It is tragic to see the distress of the tens of thousands of people who are suffering or have lost friends and relatives on such a scale as in Japan.

Nature once again reminds us all of its absolute power over all we do here on this fragile and turbulent earth. Earthquakes are not affected by the weather, nor do they drive the weather, but they serve to remind us all that nature and its weather and single weather events can shape and change the world in which we live.

When I see events like these unfold around the world I, like many, count myself lucky that we live in a part of the world that does seem to go mostly untouched by such huge devastating events of nature. But we do have tragedies such as those caused by high winds as in Leeds only last week and by the floods and snow that disrupt our organised lives.

However, generally these incidents are isolated and thankfully not on the same scale that we see in the rest of the world.