But Dr Dial wanted to be sure, so he compared the accomplishments of normal partridges with birds that had their wing feathers clipped to half their normal surface area, and to even less fortunate fowl whose main flight feathers were entirely plucked.

ECONOMIST: Birds that don't fly may be using their wings to run uphill

Storm surges have the potential to be dangerous because they involve a great upwelling of a stretch of ocean - intense low pressure at the heart of a storm literally tugs the sea surface above its normal level to create a massive bulge.

BBC: Legacy of Britain's great flood

Now he can congratulate himself that, on the surface at least, things are back to normal.

ECONOMIST: Eisner fights on