"Plus ça change, ...

... plus c'est la meme chose."
We are hearing about folk in Scotland and Nn. Ireland entering their 3rd night without electricity, while folk in West Cumbria are waiting for the Police to recover their stranded cars. And this is all the snow we have to show for the last few days.

Some time ago I heard that, on balance, Penrith tended to be fairly dry (In spite of all indications to the contrary) due to it being in a double "rain-shadow". Rain from the west gets dropped in the Lakeland Fells, while rain from the east gets trammeled up by the Pennines. If the recent snows are any kind of criterion it looks like there may be some truth in the idea.