YP Comment: The Vikings return to York

Yet the loss of one of the city’s top tourist attractions was felt not merely by York itself but also by countless visitors, from both near and far, who come to York to savour its priceless historical heritage of which its Viking past is such an important part.

Since it opened in 1984, Jorvik has always sought new and vivid ways of bringing the past to life so it is no surprise that the Centre’s long-awaited re-opening on Saturday will showcase an entirely new re-imagining of York’s Viking legacy.

The floods’ devastation, it seems, has been merely a spur to the fertile imaginations of Jorvik’s designers and the flames which lit up the city skies over the weekend were a welcome sign that, at last, the Vikings are back.