Stormy.

Last night's storm died down by midnight and apart from being a bit wetter than usual and more small branches on the roads we weren't really affected. But for the south-west in general the storm was the worst one yet this winter. This morning the radio spoke of over 7,000 homes without power and this evening there are still thousands of homes affected. The flooding, especially in Somerset continues to get worse and on the south coast the railway has been completely undercut by the sea. Peter has just come home and he tells me that even worse storms are predicted for this week-end. It seems that the global weather systems are becoming more and more extreme.

This morning I went out during a dry spell to rescue our 2 empty dustbins that had been blown across the garden one almost into the stream. Then there was just time to wash my hair and make a batch of Peter's flapjacks before setting out for school. As I drove down the hill from the Lewis' farm this double tanker was right across the road having problems in getting around the corner. I stopped up the hill to give him plenty of room to manoeuver but he pulled back to let me through.

Handwriting again with the reception children and guided reading which this time we did in the hall sitting on a couple of pe mats. After school the time had come around again for us all to have training in Safeguarding (child protection). Just the same as last time with the usual shocking figures for Devon. Shocking, not because Devon is worse than anywhere else but because it is awful to think of so many children suffering from abuse (that covers neglect & emotional abuse as well as physical and sexual abuse). The course is a useful refresher and we do have a number of new members of staff who hadn't been through the course.

Photo from the web of the railway line at Dawlish.