I stopped dropping into Gordano Services for that very reason, pfr. It wasn't just the speed bumps and that shitty roundabout. Far more importantly, the pork pies at Gloucester Services are much better... that flood event was my first thought when I heard about the new reactor at Hinkley.

That doesn't say anything that I didn't, Iains, nor does it contradict me in any way. As a matter of fact it's what I used to check my facts before posting (I recommend the approach: your science consultancy clients would appreciate your being a bit more genned up than you usually are). I told you that the Beaufort scale is a moveable feast and is designed to be useful rather than theoretical. That means there are elements of it that lend themselves to a more subjective approach. Happy to clear that up for you. And, no matter how many aspects of hurricanes you wish to list for us, there's a bottom line: a hurricane is not the same thing at all as an Atlantic frontal depression. Here in Blighty we can have hurricane-force winds but we can never have hurricanes. I've just dipped my toes into the sea at Widemouth Bay, this being the warmest time of the year for sea temperatures, and whaddya know: nowhere near warm enough to spawn a hurricane...brrr.

It boils down to accuracy, Iains, by the way. As you're a scientist just like me, we both know that there's no room for sloppiness. So firm up, man.