As the New Year began, many areas of the UK were deluged with incessant rain and flooding, leaving building sites both large and small virtually abandoned. With footings underwater and high winds making scaffold working dangerous to work at any height, little progress was being made in either the housing or construction sectors. Due to this situation, the demand for timber has been weak and most UK timber merchants have refrained from buying stock except for occasional ex-landed top-ups. This subdued activity has inevitably affected prices, and intense competition among traders has kept levels unrealistically low.