We’ve been battered in quick succession by Storm Ciara and Storm Dennis.

Thankfully, the damage in Furness hasn’t been as severe as elsewhere in Cumbria or even the rest of the country.

It has, however, highlighted just how vulnerable parts of Walney are, with flood defences overrun or not present at all. On the south of the island, in parts the road to the nature reserve was the only land visible above water in the worst of the weather.

Simon Mulgrew and Jamie Cox invited me over to see the damage for myself and discuss their hopes for greater flood protection, lest we see parts of the island impassible in poor conditions.

Flooding is pernicious and without adequate protections each flood will make the next worse and allow water to travel that little bit further.

This threatens one of our greatest assets in the nature reserve, but also communities like Biggar, and even BAE, should the channel be impacted.

I’ll be reaching out to local residents over the coming weeks to make sure your views are heard and then will make representations to the Ministry of Defence and wider government and start the campaign to get flood defences in place before Walney becomes an island of two halves.