world we flood regularly every single year. This isn't new or out of the ordinary. In point of fact, we haven't had a really good (extremely high) flood for a few years now, just the usual levels of floodliness (new word i am coining, in case anyone wonders).

Had to drive over a flooded bridge to get to work today. Luckily, it has metal railings on it so you can at least figure out where the road is! And i didn't get wet feet so clearly the car is sound - good to know for the rest of the year.


ETA:

Sorry, my bad - thank you Obama.

a reply to: Flavian

It's always been a bit floody up here, it is the lake district after all, but these past few years have been the worst for as long as I can remember (1987 not included).

I think (I could be wrong) it has something to do with the jet stream weakening and moving further south.

A few years ago it use to go up and around us to the north, between us and Iceland, now it is going directly over the UK.

originally posted by: woogleuk
a reply to: Phage

A ladies naughty bits, similar word to a previously mentioned village in the Orkney Islands

Otherwise known as a welcome mat, especially when the weather is bad.

woogleuk:

...my home town of Workington

Been to Workington a few times. Strange name, considering there's no employment there.

a reply to: elysiumfire

It's Anglo-Saxon, Weorc ingas tun, or the people of Weorc. It is assumed that Weorc was the rather splendid marra who founded the settlement.

It is believed it was pronounced back then more like the locals pronounce it today, whereas outsiders may call it Work-ing-ton, we say Wukk-it'n (hard to put that into spelling, lol).

It has a rich industrial past, from mining to the steelworks, in fact it was one of the largest steel manufacturers during WWII and the birthplace of the Bessemer process.

But sadly, yes, all that has gone and jobs are scarce, like most Northern towns......one of the reasons I went self employed.

We're not flooded here in Scotland...

Storm Barney to hit UK with winds of up to 80mph

Winds of up to 80mph look set to hit parts of the UK as the second storm to be named by the public - Storm Barney - sweeps in this week.

Yellow "be aware" warnings for wind have been issued for Wales, along with southern, central and eastern England on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

It comes as heavy rain brought flooding to parts of England and Wales.

Rivers burst their banks in Cumbria over the weekend with roads, farmland and train services affected.

Heads up folks, round 2 is upon us.

Who names these things? Personally I would have gone with Bazil (as in Fawlty, that would suit an angry storm much better)

I just hope councils have prepared.

ETA: In the meantime, lets ignore the flooding and enjoy a pint in the beer garden like these two gentlemen in Leeds.

Generally the more West you live in the UK the wetter it is. I've lived in Liverpool and Cardiff and I've never seen so much rain in my life!
Although I think global warming is causing more rainfall and warmer winters.
Last year we had no snow down south. I cant ever remember no snow in the UK in a winter before.
I remember winters in the 80s where the snow lasted for months.
The speed of the change is frightening.

a reply to: Dr X

Oh yeah, Liverpool gets soaked regularly. It's due for heavy rain tonight and bound to catch the winds too.

I'm off work with manflu and will enjoy the bad weather tonight with an Irish toddy.

a reply to: woogleuk

ETA: In the meantime, lets ignore the flooding and enjoy a pint in the beer garden like these two gentlemen in Leeds.

You Brits are awsome!