Reading Beatie58's comments on the heat in Australia leads to this...

Where I live we are having a huge amount of rain and high tides driven by wind have caused much damage. The village had to be evacuated last night and my daughter and her family came to us for the night. I have just taken her and her sons home. Luckily I had my wellies in my car as the house is surrounded by water. I was then able to carry the boys inside. (Someone had sandbagged the front door in their absence). My son in law had gone ahead and seen that all was OK before he went off surfing. Driving through the village there were quite a number of surfers making the most of the huge waves. while those in our cars were carefully avoiding the boulders that had been driven off the beach, down the passages and onto the road. I have not seen the village so affected by the sea in the 35 years we have lived here. My thoughts are with all those who have been badly affected by the storms.