Good morning! Micheal with you here. Wow, what a few days for the weather! Records galore – Armagh even recorded its hottest day ever! And then it only went and recorded Northern Ireland's hottest day EVER! We couldn't let Tyrone have that one over us. And it's going to be another great one today – highs of 28 degrees touted. Sadly it's looking more like southern France temperatures over the weekend with highs of 26 – pathetic...Resplendent as the weather has been, there has been a cloud of sadness hanging over the area following the awful tragedy in Scarva on Monday afternoon. Little Jay Moffett, who was only 13, lost his life in a man-made lake in a field, close to the family home in the village. A funeral service is due to take place outside Jay's home in Scarvagh Heights at 1pm later today (Friday), followed by a committal service in Banbridge New Cemetery.As a news website you get informed by the public of unfolding emergencies on a regular basis – less detail on some than others, and some less serious than others too. But in some cases you know things aren't good – I'm not sure how to explain it but you get a sense of the gravity at certain times. This was one of those times. Details started filtering through to us late afternoon – the Air Ambulance is usually the first indication of the level of severity but on many occasions, that can be just precautionary. We've followed up with the NI Ambulance HQ many times to be told as much. However, then came details of a young child and a lake – an hour or two passed and more details came through. Fire service confirmed there was an incident, then came the police line, which preceded the ambulance update. It wasn't looking good. We were told it wasn't good. Then, tragically, police confirmed the horror. Every parent's worst nightmare. There's a sense of trepidation writing a story like this. Even though it has been confirmed, it's just never nice. You watch as the comments stream in – the genuine heartbreak people feel, the shares even – they tend to be more personal again. You read them. Again, the devastation is palpable. All you can do is hope you've covered it as sensitively as possible. It's at times like this you understand how closely knit our community is. Most importantly though, for the Moffett family, is the fact we live in an area where community still means so much and hopefully that will be of some comfort of the coming days, weeks and even years.
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Great weather but cloud hangs over us with…
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Good morning! Micheal with you here. Wow, what a few days for the weather! Records galore – Armagh even recorded its hottest day ever! And then it only went and recorded Northern Ireland's hottest day EVER! We couldn't let Tyrone have that one over us. And it's going to be another great one today – highs of 28 degrees touted. Sadly it's looking more like southern France temperatures over the weekend with highs of 26 – pathetic...Resplendent as the weather has been, there has been a cloud of sadness hanging over the area following the awful tragedy in Scarva on Monday afternoon. Little Jay Moffett, who was only 13, lost his life in a man-made lake in a field, close to the family home in the village. A funeral service is due to take place outside Jay's home in Scarvagh Heights at 1pm later today (Friday), followed by a committal service in Banbridge New Cemetery.As a news website you get informed by the public of unfolding emergencies on a regular basis – less detail on some than others, and some less serious than others too. But in some cases you know things aren't good – I'm not sure how to explain it but you get a sense of the gravity at certain times. This was one of those times. Details started filtering through to us late afternoon – the Air Ambulance is usually the first indication of the level of severity but on many occasions, that can be just precautionary. We've followed up with the NI Ambulance HQ many times to be told as much. However, then came details of a young child and a lake – an hour or two passed and more details came through. Fire service confirmed there was an incident, then came the police line, which preceded the ambulance update. It wasn't looking good. We were told it wasn't good. Then, tragically, police confirmed the horror. Every parent's worst nightmare. There's a sense of trepidation writing a story like this. Even though it has been confirmed, it's just never nice. You watch as the comments stream in – the genuine heartbreak people feel, the shares even – they tend to be more personal again. You read them. Again, the devastation is palpable. All you can do is hope you've covered it as sensitively as possible. It's at times like this you understand how closely knit our community is. Most importantly though, for the Moffett family, is the fact we live in an area where community still means so much and hopefully that will be of some comfort of the coming days, weeks and even years.