coolangatta

The Brits are famous, world-wide, for making weather events a complete disaster!

I know Cumbria, Workington/Cockermouth have had it bad, and tragic news about the poor cop who was lost but......

'We' have the flood defences that Bangladesh would be ashamed of.
The flood defences on the river close to my home, here in Japan, are very impressive, and huge, and are typical for all areas despite population density.

We(UK) react to 'weather' as if it's a surprise. 'Oh my god it's raining/snowing/sunny/foggy/dry' etc.

My parents (Cumbria residents) are in the typical Brit siege mentality. 'No bread. Oh my god, what to do?'.
There are no shortages at all, according to others I've been in touch with.

It reminds me of the 'British winter' which always includes 2cm of snow that brings the country to a halt.

Here (in northern Japan), we get metres of snow and sub-zero temps for 4 months or more during the winter.

The post is delivered, on time, each morning during the winter months by a postie on a moped...feet down style
Plus, I often see men and women, of similar age to my parents (70's), out shopping on their mopeds/bicycles in mid winter despite the snow/ice.
The Brit of the same age would be sitting shivering while their 'meal on wheels' was stuck in the 2cm of snow.

It's all a matter of attitude!

God save the British!

FlightMan

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Same here in Southern Germany.

It always amazes me that the Brits are suprised when the winter arrives, after all it is not as if they didn't have winter last year is it??

Xx-IAN-xX

Met Office Education: Teens - Case Studies - Severe Winters

we have been known to have it bad

davyboy

For goodness sake, I'm sure if it snowed for 4 months of the year in the UK we'd cope just fine too.

The Rig

iTrader: (13)

what the op seems to forget is the countires he`s on about as an example get that weather every yr at a guess (not living there n all that) so,if yr after yr after yr cumbria flooded it wouldnt be news,if every november it rained,but no,last november was different to this november and after being a victim of the floods in 2007 in gloucester when it doesnt happen every yr then yes,it is news it is scary,but,if suddenly glos flooded every yr on the same month etc then it would be the norm,so stop your moaning about us british

and we did cope just fine with no running water for 10 days

M444GY

iTrader: (72)

rain , snow , leaves and this country shuts down lol

swaussie

I fully agree. The weather doesnt become news until its extreme. I doubt you get reports in Japan about "normal" weather events in any part of the world.

The UK is both blessed and cursed by where it sits. It has mild weather due to the warm waters flowing up from south and yet it gets some of the worst weather at times due to the storms that blow in off the Atlantic, and being so close to the Arctic, it can get hit by "unusual" snow falls.

I live in Switzerland and our postie also delivers the mail 6 days a week, rain, hail or snow but thats because he is paid to do it and here in winter it snows heavily every year (postie bikes even have winter tyres here). I doubt that the postie would be delivering mail if we had a mini hurricane that dumped a years worth of rain in a few days and everything was flooded.

It may seem like the Brits always complain but thats because they do get some extreme weather which is unexpected and difficult to deal with. Why should they build flood defences for a one in a hundred year flood?

I seriously doubt the Brits complain any more than the rest of the world, its just something we all agree is typically British, complaining, which from my experience is rubbish!

Leslie

Whats the best way to cope with floodwater when it is beginning to reach the ceiling then?

Les

Wurzel

iTrader: (1)

Hold yer breath and swim for it Les

Leslie