I AM convinced the weather changes one frequently reads about are nothing to do with man’s activities.

We are but an insignificant dot in the universe, the weather was here long before us and history tells us that even this country has experienced desert heat and ice ages. The story of Noah’s Ark is probably not fetched from thin air.

The damage one volcanic eruption causes is much worse than anything man can do. So please stop all the scaremongering. I am also told by people who have lived in York longer than me that the Ouse has always flooded, while Britain is almost famous for being one of the wettest countries in Europe. Old pictures show London in fog, or you would see the gentlemen walk with their bowler hats and brollies on their arms. And most archive photos in The Press documenting Royal or other VIP visits/military parades seem to show York in the rain.

There are quite a number of things we can do to protect homes/businesses from being flooded: reintroducing natural flood plains; no more building near rivers; maintaining all gutters/ditches; frequently dredging the Ouse, as was done in the past. Our antiquated sewers and water pipes are overstretched and can no longer cope with daily showers/baths, washing machines, dishwashers and more and more homes. And paving every bit of naked soil does not help: no wonder water has nowhere to run but into homes.

Barbara Hudson, Badger Hill, Eastfield Crescent, York.