Through his interpretation of the Scriptures and because the 5,125 year cycle of the Mayan long calendar ends on Friday 21 December, the Dutch evangelical Christian is ready for a second flood of Biblical proportions.

Mr van der Meer has bought a former lifeboat, at a cost of £11,000, to become an ark for his family when, as he believes, the Netherlands, much of which is below sea level, is swallowed in a deluge.