Boscastle Suffers Heavy Downpour
Flash flooding struck northern Cornwall fishing village Boscastle, sweeping cars out to sea and forcing people to cling to rooftops and trees. About 30 vehicles were washed into Boscastle harbour and a footbridge in the town was destroyed. Royal Navy and Royal Air Force 'Search and Resue' helicopters airlifted about 150 people to safety from the inundated village, including a 16-month-old baby enclosed in a rucksack, resulting in one of the country's biggest emergency operations in years.

A tide - up to 9ft deep - swept through the holiday village after two hours of torrential rain. Miraculously no one was killed or injured. Too see what this picturesque holiday village looked like prior to the floods on 17th August 2004, move mouse over picture. Click on picture also to view Boscastle. website.

Olympics 2004 Opening Ceremony
Fireworks explode over the Athens Olympic Stadium August 13, 2004, as the Athens 2004 Olympic Games opening ceremony begins. A theatrical mixture of ancient and modern Greece has launched the Olympics, lifting spirits in the Games' birthplace. The Olympic rings are set ablaze in a pool of water, to see image roll mouse over picture on the left

Ouch! Ouch! What a Baby
For anyone who has ever given birth, one word pops into mind when they hear this. Ouch! - Mothers everywhere will spare a sympathetic thought for Trisha Lightwood. After an eight-hour labour, she has given birth naturally to one of Britain's biggest-ever babies. Sean entered the world at a thumping 13lb 6oz - the weight of the average three-month-old. Full story...

What a Difference 24 Hours Makes
Britain's press headlines over the weekend of 1st August 2004: Visitors to Brighton beach lounge on deckchairs as temperatures soared into the high 80's. Then, less than 24 hours later, Britain is hit with torrential rain and violent thunderstorms which swept across the country. Move mouse over image to see the deluge of rain in London. Lyneham's weather click here

Messenger Launches for Mercury
A Boeing Delta II rocket fires its motors beginning the journey of the NASA mission named Messenger on its way to the planet Mercury in Cape Canaveral Air Force Station early August 3, 2004. After traveling seven years to reach the planet, the spacecrafts onboard cameras and sensors will image the planet and collect data to enable scientists to better understand how Mercury was formed, how it evolved and how it interacts with the Sun.

It will be the first spacecraft to visit the planet since Mariner 10 whizzed by three times in 1974 and 1975. It will also be the first spacecraft ever to orbit the planet.