The US pop star's eighth studio album was given four out of five stars by Guardian critic Alexis Petridis, who said it shows she is "impressively capable of doing whatever she wants". Page Six critic Nicholas Hautman called it "the revival that country music so desperately needed". "She did not disappoint," raved one fan on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Hautman hailed the new album as "instantly timeless" and "a soulful celebration of Southern values and the genre's African American roots". The Rolling Stones' Larisha Paul said "every piece" of the album was "meticulously thought out", from the track list to the album art. Many of the reviewers also picked up on Beyoncé's own warning, that "this ain't a country album, this is a Beyoncé album". The singer is "doing country her way" said Elle's Erica Gonzales, noting how she weaves in hip hop and even sings Italian opera. The new album was preceded by two hit singles - Texas Hold 'Em and 16 Carriages - which marked the start of the Texas-born singer's foray into country music.

"This is music that my ancestors played and instruments that my ancestors created."

For those affected by flooding however, their immediate concerns are not necessarily about the manmade changes to the earth’s atmosphere. A YouGov poll from February found that while 84% of those surveyed believed Britain was likely to experience similar extreme weather events in the next few years, only 30% thought it was connected to man-made climate change.

There is no evidence to counter the basic premise that a warmer world will lead to more intense daily and hourly rain events. When heavy rain in 2000 devastated parts of Britain, a later study found the climate change had doubled the chances of the flood occurring, said Julia Slingo.

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