How many times has this very phrase been used in conversation? To the minds of continental visitors to Britain, we appear to discuss nothing but! Sad but true, within a few short sentences, the state of British weather ends up being a subject of conversation.

No wonder that anyone from abroad finds the art of English one of disdain; far too depressing for words! Yet arguably, we have one of the most varied and interesting climates to study. Whirlwinds, snow in mid June, temperatures to send a Spaniard hunting for a real coal fire - you name it, we've got it!

Nothing brings this home like going abroad out of season (closer to winter). A Spanish bar may well be full of fun firs and thigh boots - with the English in 'T' shirts and jeans saying how pleasant the weather is, while drinking ice-cold beer! What they consider as a warm day would produce a ready to eat Englishman. But don't let them kid you - when it rains in Spain, it does so with real attitude! Not like the gentle drizzles of Britain - this is like a solid sheet of rain, if the wind gets up too, you're in for a Royal soaking!

Perhaps it's just being British that makes us complain about the weather? If there's a slight nip in the air, it's said to be perishing cold, not just a bit fresh. Fog is damp and musty, but does anyone remember London smog, which was plainly poisonous? While at the other end of the scale, the sun comes out, and it's suddenly too damned hot! Or maybe the British don't really know what sort of weather they would like?

An awful lot has been made of this contentious issue; I say contentious because of the known fact that (a) the Earth has shifted it's axis, albeit slightly, and (b) the continents have been slowly moving for the past two hundred million years! Could it be that the land masses are subject to several different forces, causing them to slowly form a "ring" around the equator? Alternately, the whole continental shift may be "running a cycle", and slowly reverting to it's original state. (See other articles for details)
Of course, this has little or no bearing on our likes and dislikes of the weather, or does it? Weather patterns are governed by the profiles of land-masses. If the positions or shapes of land - masses alter, then so do the air currents running between them. The same thing can be said for sea currents, which also affect the weather system! One thing is abundantly clear, we are at the mercy of nature - not the other way around, and nature has been seen to be awesome in it's power.

Well Mrs. Jones, what do you think of this awful weather?

Baz.

© RIYAN Productions

www.famousgrouse.com