Rain

by Brian Cathcart

Britain is a country devoted to the study of rain. No other nation in the world has kept such extensive accounts of its patterns for so long. Now Britain is getting used to a new kind of rain, and there’s more of it—the year 2000 was the wettest since accurate records began in the middle of the 18th century. But it is also fiercer—drizzle, the traditional form of British precipitation, has been replaced by the day-long deluge. Large parts of Britain are flooding, under threat from the weather as never before. Why is there suddenly so much more of it? What has it done for the British character? And how will it change them? In Rain, Brian Cathcart explores the extraordinary human consequences of the abstraction called “climate change.”

120 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

Brian Cathcart is a journalist by background, having worked for Reuters, the London Independent papers and the New Statesman, and he is now professor of journalism at Kingston University London. Some of his books (including The Case of Stephen Lawrence, which won the Orwell Prize and a CWA Gold Dagger) have grown out of news and journalism; others (such as The Fly in the Cathedral) reflect his love of history. His latest, The News From Waterloo, combines the two. Cathcart is also a campaigner, having co-founded Hacked Off in 2011 to make the case for a free and accountable press. He is married with grown-up sons and lives in London, where he feeds the birds in the garden and from which he escapes occasionally to walk the Pennine Way.

Reviews

[Axel T · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent journey of discovery about rain in Britain; public attitudes, influence on culture, history of weather prediction and flood management. Thoroughly researched, with a hint of wit thrown in. Unfortunately very short at only 90 pages, I would enjoy a much thicker tome.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting in terms of flooding, but could have had more on cloud formations.