CONSISTENCY isn’t a word you can apply to the weather here in East Lancashire.

At the start of the year we reported that there had been 37 consecutive days of rain.

In December there wasn’t a single day when the skies didn’t open, and rainfall was 163 per cent above average for the time of year.

Now we are told that Lancashire reservoir levels are below what they should be at this time of year following a dry March.

This time last week, Roy Chetham in Huncoat recorded his highest ever March temperature of 21.5C but tonight we are being warned not to be surprised if there are snow showers!

Some might say that variety is the spice of life and that it would be boring to live in a country like some in the world where the climate is almost wholly predictable.

But how can people like farmers, gardeners, builders and others who work outside be expected to cope with meteorological pattern that often seems to be totally random?

The only thing that is consistent about East Lancashire weather is its inconsistency.