• Environment Agency issues
  seven flood alerts for rivers
  across Cumbria and also at north Morecambe Bay, Lancs
• One flood warning in place at Keswick campsite in north of Lake District
• In Keswick, 29.8mm of rain has fallen
  within the last 48 hours
• … while Anglian Water and South East Water hand out free shower timers giving people just four minutes to wash

By
Nick Enoch

Last updated at 6:54 PM on 22nd February 2012

A drought may have been declared in the
parched south-east of the country but Cumbria has been flooded after days of
constant rain.

Some water levels in the south are lower
than they were during the drought of 1976 and people are being urged to take
four-minute showers.

Yet in the north-west, vehicles have been
struggling to plough through water-logged roads as the region is drenched with
rain.

Craig Marsh, manager of the George Hotel in
Keswick, Cumbria, said: ‘If they want some of our rain down south, they are
welcome to it.

A car drives through a barely passable road in Borrowdale, Cumbria, today

A football floats on the Borrowdale Primary School football pitch which today is under a foot of floodwater

Children on a outdoor educational visit to Borrowdale, in the north-west

Meanwhile in the south, the rivers run dry…

A stranded boat jetty at Bewl Water reservoir in Kent as drought strikes

Two boys play football yesterday in the River Lavant in Sheepwash Lane, Lavant, near Chichester, West Sussex, which should be flowing with water at this time of year

Simon Evans from Thames Water walks on a small muddy patch where the river Kennet usually flows along fields near the village of Lockeridge, just west of Marlborough

THREE-DAY FORECAST

TOMORROW: It will be an exceptionally mild day across the UK. Largely cloudy for many, with some light rain or drizzle across western
areas. The rain will be most persistent across western Scotland. Some sunny spells will develop across the Midlands and eastern areas of England through the day. It may also be brighter across north-east Wales and
Merseyside, as well as the east coast of Scotland. Windy in the north. A mild night, but windy across Scotland. Max 12C (54F).

FRIDAY: A largely cloudy start across England and Wales with the odd spot of rain, but it will turn drier and brighter from the north. However, it will remain largely cloudy across southern areas until the end of the day. Northern Ireland will have a largely cloudy but dry day. Scotland will be windy with a mixture of sunny spells and showers. Most of the showers will be in the west and will be wintry on the high ground. Max 14C (57F).

SATURDAY: Less mild, but it will be bright across England and Wales with spells of sunshine. Increasingly cloudy across Scotland and Northern Ireland with some drizzle developing. Max 10C (50F).

‘Over the last couple of weeks, the weather
has been pretty sporadic up here, and there has been quite a lot of rainfall.

‘But to be honest, we are prepared for it,
especially at this time of year. We don’t let it faze us.’

Many roads have been left impassable as
almost a month’s worth of rainfall has descended upon parts of Cumbria.

Children were forced to wade up to their
knees through a deluge of flood water in Borrowdale while on an educational trip
to the Lake District.

Elsewhere in the village, a ball was left
floating on a school football pitch which had been totally immersed in the
rainfall.

And farmers in the area were forced to move
their cattle from sodden fields.

Rachel Dunckley, of Gillercombe Bed and
Breakfast, Borrowdale, said: ‘I had to help deliver some school dinners to
Borrowdale school this morning.

‘The lady who usually does it could not get
through because her car was quite low and she would have risked damaging on
the water-logged roads.

‘All the fields were also awash with water
this morning. It looked lovely but it will have been
causing problems for farmers.

‘I live just a mile away from the wettest
place in the country and we are used to the water up here.

‘We keep a stock-pile of food in for
emergencies, so we are prepared. It is a way of life up here.

‘I know about the drought down south – it is
just the way it is. I wouldn’t mind if they took a bit of our water.’

The Environment Agency has put in place
seven flood alerts and one flood warning across Cumbria.

The flood warning is in place for Keswick campsite in the north of the Lake District and has urged people to take
immediate action against the deluge.

The seven flood alerts refer to rivers
across Cumbria and also the coast at north Morecambe Bay, Lancashire.

