China Steals Britain's Thunder

Britain is plagued by dismal rains two hundred days a year. However, our notorious weather is barely a ten-minute drizzle compared with the typhoons that have swept through the entirety of Eastern Asia in the past week. Whilst Typhoon Etau sliced its path of destruction through southern Japan, killing ten and injuring many more, its twin Morakot wreaked havoc farther west. 27 people were reported missing and one dead after Morakot slashed through Taiwan, then hit the east coast of China. Fortunately, a million were able to be safely evacuated before their homes were destroyed, but 43 were killed in landslides triggered by the torrential rains. Although typhoons and monsoons are not uncommon during Asia’s summer months, this has been described as the worst flooding seen in five decades. Hopefully we British will consider our luck before we next complain about the “English Summer”.