Is Plymouth the Wettest City in the UK?

No, not all the year round, honestly! But on Saturday 29th November, between the times of noon and 6.00pm, Plymouth was apparantly the wettest city in the UK. This is according to a forecaster with MeteoGroup.

No Surprise

Those of us who were in Plymouth at the time won’t feel any surprise on hearing this. We heard and saw the rain hammering down in biblical proportions, as if a river was being emptied over our houses (or our heads if we were unlucky enough to be outdoors). This was swiftly followed by lightning, thunder and hail. Yes, Plymouth was a very dramatic place to be on Saturday afternoon!

Plymouth is Used to Rain

We cope well with rain in Plymouth, I mean we’re used to it, aren’t we? I never go anywhere without my umbrella. But this was something extraordinary even for Plymouth; people being rescued from cars in Devonport, a man having to climb on top of his van to escape three feet of water in Sparkwell, eight shops in Hyde Park flooded, and homes flooded in Elburton and Mutley, are just a few of the water related incidents in Plymouth on Saturday.

Blocked Drains

Blocked drains were blamed for exacerbating some of the incidents. I can well believe this as I’ve noticed that every time it rains heavily, certain drains regularly get blocked and pedestrians have to skirt around a huge lake in order to keep their feet dry. One example is on the corner of Hyde Park Road and Oxford Avenue, where the drain gets blocked every time there’s heavy rain. It doesn’t surprise me, then, that the Thresher store on that corner was flooded.

Yes, we cope well with rain in Plymouth, but please Plymouth City Council unblock some of the drains for all of our sakes; pedestrians, drivers, the emergency services and most of all home and business owners, who can’t afford the trauma of being flooded, especially so close to Christmas.