Winter draws on!
Won't be long before we'll be switching on the heating and getting out the warm cardigans.
One thing about retiring - I won't have to get up on cold, dark mornings 5 days a week, drive through the gloom to work in a cheerless building with limited daylight, and drive home in the gloom.
A year or so ago I was diagnosed with mild Vitamin D deficiency in about January or February, and I asked my GP if he thought it a result of that low daylight exposure. He could not be sure but said it might be a factor.
Winter draws on!
Won't be long before we'll be switching on the heating and getting out the warm cardigans.
One thing about retiring - I won't have to get up on cold, dark mornings 5 days a week, drive through the gloom to work in a cheerless building with limited daylight, and drive home in the gloom.
A year or so ago I was diagnosed with mild Vitamin D deficiency in about January or February, and I asked my GP if he thought it a result of that low daylight exposure. He could not be sure but said it might be a factor.
We have indeed. "Storm Angus" - for some bizarre reason the Meteorological Office has acceded to some supposedly popular demand to name storms! It's mainly affected the South-West of England, with flooding blocking roads and railways, as well as wind damage, though nothing exceptional. Last year heavy seas breached a length of sea-wall on the Devon coast, and cut the main London - Plymouth railway line.
I think Scotland and the North of England have already had some snow, but I don't how much or if it's persisting. Snow is fairly normal up there, especially on high ground.
When we have snow in the South of England, especially in London, it is usually shallow and short-lived but can be heavy on rare occasions. Even only a couple of inches of snow for just a few days causes a great to-do and fuss by inconveniencing people because it is unusual and local councils are not well equipped for it. Last time, about 4 years ago I think, I could not use my car for a week because the roads and residents' car-parks of the hill-side housing-estate in which I lived then, became sheets of ice. No-one bothers to clear more than their own front path from street to door. I had to commute by train, which involved walking on icy pavements at both ends, for over a mile between station and work premises.
When this happens the complainers always waffle on about how Scandinavia, Northern USA, Canada, Siberia... cope. Well, friends in Norway and Sweden say it inconveniences them too, with some chaos and accidents in the first few days, and some roads closed all Winter, and a lot of inconvenience all round; but their "advantage" over Southern England is that it's normal so they can defend themselves against it more easily. One of my friends was due a hip operation but it had to be delayed over Christmas while the hospital mended some elderly women who'd slipped on the ice and broken their hips. She also reported that last December they had heath fires of all things in her region of Norway: after an Autumn drought, Winter icing brought down overhead power-lines - as is common apparently - and the arcing ignited the unusually dry vegetation!
We've had some chilly nights but not so far much frost. I live on a broad peninsula on the English Channel coast, and although it does become frosty and occasionally has snow, even then it's almost always a noticeable couple of degrees warmer than just a few miles inland North, beyond a ridge that forms the peninsular's boundary. I used to commute through a gap in the ridge, and could feel the drop in temperature inside the car over barely half a mile, as well as the frost being obviously heavier on the inland side. On the plus side, the bank on one side of the gap holds loads of snowdrops that are among the first to bloom to herald approaching Spring!
We have indeed. "Storm Angus" - for some bizarre reason the Meteorological Office has acceded to some supposedly popular demand to name storms! It's mainly affected the South-West of England, with flooding blocking roads and railways, as well as wind damage, though nothing exceptional. Last year heavy seas breached a length of sea-wall on the Devon coast, and cut the main London - Plymouth railway line.
I think Scotland and the North of England have already had some snow, but I don't how much or if it's persisting. Snow is fairly normal up there, especially on high ground.
When we have snow in the South of England, especially in London, it is usually shallow and short-lived but can be heavy on rare occasions. Even only a couple of inches of snow for just a few days causes a great to-do and fuss by inconveniencing people because it is unusual and local councils are not well equipped for it. Last time, about 4 years ago I think, I could not use my car for a week because the roads and residents' car-parks of the hill-side housing-estate in which I lived then, became sheets of ice. No-one bothers to clear more than their own front path from street to door. I had to commute by train, which involved walking on icy pavements at both ends, for over a mile between station and work premises.
When this happens the complainers always waffle on about how Scandinavia, Northern USA, Canada, Siberia... cope. Well, friends in Norway and Sweden say it inconveniences them too, with some chaos and accidents in the first few days, and some roads closed all Winter, and a lot of inconvenience all round; but their "advantage" over Southern England is that it's normal so they can defend themselves against it more easily. One of my friends was due a hip operation but it had to be delayed over Christmas while the hospital mended some elderly women who'd slipped on the ice and broken their hips. She also reported that last December they had heath fires of all things in her region of Norway: after an Autumn drought, Winter icing brought down overhead power-lines - as is common apparently - and the arcing ignited the unusually dry vegetation!
We've had some chilly nights but not so far much frost. I live on a broad peninsula on the English Channel coast, and although it does become frosty and occasionally has snow, even then it's almost always a noticeable couple of degrees warmer than just a few miles inland North, beyond a ridge that forms the peninsular's boundary. I used to commute through a gap in the ridge, and could feel the drop in temperature inside the car over barely half a mile, as well as the frost being obviously heavier on the inland side. On the plus side, the bank on one side of the gap holds loads of snowdrops that are among the first to bloom to herald approaching Spring!
Generally much more severe weather than normal in the UK then - not surprisingly for a large continent that stretched from Arctic to Tropics, but no comfort to the sufferers.
Only a few minutes ago the BBC News reported on disruption to the railways by floods in Devon, the Border Counties (England / Wales) and the North-East; and a flooded homes.
Gosport eh? That's not far from my home town!
Generally much more severe weather than normal in the UK then - not surprisingly for a large continent that stretched from Arctic to Tropics, but no comfort to the sufferers.
Only a few minutes ago the BBC News reported on disruption to the railways by floods in Devon, the Border Counties (England / Wales) and the North-East; and a flooded homes.
Gosport eh? That's not far from my home town!
I think it forgot there are numbers above 10 today... Chilly East wind, too.
I think it forgot there are numbers above 10 today... Chilly East wind, too.
It's been minus figures (Celsius) lately where I live in south of England. So we have had some frost now. The floods have been pretty bad but nothing compared to the extreme storms and sometimes other weather in America (USA)
It's been minus figures (Celsius) lately where I live in south of England. So we have had some frost now. The floods have been pretty bad but nothing compared to the extreme storms and sometimes other weather in America (USA)
