With 76 flood warnings still in force across the UK and further downpours forecast, parts of the country have endured rain almost without pause since the start of the year. The prolonged wet weather is disrupting livelihoods, particularly in rural areas, where flooded roads, waterlogged ground and repeated storms are making it harder to keep businesses afloat.
In north Devon, master thatcher Mark Harrington, 61, has been inundated with calls from customers with leaking roofs. 'This is silly season for us thatchers,' he says. 'I do understand that you're going to get some rain in winter, but it has definitely got worse.' The delays have financial consequences: 'I am haemorrhaging money at the moment just trying to cope with the delays. Jobs are taking longer, customers are unwilling to pay for extra scaffolding, and the lads who work with me are grumbling that they need to find work indoors. I'm earning a minimal wage myself.'
On a hill near Helston in Cornwall, John, 83, and his wife Vicki, 73, have lost 15 trees this year alone, many of them pines planted nearly 40 years ago to provide shelter for their plant nursery. 'What I see is a combination of results from the increased numbers of storms and continuous rainfall,' John says. 'The ground gets very soggy, and the trees hold less well in it.' Vicki, who runs the nursery, says the increasingly unstable weather has made small-scale growing far more difficult. 'Flood water is really irritating – slopping around in mud everywhere and trying to keep drains clear,' she says. The latest bad weather brought three storms in quick succession: 'Storm Goretti blew my last remaining polytunnel cover off. It's very hard to come back from that.'
Harrington fears for the future: 'If a skilled tradesman such as myself is unable to maintain a team or even work as much as is required, then I fear for the future.' John predicts the worst is yet to come, as global heat continues to disrupt weather patterns.
