THE weather is definitely going to extremes. Conditions scared me stiff during the week.

I left Leigh at teatime in decent light, but as I hit the Chequerbent island at Westhoughton the world over Horwich was black. Lightning cracked the sky in half, great thunder claps rent the air, and hailstones bounced off the bonnet.

Yet on the M61 as sensible motorists slowed down to cope with the conditions juggernauts continued to roll past at fast speeds.

No wonder there are fatal accidents.

The only other time I have been so frightened by the weather was while 20,000 plus ft up in the sky in the Texas tornado belt, when the plane had to circle round an horrendous storm in order to land at Dallas.

Only after landing did I learn that more planes are lost there than anywhere else. Scary, but thank goodness I didn't know before hand.