Wind, Rain and Flooding

[RobertHH]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-20440162

The wind and rain driven by the wind is finding its way into every nook and cranny making life very unpleasant but some areas are really suffering badly. The above link shows some of the problem areas and it is due to get worse.

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[Suezy]

Thanks for that Robert and it is sure ad news.  You have had such a lot of rain over there over the last few months.
Thanks again for the info and will be ringing England tonight.

[Rwood]

To Nov 21st, Eng-Wales rainfall is at 87% of normal.

October rainfall for the UK as a whole was close to normal (101%), though some eastern and southern counties were wetter than average. September was wetter at 116%, and August even more so at 122%.

[Mark]

Winter wheat in the U.K., which had its wettest summer in a century this year, showed the worst-ever symptoms in the current season of fungal diseases fusarium ear blight and septoria tritici, CropMonitor said.

There was a “marked increase” in ear blight, with 96 percent of field samples displaying symptoms, the crop-quality service said in a report e-mailed today. Some types of fusarium can result in yield losses or the development of mycotoxins, chemicals that can harm humans and animals, according to the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board.

“Ear blight symptoms were recorded at the highest-ever levels since the survey began,” said CropMonitor, which is run by government and industry groups. Some field samples also showed fusarium on plant stems and nodes, where leaves emerge from stems, according to the report.

Septoria tritici, which also can cut yields, was the most common foliar disease, with 97 percent of crops affected, CropMonitor said. Brown rust was recorded on 17 percent of field samples and tan spot affected 14 percent of crops.

Powdery mildew affected only 4 percent of crops, the lowest level ever recorded and down from last year’s results showing 34 percent of crops were infected.

The U.K. is the third-largest wheat producer in the 27- nation European Union.

To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in London at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-20/u-k-winter-wheat-shows-worst-fungus-symptoms-ever-recorded-1-.html