LONDON: Just. Stop. Raining. That was the unusual plea published in an editor-ial in The Times of London on Saturday, a measure of Britons’ growing frustration with months of miserable weather.
“Let us make our position clear: We are against this weather,” the venerable newspaper wrote in an unsigned opinion piece. “It must stop raining, and soon.”
The UK is slogging through some of the wettest conditions in recent history.
Nearly every day seems to bring showers, sprinkles, drizzles, or downpours. Last Saturday alone, England’s Environment Agency registered some 75 flood alerts and warnings across the country, including the west England county of Shropshire, where fire and rescue
officials received an anguished phone call from a woman who found herself waist-deep in water overnight.
In its editorial, The Times lamented that the country was full of discounted swimwear, unsold garden furniture, and unused barbecues. It even said that the country’s potato harvest has been affected — pushing up the price of chips.
“When the proverbial cheapness of chips comes under threat, The Times says enough is enough,” the editorial said.