Bath Business Web Ltd reports on how the weather in the South West is affecting local people and especially Business and Trades in Bath, Somerset and Beyond

Rain, rain go away come again another day. That'll be in about a month or three please.

In central Bath we at Bath Business Web Ltd may not be experiencing the problems faced by the good people who live in the Somerset Levels. What we do know is how the weather is affecting some local business, as the rain continues to cause havoc in many areas of the country.

 

Never ending rain in Somerset

Mrs Bingham, the two little Bingham's and I were travelling back from just across the border in South Wales on Sunday.

On our way home, just for a change, we decided to divert off the M4 and travel back along the M48 and come over the older Severn Bridge. The 'thin Severn Bridge' as Bingham junior calls it. Bless him!

For those who travel on this highway, it is more of a dual carriageway. It was quieter than staying on the M4 and greener in many ways, as the countryside was that much closer.


And that’s when I saw them. Completely submerged waterlogged, flooded fields. It was a bit surreal to see cattle fields covered in a lake of water. Gates and other obstacles poking their heads up above the waterline. I really felt for the landowners and so decided to write this blog.




Field are drenched and crops at risk

And that got me thinking, not just about the poor farmers whose land it was, but what about how it was affecting business throughout Bath Bristol, Wiltshire and particularly down there in Somerset.

At Bath Business Web Ltd we work in the heart of the beautiful City of Bath. We can't really appreciate the struggles others are dealing with at this wet wintery time. Most of our staff live in Bath and we have little in the way of flooding. We can only guess what it must be like for those directly affected.




River banks overflow with excess water

We work in a virtual world for the most part. A world on the internet. That means we are operating 90% of our business online. So no flooding issues in that world. Well not watery ones at least.

But what about the people who are directly affected by the weather? Well let’s think about this because some may not be that obvious.

I have mentioned farmers. I heard on the news today that planted crops, seeds etc. which have already been sown are being devastated or will die off very soon, if the water remains in the fields. Animals  too have had to be sold as their fields have been turned into giant reservoirs.

Vital food reserves of straw bales have been used to block the path of flooded areas. Farmer’s homes, outbuilding and farming machinery is getting damaged by the rising waters.

Beyond the fields private homes have been affected and those who live there struggling to cope with the damage and chaos such a catastrophe causes.



Never ending rain

Peoples homes and properties have been ravaged by water which has destroyed infrastructure or possessions. 

Cars have been  stranded under many centimetres or even metres of water. Water which is often full of bacteria and potential health hazards.

You see water doesn’t consider where it goes. It finds the easiest, sometimes the smallest of channels to continue its journey.

 



No respite just yet

That means it may find its way into sewers and rise up back out again and into a living room or a kitchen. That’s why these people who experience these floods are seen throwing all there furniture and carpets into the garden. As it will all be totally contaminated.

Many roads have been rendered impassable. That means all those who drive for a living. Like some of the many customers at Bath Business Web Ltd, such as plumbers, electricians, tillers, scaffolders, delivery van drivers, taxi drivers etc. etc.

Then there are those who rely on receiving stock for their shop or factory. How does that get through? 
 
What if one of our osteopaths or hairdressers needs to get to a business meeting and their journey is hampered by the floods?






More rain is forecast this week

Some of our customers live in the affected areas of flooding and may struggle to get out to their place of work.

So when one starts to consider what businesses are affected, then there is no end to the numbers of people this weather directly or indirectly affects.

We are being told that this weather is due to continue for the foreseeable future. More rain is expected over the course of the next two weeks. Some action has been taken to try to alleviate the problems people are facing. However, it does appear that the government or maybe even some local authorities have been a bit slow on the uptake.

What I wonder needs to be done in preparation for another winter the same? Because it will happen again.
 

I hear Prince Charles is visiting the Somerset Levels today to see for himself and talk with the people who are still flooded out weeks later. Some having been forced to leave their home.
 



What is it with all this rain?

This weather seems to be just another occasion where we are seeing the varying weather extremes which have been blighting us over the past 10 years or more. 

Remember at the beginning of 2013,  the continuation of winter and spring not quite sprung? Or the ridiculously hot period over the summer?

What about those times when the country was covered in thick snow and bringing travel to a stop.



High winds, torrential rain, all just another part to this mystery of the variety of extreme weather. I have no doubt all the pollution and gasses we fill the atmosphere with are playing their part. There is also an argument that this is what the planet does from time to time.

But what of the future? What of our flood defences? What can we do about rivers which overflow into our fields? How shall we build homes in the future to protect them?

How are we going to protect people, property and crops when we are being told there is a finite budget from government? 






This wet weather is okay for Ducks

This kind of continuous rain is only good for ducks. And to be honest, I am not sure how good it is for them. Not when we then consider all the bacteria and contaminated water which gets tossed around.

With more rain expected this week, when we will get any respite?

Landslide near Bath. This is breaking news on 04/01 from BBC Points West




Click on logo

What I understand from the jolly people at the BBC is that the jet stream coming across from America needs to change course or something similar to that. Basically we get the after affects of whatever is going on the other side of the pond. Not only do we have to put up with their slang talk, dum sayings and trashy comedy programmes, we also get the leftovers of their weather patterns. How jolly thoughtful of them.



South West England Weather at The Met Office

 

At Bath Business Web Ltd we are acutely aware from the 300+ businesses and trades we support that some of you are having a tough time, to say the least. Our heart goes out to you if you are experiencing such difficulties in your community.



Bath Business Web Ltd - Working with 300+ Trades and Businesses in the South West

I just hope that whoever you are and wherever you are, that this weather soon passes and the land has the chance to drain. We know at Bath Business Web Ltd is only part the story. We see stuff on the telly and read stuff in the paper. Our connections in the business world and world of tradespeople keeps us with our ears to the ground. We know that some of our trades folk will be at the forefront of repairing and rebuilding some of those water destroyed properties.

The many contractors and skilled professionals which Bath Business Web Ltd has the privilege to know will be out and about in many such areas where the flooding has been at its worst. We also have farmers and landowners who are customers and from them we appreciate and learn the frustrations, respect and rewards they have for the environment they work in.

 

So from Bath Business Web Ltd, from our staff and from the Bingham family, we just want you to know we are thinking about you all in these challenging rainy, wet and windy times in Bath Somerset and beyond.



Bingham

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