These warn people to be prepared for
potential flooding as the rain lashes down.

In Shap, Cumbria, a staggering 18.6mm of
rain fell in just four hours this morning while 21.4mm has come
down throughout the past two days.

A Keswick bus carefully ploughs through a flooded road in Borrowdale up north…

… while down south, the scene at the Anglian Water reservoir Grafton Water, in Cambridgeshire – another area now in a state of drought

And in Keswick, 29.8mm of rain has fallen
within the last 48 hours while 7mm descended this morning.

In the South East, Ardingly reservoir in
West Sussex and Bewl in Kent are around two-fifths of their normal
levels, according to the Environment Agency.

Southern Water has applied for a
drought permit to help refill Bewl reservoir, while late last year South
East Water was granted a drought order to help refill Ardingly.

Anglian Water has also been issued with two drought permits to refill two of its reservoirs.

Speaking after yesterday’s drought
meeting at Defra, Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman said: ‘Ensuring
we have enough water this summer is vitally important, and that is why I
called the summit.

‘Drought is already an issue this
year with the South East, Anglia and other parts of the UK now
officially in drought, and more areas are likely to be affected as we
continue to experience a prolonged period of very low rainfall.

‘It is not just the responsibility of
Government, water companies and businesses to act against drought.

‘We
are asking for the help of everyone by urging them to use less water and
to start now.’

Thames Water said hosepipe bans were
‘likely’ in the next few months and has urged its 8.8million customers
to spend less time in the shower and to turn off the tap while brushing
their teeth.

They urged
them to use water-saving gadgets and Anglian Water and South East Water
have been handing out free shower timers giving people just four minutes
under the water.

The company’s sustainability
director Richard Aylard said: ‘None of us know how much rain we’re going
to get this year, so to plan for the worst and hope for the best is a
very sensible move.

‘Much of south-east England already
has got a drought situation.

‘The worrying thing is we’ve had such little
rain the groundwater stores that we rely on to keep the rivers flowing
are very low.

‘Things are going to get worse unless we have significant rainfall over the next couple of months.’

A recent survey of Thames Water
customers revealed that almost half (45 per cent) thought it was
unlikely or very unlikely the region would face a drought this year –
but that two-thirds accepted they could save water if there were
shortages.

Mr Aylard urged people to think about how much water they use.

He added: ‘There is a high chance we
will need restrictions at some stage this summer unless either we get a
lot of rain or fantastic co-operation from customers using less water.’

Thames Water says people can save
water with simple measures, such as turning off the tap while cleaning
their teeth or taking shorter showers, fixing leaks and only washing
full loads of laundry.

The dry winter follows a balmy autumn in 2010, which was the second warmest on record.

Resources could be stretched further
this year if the dry spell continues into spring, especially in the
South East, where the Environment Agency says the risk of drought is now
the highest in the country.

Meyrick
Gough, Water Strategy Manager for Southern Water, said the application
is a precautionary measure, which would conserve water in the reservoir
and help to secure supplies.

‘We
have applied for this permit now because taking water in winter is less
likely to have any impact on the environment,’ he said.

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Article source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2104930/UK-weather-Rain-brings-floods-Cumbria--drought-strikes-South-East-threatening-hosepipe-ban.html?ITO=1490

In addition, scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms developed along the front over portions of the Mississippi Valley.

The second system moved through the northwestern U.S. and northern Rockies and produced widespread rain and mountain snow. As onshore flow remained strong, the western sides of the mountains saw heavier snowfall. Snowfall accumulations were expected 1 to 2 feet.

This system not only brought heavy precipitation to the Northwest, but also strong winds. Southwest to west winds increased to 30 to 40 mph with wind gusts up to 60 mph. The rest of the Western U.S. remained tranquil as high pressure built back to the region.

Temperature-wise, highs were only in the 20s and 30s over the Upper Midwest and portions of the Rockies. In contrast, the Southwest and South saw afternoon temperatures soaring into the 70s and lower 80s.

TUESDAY’S WEATHER EXTREMES:

HIGHEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)…………………….82 Harlingen, Texas.

