30 December, 2011
I was surprised this morning when I heard BBC Radio 4 proclaim a warm end to 2011. In fact, I was so surprised I picked up the camera, put on multiple layers of clothes, slipped into my overtrousers and jacket, wrapped a scarf around my neck, popped my woolly hat on, went outside and crunched my way to the top of the hill. Once there, I took a few photos of today’s lovely ‘warm’ sunrise over the croft.
It was definitely warm this morning. I couldn’t have imagined otherwise, could I? After all, when I looked at the Telegraph’s website at lunchtime it too was proclaiming a warm end to a warm December and a warm year. I couldn’t possibly have imagined snow falling on and off through the day, could I? Or temperatures around -3ºC? No, it was definitely warm. Everybody says so.
Okay, okay, I know, the media and the forecasters are generalising the weather across the whole of the UK but it still amuses me to hear the weather is mild when we’re experiencing snow on a modestly cold day. As it happens, much of December was warmer for us than usual, with temperatures above 10ºC on several days. As for the year, for us it was definitely cooler and more overcast than usual for most of the spring and summer but with a lot more rain. Strange days and strange weather.
Related articles
- You: 2011 was UK’s second warmest year on record (guardian.co.uk)
- First Winter Weather (kilchoan.blogspot.com)
- The end of the holidays (tpalsplace.blogspot.com)
Well if it’s warm in London it must be warm everywhere else…
We gave up on the BBC years before we left the UK: we lived in the West Country and between hills and sea. It was easier to go to the attic and look out of the window to check the weather: If you couldn’t see the hills it would rain soon.
Ah yes… we do that here in Swansea too… If you can see Mumbles Head it is going to rain soon… If you cannot, it is already raining…. and before you ask…no we are not pessamistic, just realistic!