HERE is a piece of news guaranteed (not) to cheer up victims of the 2015 floods: York is one of the driest cities in the UK.

In terms of rainfall, we’re actually the 12th driest, according to research by rainwater harvesting company Freeflush.

The company uses Met Office data. And we don’t dispute the figures. York, sheltered by the Pennines, probably does have less rain than many cities.

The problem, as anyone who lives here knows, is that the regular floods which inundate us aren’t caused by rain falling on York itself: they’re caused by rain falling up in the hills. Which just goes to show how pointless silly surveys like this are.