HIGHEST HEAT INDEX (DEGREES F)……………………..83 Harlingen, Texas.

LOWEST TEMPERATURE (DEGREES F)……………………..-11 Presque Isle, Maine.

LOWEST WIND CHILL (DEGREES F)………………………-41 Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska.

HIGHEST WIND GUST (MPH)……………………………77 Monarch Pass, Colo.

HIGHEST PRECIPITATION (INCHES)……………………..1.51 Hilo, Hawaii.

ON THIS DATE……. An unusual northeastern Louisiana tornado outbreak occurred on this date in 1971, killing over 120 people. Nearly 50 people were killed by the first tornado as it touched down in Louisiana and quickly moved into Mississippi. Almost 1,600 people were injured.

Article source: http://www.necn.com/02/21/12/Weather-fronts-in-Upper-Midwest-Northwes/landing_nation.html?&apID=5219d31f9fa64e4ab1a32349e792f7f4

Visitors to Union Square enjoy the balmy weather on Sat. Jan. 7, 2012. (DNAinfo/Sarah Tan)

MANHATTAN — The mercury is expected to reach 60 degrees by Friday — another warm streak in an already mild winter that belies the fact that it’s the middle of February. 

Temperatures are expected to rise throughout the week under mostly sunny skies, going up to 60 on Friday, according to Accuweather.com.

Despite the chance of a shower Thursday and Friday, the temperature is a far cry from the average high at this time of year, which is in the low 40s.

But it is on par with a warm spell last year, when the mercury hit 67 degrees on Feb. 18, 2011.

Forecasters said the warm stretch will end this weekend, when the mercury dips back down into the 40s.

New Yorkers will also have to contend with strong winds on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, with gusts around 40 mph likely, AccuWeather reported.

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Article source: http://www.dnainfo.com/20120220/manhattan/warm-weather-on-tap-for-end-of-week

Rick Santorum’s rise in the polls continued today heading into next week’s primary contest and two weeks before Super Tuesday. The new Gallup tracking poll showed Santorum leading with 36 percent of Republican voters. Mitt Romney is eight points back at 28 percent. Next is Newt Gingrich at 13 percent. And Ron Paul comes in fourth at 11 percent.

Polls out yesterday showed Santorum ahead in Oklahoma and in Ohio, an upcoming Super Tuesday state where he grabbed support from the state’s attorney general, who previously endorsed Mitt Romney.

In Ohio today, the former Pennsylvania senator continued a line of attack against President Obama which he had begun yesterday, arguing that global warming is — quote — “not climate science, but political science.”

RICK SANTORUM (R): They have nothing to do with real cost-benefit analysis, real understanding of how we have to value both the environment and its impact on man and the world. They have radical ideas.

JEFFREY BROWN: Over the weekend, Santorum also drew attention for how he described — quote — “the president’s agenda” at a rally in Columbus, Ohio.

RICK SANTORUM: It’s about some phony ideal, some phony ideal, some phony theology, oh, not a theology based on the Bible, a different theology.

JEFFREY BROWN: Yesterday, on ABC’s “This Week,” Obama campaign strategist Robert Gibbs said the comments went too far.

ROBERT GIBBS, Obama campaign strategist: I can’t help but think that those remarks are well over the line. It’s wrong. It’s destructive. It makes it virtually impossible to solve the problems that we all face together as Americans.

BOB SCHIEFFER, “Face the Nation”: He’s the man of the hour in Republican politics.

JEFFREY BROWN: But that same day, on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” Santorum defended his remarks.

RICK SANTORUM: I wasn’t suggesting the president is not a Christian. I accept the fact that the president is a Christian. I just said that when you have a world view that elevates the Earth above man and says that we can’t take those resources because we’re going to harm the Earth by things that are — that frankly are just not scientifically proven. . .

JEFFREY BROWN: Meanwhile, Santorum’s Republican opponents continue to campaign in crucial Super Tuesday states.

In Ohio today, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney insisted he’s the only candidate capable of beating President Obama in November.

