We’ve just past the Summer Solstice and now we are heading towards the English Summer proper.
Many joke about the Summer in England, or lack of it.
Even the Beatles sang about it in their song ‘I Am the Walrus’
Sitting in an English
Garden waiting for the sun.
If the sun don't come,
You get a tan from standing in the English rain.
English weather is very changeable. On my wedding day, we had a cloudless sky with bright Sun, followed by snow and then a slight drizzle in the evening. Because of this intriguing daily plot involving the weather, we can’t help but talk about. Whereas, other countries might discuss the twists and turns of their national politics or the latest episode of a soap opera; we talk about the sun, the rain and clouds.
When it gets to June, July and August (and sometimes September), we introduce the phrase, “It’s just too hot.” This may seem ridiculous to other countries, as the average daily mean Summer temperature is 20C or 68F. But the truth is, England is not geared up for these temperatures.
Our houses are built to withstand cold damp weather. They have small windows, carpeted floors and no air conditioning. Our towns and cities weren’t built to create shady piazzas or provide convenient cover from the Sun.
So when the noon day temperature hits 27C or more, it starts to become subjectively unbearable.
Added to this, England has a damp environment. So as the mercury in the thermometer goes up, and cumulus clouds begin to rise into the sky. The pressure increases and it starts to become muggy*. Then sweat doesn’t cool the body. People get headaches and lethargic. And then everyone becomes ‘religious’ and begins to pray for rain. We collectively say, “We need the rain the break the heat.”
The English Summer tends to provide two good days, followed by a wet one. Though this isn’t a cast iron rule. Sometimes the wet day is a tremendous storm, other times a Summer drizzle. And then we might also get 3 or 4 days of lovely warm weather, without a drop of rain. It’s just a rule of thumb.
Another piece of English weather folk-lore is St Swithuns Day. The proverb goes:
St. Swithun's day if it does rain
For forty days it will remain
St. Swithun's day if it is fair
For forty days it will no more rain
I read the story related to this saint here.
I wanted to check how true this poem was, so I paid attention to the weather on 15th July 2023. It did not rain, but was unusually very windy. The meteorological trend for the rest of that Summer was generally quite windy. There were good sunny days, but the wind was never far away. This year, I am going to make another mental note and see if that weather proverb is more right than wrong.
I’ll report back with my findings.
Another piece of weather lore is that a typical English summer has two or three days over 30C. So we can define a cool Summer by this measure. And equally, we can deduce from this, if we’ve had a hot summer too. So bear this in mind, when we see those newspaper headlines claiming “What a scorcher!”, when a heatwave is predicted.
I also know an amateur meteorologist, who meticulously records the weather and temperature every day throughout the Summer and Winter. They tell me, how Spring and Autumn are pretty boring weatherwise. Not only is it a beautiful record of how the weather changed, but it seems to help her remember those Summer and Winter events too. Linking those memories to the the activities of the skies.
I think the English are deeply affected by the weather. If we weren’t, we wouldn’t spend the time talking about it. Culturally, this topic acts as a way for the English to break the silence. Once, I was at a work meeting and the conversation dried up. Then there was a sudden downpour outside and just a quick as it came, the conversation about the weather ensued. We all shared our stories of being caught out in the rain, with one person trumping everyone, with his tale of being struck by lightning.
* unpleasantly warm and humid
Alexander writes three newsletters. The Tales of Old England Christendom is where he writes about Anglo-Saxon Christianity. The second newsletter is called the Tower of Adam and here he writes about theology. The final one is called Agloria, where he discusses the intersection between culture and theology. You can find out more by clinking the links.
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