WE are blessed to be in one of the greenest corners of the country here in South Oxfordshire, with beautiful rivers like the Thames, Ock, and Letcombe Brook painting a patchwork through our landscape.

That blessing can very quickly turn into a curse when we have even a little more than the average rainfall.

As we went to press, ground water from days of rain was still leaking into the rivers and they were slowly rising over their banks.

Even our offices were gradually being surrounded by the lapping tide.

In Abingdon, even people who live on boats on the river were taking to dry land for safety.

We remind all our readers to take great care.

Check the weather forecast and check the Environment Agency’s helpline for updates on 0845 9881188.

Don’t drive anywhere if you don’t have to. It’s not worth it. And if you do have to drive through any water, keep in first gear, drive slowly and remember not to stop.

We all remember what happened in 2007. Let’s not let the same thing happen again this year.