The UK has been battered by high winds and heavy rain on an intermittent basis since the end of October last year. Powerlines go down, homes flood, and trains and planes are cancelled. We appear to be caught in a cycle of disruption and inconvenience followed by respite that's becoming increasingly trying and increasingly deadly. Sadly, it isn't just people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time whose lives are being taken by falling trees or rising waters. Today the search is resuming for Harry Martin, a photography student from South Devon, who went out to photograph the stormy coastal waters on Thursday and has not been seen since.
In excess of 200 people have been involved in the search for the young man over the weekend along a 20 mile stretch of coastline close to his family home at Membland, Newton Ferrers.
Inspector John Livingstone, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said that although the primary concern was that Harry had become lost on the exposed stormy coastline, it was always possible that he may be with friends. Being absent for this long without letting anyone know his whereabouts is, however, out-of-character for the young man who is studying film production at Greenwich University and was back home with his family in Devon for the Christmas holidays.
Waves of up to eight metres have been recorded off of Land's End, flats overlooking the seafront in Aberystwyth have been evacuated, and huge waves and more flooding are expected across the country today and tomorrow. All of this might look spectacular and make for very impressive photographs, but please be careful. I've done some ludicrous things to get photos before now, but they're never worth risking your safety, or those of people who might have to rescue you.
(Headsup to the BBC, additional information from the Torquay Herald Express)