Penny's First Post

"We Brits are obsessed with the weather. The rest of the world knows that. It’s easily the most popular topic of conversation. You might assume that given what a special year this is for us on this side of the pond, we’d be discussing the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, and the Olympics, but no, as usual, it’s the weather.

In Britain, we get a lot of weather. OK, maybe it’s not BIG weather like yours. We have the occasional mini tornado, which might lift a few roof tiles or uproot the odd tree. But they’re certainly not five miles wide and totally devastating, like some of yours. And as for hurricanes, well, we know nothing of them. So why the obsession? Well, though we live in a temperate climate, most years, no two days in Britain are the same, so the weather certainly keeps us on our toes, so to speak.

Months which in theory should be expected to be spring-like, quite often are not. And winters are not always wintery.Take March, for instance. We had a fortnight (fourteen nights, or two weeks) of temperatures in the 80s. And the last two weeks in May were the same. As a result, a hosepipe ban was introduced in many parts of the country, to conserve precious water supplies.

 But in case we got too used to basking and relaxing in the sun, Mother Nature had a joke at our expense and brought us back down to earth with a bang. The start of June saw black, threatening clouds and cool temperatures. For three solid months we’ve had nothing but lowering skies and interminable rain. People’s moods have been affected profoundly by the lack of sunshine and day after day of driving rain. Yes, we know we are lucky to have adequate water, unlike millions in the Third World, but you can have too much of a good thing.

 The Jet Stream, which most folk had never heard of six months ago, was to blame; we were informed by the meteorologists. Now, I warrant, not a single citizen above the age of five isn’t familiar with its vagaries. To anyone working in the tourist industry, booking a holiday in Britain or living (as I do) on low-lying ground, the Jet Stream became public enemy Number One.

People living in the picturesque Yorkshire town of Hebden Bridge was flooded three times in two weeks, and scores of garden parties, summer fetes and festivals were cancelled due to flooding or acres of mud, making access impossible. So far, three-quarters of the way through July,-2012 has been a miserable summer, or more accurately, a non-existent one. But joy of joy, we are assured that that pesky Jet Stream is moving north, and we can expect more seasonal weather next week.

As I write this, it is pouring down."

Penny