The Scottish government prepared the dispatch of 160,000 bottles of water for the stricken area.
Was this Haiti? Perhaps it was flood-ridden Pakistan or just maybe some drought-plagued area where water supplies had been exhausted? If you answered "none of the above", you are correct.
The water bottles were earmarked for nearby Northern Ireland, but could have gone just as easily to Yorkshire and Wales. Scores of thousands are without running water and flushing toilets and normal service may not be resumed for another week leading to fears of disease outbreaks.
All this is a result of the unusually frigid weather. One British meteorologist described it as a mini ice age as the average temperature has been -0.8°C (32 Fahrenheit) and you have to go back to the year 1683/84 to get colder, assuming records from more than 300 years back were reliable. As a frigid December heralds an even frostier January and February, Britain can expect more of the same or worse.
One would therefore have expected that a rise in the temperatures would be greeted by relief. You would be wrong.
The unusual cold had frozen underground pipes that were normally unaffected. With a temporary thaw -and Britain has seen temperature shifts from -10°C to +10 - the ground moves, putting pressure on pipes and leading to an epidemic of burst pipes. Worst hit was Northern Ireland where more than 40,000 families and businesses have been without running water for nine days. The authorities have pumped daily 250,000,000 L of water into the system but the same amount was lost due to burst pipes. Leisure centers opened to provide showers. Some unfortunate home owners have been inundated with raw sewage as the waste-removing pipes burst as well.
Other parts of Britain suffered but not to the same extent as Northern Ireland. 3000 homes were cut off in Wales and emergency teams were working for thirty six hours consecutively. Yorkshire Wate,r that normally handles 3000 calls a day for burst pipes has seen that number skyrocket to 7000 calls a day, necessitating the hiring of additional workers at the call center.
It Is recognized that many parts of Britain have an antiquated system of pipes employing rigid metal pipes when today's preference is for polyp polyethylene pipes that have greater flexibility. The question is whether Britain, during this period of austerity, can afford major investments in its infrastructure. Homeowners will have no choice but to repair their own internal plumbing as those repairs are not covered by the authorities..