In just five years, the UK's Central Electricity Board built the National Grid, with 4,000 miles of cables, and 26,000 pylons. In 1937, a group of impatient, rebellions engineers switched the connections on without permission. The price of electricity collapsed.

€3bn in insurance claims. €10bn for recovery. For just one event Climate graphic of the week: Deadly flood losses mount as insurers and governments tally costs via Financial Times on.ft.com/3XR8kWR

The rainfall rates we’re currently seeing are (or were) extremely rare. 30-40mm in one hour has a return period of 100 years plus according to the Flood Estimation Handbook. It’s happening at multiple locations this weekend.

Flitwick, near Bedford has recorded an incredible 113mm of rain in the last 24 hours. To put it in context, the average September monthly total rainfall here is 55mm. More than that fell in 6 hours!

I still think "we ran out of money for our railway because we put it most of it in a tunnel through some completely flat countryside " should've got more discussion.

Fascinating story throughout on the scale and multiple nature of planning issues holding back not just houses but developments in general. tl;Dr: it's not as simple as a lack of permissions. Sometimes they're held by the wrong companies 1/ on.ft.com/4eg3ngm

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekMforMusic Day 1 DIY Angel Inn at Grosmont Such sweet compulsion doth in music lie. Milton

Tesco cheats over Aldi price match, Panorama research finds bit.ly/3THW88v anyone surprised this marketing ploy is not all it seems?

Think our rainfall has been extreme? In parts of Austria they saw two thirds of their total average annual rainfall in 3 or 4 days. UK equivalents would be: Wales 1000mm (a metre!) Midlands 550mm East Anglia 400mm Only a question of time!

25 years ? If we need labour in London to make sure wales gets what it needs, well, Devolution is dead then?

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekMforMusic Day 2 The most exciting rhythms seem unexpected and complex, the most beautiful melodies simple and inevitable. Auden

The UK's in-progress nuclear power stations are going to be the most expensive atomic reactors ever built, per megawatt of capacity. What happened?

When I posted this I thought the forecast models had gone off on one. But they hadn’t. Over 30 locations recording over 100mm of rain over the course of 4 days, a few in 24 hours. 50-100mm over hundreds of square miles of lowland England. Extremely unusual.

We’re excited for #COPA1 today, the first-ever environmental summit on Yr Wyddfa, hosted by Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) and supported by Eco-Schools Wales ! ⛰️♻️ 🧵

Rydym yn edrych ymlaen at #COPA1 heddiw, sef yr uwchgynhadledd amgylcheddol gyntaf erioed ar Yr Wyddfa. Mae’n cael ei chynnal gan Eryri National Park (Snowdonia) a’i chefnogi gan Eco-Schools Wales ! ⛰️♻️ 🧵

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekMforMusic Day 3 I shall be made the music; as I come I tune the instrument here at the door, And what I must do then, think now before. Donne

An outward and visible sign . . Grosmont Path volunteers readying and fitting new fingers and posts as well as undertaking stile repairs. Better access thanks to support from MonLife Countryside and Ramblers Cymru 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Monmouthshire / Sir Fynwy Visit Monmouthshire Visit Abergavenny Love Abergavenny Marches LDWA