Tuesday, November 26

We apologize for not including this week's Upcoming Events in yesterday's daily update. It has been added to the article, and you can view the updated post here.

At least five people are dead after Storm Bert pounded the United Kingdom over the past few days, bringing down trees, flooding streets, and knocking out power to tens of thousands of people.

The storm had been brewing in the Atlantic for days before moving onshore, primarily impacting England and Wales. Along with heavy rain, Bert also carried strong winds, leading to downed power lines and fallen trees lining streets. In total, several people were killed, including one man in his 60s who was killed in his car by a falling tree and multiple others who were killed in car accidents. Dozens of people are still missing.

Transportation was heavily affected throughout the storm-- highways were covered in water, sparking dangerous accidents, hundreds of flights were canceled, and rail services across the western UK were shut down. Roadways were covered with water across the weekend, causing severe aquaplaning and dozens of crashes, while numerous bridges were also taken out by overflowing rivers, debris, and strong winds. 22% of British Airways flights were canceled and another 38% were delayed, and 14% of flights coming into London Heathrow were canceled and another 41% of inbound flights were canceled. Meanwhile, 15% of all outbound flights were canceled, while 44% were delayed-- a total of 213 flights were canceled at London Heathrow on Sunday alone.

In addition, Southern Railway, which operates in southeast England, canceled scores of scheduled trains across the region, which includes the London metropolitan area. Great Western Railway also shut down their rail services between major cities in the western UK, including routes from London's Paddington Station to Cardiff and Bristol. Landslides and flooding in more mountainous regions also caused major damage to train tracks, which could take days or even weeks to repair. Lastly, trains in Scotland are still operational, but speed limits have been imposed for their safety.

While Storm Bert has moved on, the United Kingdom is still reeling from its effects, and it could take a while for the country to heal from this disaster. Water is still piled up on streets and inside buildings, and while rail travel has resumed normal operations, roadways are still slick and air travel schedules are struggling to normalize after the cancellations.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): E is the most-used letter in the English alphabet, occurring in around 11% of the language's 240,000 words.

Quote of the Day: I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. (Bruce Lee)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Chastise (verb)- To chastise someone is to criticize them harshly for doing something wrong.

In a Sentence: The waiter was chastised for forgetting the customer’s order.