MITT ROMNEY (R): I have had the experience of leading. I have led four different enterprises. I happen to think that one of the criteria for selecting a president ought to be, has this person led something before? Our current president had not. And I think we’ve seen the consequence of that in some of the errors he’s made.

JEFFREY BROWN: In Tulsa, Okla., former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said he’s not planning on drop out of the race any time soon. And continuing to focus on states with caucuses, Texas Rep. Ron Paul turned his attention on North Dakota.

Today, his campaign said it had raised $4.5 million in January. Nonetheless, most attention today was on Santorum, who has seen his stock rise since winning contests in Colorado, Minnesota and Missouri three weeks ago. That scrutiny will only increase as his numbers rise in Romney’s home state of Michigan, site of one of next week’s two key primary contests.

And late today, the newest Gallup poll was released showing Santorum up by 10 points over Mitt Romney.

And we take a closer look now at Rick Santorum’s rise with Susan Page, Washington bureau chief of USA Today, and from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Terry Madonna, director of the Center for Politics and Public Affairs at Franklin and Marshall College.

Susan, start with some context here. Who is Rick Santorum speaking to or reaching out to? And what kind of reception is getting on the trail?

SUSAN PAGE, USA Today: He’s getting a great reception among Republican primary voters. This is a group of voters that is very conservative, lots of Tea Party supporters. A majority of them in some states like Michigan say they are evangelical or born-again Christians.

So when he talks about public education or about global warming in the way that he’s doing, this has really drawn him big crowds and brought him to a standing in the poll and sustained a standing in the poll that is pretty remarkable.

On the other hand, there are big risks for him in audiences that are also hearing what he’s saying. And that would be more moderate Republicans and especially the people who you turn to when you’re the nominee in a general election, like independent voters and women voters. They may be hearing some of the things he’s saying and thinking, is this someone I would really feel comfortable with in the Oval Office?

JEFFREY BROWN: I’m also wondering after so many months where the economy was the main focus of all this, to turn to these kinds of issues — you just named some of them — but also in the past couple of days prenatal care, you mentioned public school education, birth control, health care mandate, does he see these as these issues in a sense, as opposed to economic issues?

SUSAN PAGE: The social conservative issues have been his calling card at the beginning, have sort of made him different, say, from Mitt Romney.

But he has been trying to look like a more three-dimensional candidate, to talk about foreign policy, for instance, policy toward Iran, to talk about manufacturing policy. I was with him in Detroit last Thursday when he addressed the Detroit Economic Club, talking about the deficit, talking about economic policy, talking about the manufacturing sector and how to encourage it.

And he’s had some appeal in his home state of Pennsylvania, as I’m sure Terry will talk about, with the kind of voters, the kind of blue-collar voters that predominate in places like Michigan and Pennsylvania and in Ohio.

JEFFREY BROWN: Well, Terry Madonna, let me bring you in there. You’ve followed Santorum for a long time. Is this — the appeal to conservatives and talking about social issues, has that been part of who he is for as long as he’s been in politics?

TERRY MADONNA, Center for Politics and Public Affairs, Franklin and Marshall College: Yeah. Well, Susan is exactly right.

I mean, when he started, for example, in 1980, when he defeated an incumbent Democrat, no one gave then Senator Santorum — or then Rick Santorum, lawyer Santorum, a chance to win that race in a Democratic district. And he amassed lots of volunteers, many of whom were pro-life.

Then he won his Senate seat in 1994 with the help of the Christian coalition. And he was solidly pro-life. But the fact of the matter is, until you get to the late 1990s, it doesn’t become sort of an overarching, overreaching issue, compelling issue, the way it certainly has become in the last decade.

He talked about fiscal matters, government reform, tax policies. That’s what got him elected in 1990 to the House and what got him elected in 1994 in the Senate. The other thing that Susan points out that is, I think, very important, he’s the only one of the four Republican candidates who had the niche among social conservatives.

He could always sort of rely on them. And in the polls that I have done and others have done, Tea Party activists are overwhelmingly social conservatives. So, he could reach that blend of fiscal conservatism, small government, limited government, get rid of the deficits. at the same time, he could talk about social issues.

