{"id":20741,"date":"2026-02-11T06:23:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=20741"},"modified":"2026-02-11T06:23:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-11T06:23:26","slug":"im-thinking-of-building-an-ark-the-cornish-village-soaked-by-41-consecutive-days-of-rain-uk-weather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microvibenews.com\/?p=20741","title":{"rendered":"\u2018I\u2019m thinking of building an ark\u2019: the Cornish village soaked by 41 consecutive days of rain | UK weather"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cI<\/span>\u2019m thinking of building an ark,\u201d said Sarah Cowen, an artist and cafe owner. \u201cIt\u2019s been horrendous. We\u2019ve never known anything like it. The mud, the silt, the endless rain.\u201d Cowen<\/a> is one of a hardy, if soggy, bunch who live or work in and around the parish of Cardinham<\/a>, on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall, which has endured 41 consecutive days of rain \u2013 and counting.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is definitely global warming<\/a>. You get either baking sun or continuous rain,\u201d Cowen said. The locals don\u2019t have to look at the weather forecast here at the moment. \u201cYou know it\u2019s going to be rain,\u201d Cowen said.<\/p>\n

The Met Office revealed this week that Cardinham was one of three places in the UK<\/a> that had had 40 days of rain in a row. The other two are North Wyke, a little farther east in Devon, and Astwood Bank in Worcestershire.<\/p>\n

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Feel like the rain hasn\u2019t stopped? ?<\/p>\n

For some places, it really hasn\u2019t! ?<\/p>\n

North Wyke, Cardinham and Astwood Bank have recorded rain every single day so far this year ?? pic.twitter.com\/q8DchNZQjB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Met Office (@metoffice) February 9, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

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Cardinham beats the other two damp spots in terms of the volume of rain \u2013 366mm, and Cornwall has had its wettest January on record<\/a>. The Guardian headed there on day 41 and encountered drizzle, modest showers and torrential downpours.<\/p>\n

Loveday Sutton, a leading light of the Cardinham garden club<\/a>, said people were becoming a little despondent. \u201cWe don\u2019t get cold, bright days any more. It\u2019s relentless rain. People can\u2019t get out to do their gardens. Mine is sodden, that\u2019s the only word for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Claire Edwards, left, and Jenny Cockerill in their raincoats at Cardinham Woods.<\/span> Photograph: Jonny Weeks\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of the roads into the village of Cardinham was closed. The volume of water pouring through had caused the road surface to buckle and break.<\/p>\n

Nick Hoskin, a farmer, said he was having to keep his cows \u2013 south Devon crosses \u2013 in a barn or in his farmyard. \u201cI think even they realise it\u2019s better to be in there at the moment rather than out on the fields.\u201d He has been farming for 40 years. \u201cThis is the worst weather we\u2019ve had,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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Bodmin has had\u00a040 continuous days of rain<\/a><\/figure>\n

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There is much discussion here at the moment about the best coat to wear. Jenny Cockerill, who works in a forest school, sported a trendy Patagonia waterproof while her colleague Claire Edwards had a sturdier-looking unbranded number from a farming supplies shop. \u201cIt\u2019s dry but doesn\u2019t breathe,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cI do get a bit warm going up hill.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the Forestry Commission\u2019s Cardinham Woods<\/a>, Adam Harvey and Sandy Gourley, two firefighters, were muddy but cheerful having completed the \u201cBeast of Bodmin\u201d mountain bike trail, named after the big cat said to roam<\/a> these parts.<\/p>\n

They were taking a much-deserved day off, having spent many hours this year dealing with the aftermath of storms and heavy rains. \u201cIt\u2019s good to get out no matter the weather,\u201d Gourley said. \u201cIt helps your mental health, though one dry day would be nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Off-duty firefighter Adam Harvey completed the muddy \u2018Beast of Bodmin\u2019 trail.<\/span> Photograph: Jonny Weeks\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sam Lebbern, a recreation manager at the woods, said they were constantly checking the forecasts. \u201cBut you have to get on with it \u2013 keep smiling. There\u2019s a sense of camaraderie in the face of adversity and Cornish people are resilient.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Marion Robertson, who was walking her black labrador, Indie, and keeping the rain at bay with a multicoloured umbrella, said she was lucky she lived on top of a hill. \u201cYou feel very sorry for all those people who have been flooded. The rain is tedious, but you have to make the best of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Met Office weather station that has recorded more than 40 days of precipitation is at Bodmin airfield<\/a>. Its manager Ian Bryant (everyone knows him by his old Royal Navy nickname Arfur) took the Guardian into the control tower to look at the current readings from the station. A light wind was coming in from the south-east, visibility was only 500 metres and the cloud base was at 60 metres. And, clearly, it was raining.<\/p>\n

Bryant said he didn\u2019t believe in global warming, and climate change was a \u201chobgoblin\u201d being used to scare people. \u201cThis is just a wet winter. We\u2019ve had wet winters before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

These 41 days of rain are not good for business. Only about 20 small planes have been able to fly out of Bodmin since the new year. At busy times there can be 50 a day.<\/p>\n

<\/svg><\/span>Nick Hoskin has brought his cows inside because of the relentless rain.<\/span> Photograph: Jonny Weeks\/The Guardian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a chance the run of rain will come to an end on Saturday when the Met Office is (currently) predicting bright, warm sunshine. But more rain is expected on Sunday, so if there is a respite, it will be brief.<\/p>\n

At the AeroDine cafe<\/a> in the airfield clubhouse, Ed Salatas was keeping his fingers crossed. He began running the cafe in September and had two good months serving excellent coffee and hearty meals to pilots and other passersby.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen came snow, now the rain,\u201d he said. Salatas has made the best of the quiet times by refurbishing the cafe. \u201cNow we just need a break so the customers will come back.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n