UK Under the Weather

Half of the United Kingdom is under drought; the other half, under water.

Areas in densely populated southern England have had eight months of below-average rainfall, the fourth-driest period since 1892, when records began, and the lowest recorded since 1976. Water suppliers are imposing restrictions on hundreds of thousands of homes—possibly millions before the summer is out. This is the first summer of widespread water-rationing in a decade and could prove to be a repeat of the record heat wave of August 2003.

Meanwhile, portions of northwest UK have seen 140 percent more rainfall than what is normal for the period, causing floods, with Scotland having its fifth-wettest winter and spring on record.

The jet stream detoured, said meteorologists. An unexplainable bloc of high pressure sat in the Atlantic, redirecting the stream’s usual route. Clouds dumped rain in the north, which exhausted them by the time they reached southern England, causing drought there and creating the worst drought on record farther south, in Spain and Portugal. “Nobody knows why the high pressure developed in the Atlantic. … [T]hese are all mysteries that meteorology cannot answer” (Times Online, June 21).

Mysteries? God states explicitly in the Bible that He withholds rain when we sin against Him (Deuteronomy 28:23; 1 Kings 8:35-36; 2 Chronicles 7:13-14; Isaiah 5:6; Jeremiah 5:24-25; Zechariah 14:17—and more). He specifically states in Amos 4:7-8 that He causes neighboring regions to experience contradictory weather patterns, as is happening in the UK: “I caused it to rain upon one city, and caused it not to rain upon another city ….”

These curses are a warning to modern Israel to turn to a loving God.