Water, water, everywhere...

...but not a drop coming through the taps.

The Big Thaw has arrived, and chaos has ensued. Slightly different chaos from the chaos that was happening last week, when the roads service didn't seem capable of keeping the motorways free of ice, days after the last snowflake fell, but chaos nonetheless.

As any schoolkid will tell you, water expands when it freezes, and pipes full of frozen water tend to burst. I know NI Water are aware of this because over the past few days they've been kindly advising us how to stop our domestic pipes from bursting, and to keep an eye out for any evidence of leaks. Unfortunately they didn't heed their own advice. Mains pipes all around the country have burst, and reservoirs - entire, massive reservoirs - have run dry. Surely someone saw that happening?!

So I returned to my flat in Belfast to find no water, and seemingly half of the country in the same boat. Emergency water supplies are being handed out, on a BYOB (bring your own bucket) basis. The website is down, the phonelines are swamped, nobody has any idea how long the supply will be off for. Shambles.

Luckily I have a sizable supply of wine and spirits to keep me hydrated :)