Villages flooded, sea defences damaged by giant waves, fallen trees, power lines cut, army called in – such has been the dramatic news across much of Europe these last few weeks. Not that you would know it from watching British television or reading British newspapers. There have been the occasional reports of unprecedented snow and ice caused by the so-called polar vortex over Canada and the United States. And that’s about it. It is as if Britain stood alone against the elements. Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Italy and various other places have been having the same experience of stormy weather as southern England, for the same reasons. But to the English, at least as reflected in their mass media, the Strait of Dover feels wider than the North Atlantic a