Purple Poppy

Yesterday we experienced the freakiest weather I have ever seen in the North East of England. Around 4pm the sky turned darker than hell as humungous black clouds gathered above us. It looked like a scene from Independence Day and no one was prepared for what was about to happen next. An almighty flash flood which lasted for what felt like an eternity was unleashed upon us. This was followed by thunder, forked lightning and hailstorms. The footage on Facebook from all my friends was unbelievable. The Tyne Tunnel and Metro Stations were completely flooded within minutes. The storm caused torrential rain to pour through the roof of Newcastle Central Station, water began to flood the Metrocentre and ordinary streets were transformed into a log flume! The wall at Elswick Cemetary completely gave way under the pressure and cars were seen floating down the street in Gateshead.

I had tickets to go and to see Mrs Browns Boys at the Metro Radio Arena and a journey which should have taken no longer than 30 minutes ended up taking nearly 2 hours. The A1 was gridlocked and alternative routes were flooded. It was absolute chaos. At least the show was delayed to allow people extra time to arrive. All in all it was a very scary thing to have witnessed but at least I got to see the show and I can now say I survived the great flood of Newcastle on 28.06.12.

And for the more technically minded we were hit by 3 supercell thunderstorms within an hour and a half. To get one is pretty rare; to get three is very unusual indeed!

I've got another busy day ahead of me but I'm pleased to say this time tomorrow I'll be in France :-)