Sunday 26 October

Weather is much better today than yesterday, although it's still sunshine and showers. Hope everybody has had a nice lie in this morning (in Europe), with the extra hour. America can follow suit next Sunday.

I was horrified this morning to turn on the radio and hear that 1,700 fell runners were missing in the English Lake District. A mountain marathon had started on Saturday, in which 2,500 people were going to run across the Cumbrian hills. That is no mean feat, as the Lakeland fells rise up to 2,500 feet above sealevel, and are considered serious mountains. I reported on our stormforce winds and lashing rains - well, they also hit Cumbria.

The event was called off at midday yesterday, but the vast majority of runners had to go under cover. Nobody knew how many were actually still out there, but at midday (to my relief) the total number of missing had been slashed to 44. Others had turned up, or had gone home without informing anyone. The organisers did not come up with a list of names until this morning, which is extremely bad.

The participants were hardened mountain walkers, well used and equipped for conditions, precisely like yesterday. However, a combination of high winds, flash flooding and heavy rain made conditions practically untenable.