Unruffled Yorkshire spirit dominates, but there's anger too in flooded homes

York residents and businesses deal with flooding crisis calmly, but some wonder if the government's response would be the same if this was London

Paddling an inflatable boat down Walmgate in York on Monday, the rescuers called out to Pat Harrington. "You OK up there, love?" they asked, having spotted her head poking through the net curtains of a first floor flat. "I'm absolutely fine!" trilled the 74-year-old. "I've got power, I'm nice and warm, I've got plenty of food left over from Christmas. It's like luxury camping."

Harrington had no intention of leaving the flat she has lived in for 13 years, she said, but would simply wait for the flood waters to subside. She wasn't the only resident of Walmgate staying resolutely put, despite the street's transformation into a slightly whiffy Venice after the river Foss flooded for the first time in living memory. From a window opposite, Geoffrey Beacon said he was taking advantage of his enforced confinement. "I'm a very messy person so I've been tidying up," he shouted down.