JEFFREY BROWN: And, Terry, what about as a legislator in the state and then in the Senate? What became the key sort of issues that he worked on or became associated with? One was welfare reform, right?

TERRY MADONNA: Oh, absolutely. Yeah, he was the floor leader for welfare reform.

By the way, that’s the first time we really see this aspect of sort of the religious issues, moral issues come to play, when he fought for and insisted on faith-based grants and tax cut — you know, use of the money in welfare to go to faith-based organizations.

As a senator he did — and his critics are accurate — he did fight and brought home hundreds of millions of dollars for Pennsylvania projects. He supported minimum wage. He was never cozy or close to the unions, but he was certainly helpful to U.S. Steel. He had worked on projects for the pharmaceutical and technology industries in the southeastern part of the state.

He was a typical sort of light-blue, if I can, senator who could not ignore the interests of the state.

JEFFREY BROWN: Okay.

Well, now, Susan, you talked about some of the risks of getting into some of these issues. Now you have, of course, the other Republicans hitting back. You have, I guess what you would call the Republican mainstream sort of expressing some worry, some publicly, some, you know, behind the scenes. What are you hearing there?

SUSAN PAGE: I think there’s tremendous concern among Republicans in Washington, among elected officials, including members of the House who are going to run, be running with whoever the presidential nominee is in November, about Rick Santorum and his ability to appeal to a broader electorate than the electorate we see in, say, the Iowa caucuses.

I think there is talk about whether — if Rick Santorum wins in Michigan next Tuesday, that would be a catastrophic event for Mitt Romney and raise questions about a rather smooth path to the nomination perhaps for Rick Santorum. And would the Republican elites then try to step in, in some way, draft somebody new to get into this race?

Or could you get to a convention where no one had a mathematical clinch on the nomination and you might have negotiations about who was going to get that prize?

JEFFREY BROWN: Well, Terry Madonna, I suppose one thing that Republican leaders would be worried about is exactly what happened to Rick Santorum in 2006. He lost, and he lost real big, right, in his home state. What happened there?

TERRY MADONNA: Yes, by — yes, by — well, yes, in 2006 by 18 points to Bob Casey.

Well, it was the — no doubt about it, the Democratic wave, the Iraq war election. There was also his social conservatism hurt him — back to Susan’s pointing, really hurt him in the southeastern part of Pennsylvania, in the suburbs of Philadelphia, where — Now, Sen. Casey was pro-life, just as Rick Santorum was, but I think Sen. Santorum’s outspokenness and some of the provocative things that he had said about gays, about abortion and Supreme Court decisions, and about women’s role in the work force, very provocative.

Sen. Casey used some of that against him in the campaign. And then there was his residency. He had a home in Virginia. Sen. Casey made the argument that he wasn’t a resident of Pennsylvania anymore and his kids were going to school, paid for by the taxpayers of Pennsylvania while they lived in Virginia. It was a cyber-school.

All in all, I mean, it wasn’t a good year for Santorum. It’s like the revolution had simply run away from him. And he lost in the vital areas of the states, in Pennsylvania and Virginia and Florida and Missouri, that — that Republicans are going to have — a Republican candidate is going to have to win or he’s not going to win the electoral votes of those swing states.

JEFFREY BROWN: And, Susan, just briefly, what about President Obama and his advisers? Do you sense they’re taking Rick Santorum a little more seriously now?

SUSAN PAGE: Well, taking him a little more seriously because he looks a little more serious.

But I have got to say that they continue to think that Mitt Romney is the stronger general election candidate. And the longer Rick Santorum stays in this beating up on Mitt Romney, that’s fine with them. If he ends up being the nominee, I think they think that would all right as well, although of course there is some history for watching out what you wish for.

I remember the first campaign I covered in 1980 where the Carter people were so pleased that Ronald Reagan had the nomination. That didn’t turn out the way they had hoped.

JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Susan Page, Terry Madonna, thank you both very much.

SUSAN PAGE: Thank you, Jeff.

Article source: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/jan-june12/campaign_02-20.html