Allow me to address a common - and grating - misconception aboutEnglish weather...
England is a rather large country (compared to what I know - see below). David and I live in the South where, admittedly, weather is far more favourable than the North. And I suspect it is the North people mostly associate British weather with.
But, speaking for the part of the country I know, it is not always raining. It is not always gray. Take today, for example: a perfectly beautiful sunny day in December - perfect weather for people to be out galavanting in the streets dressed up in corsets for the Dickensian Christmas Festival. It is a high of 12 or 13 degrees celsius and no more than a few wisps of cirrus clouds for miles. And just like this one, there are plenty other days like it.
The summers are beautiful. And if I, coming from a hot Mediterranean island country, can say this, there must be some truth to it, non? Sure, there's more rain than there'd be in summer back home (read: none), but balance is a good thing, is it not?
So really... 'England = gray and rain' is not quite right. And frankly, even when it is gray and rainy, all you need to do is appreciate the plush green areas that would not be able to exist without some rain. So the next time someone in Malta or anywhere else passes a sarcastic remark about British weather when I mention that it's a gorgeous day, I'll simply be directing them to this post, and be done with it.
And as I sit here, with the central heating off and windows ajar to let the house breathe in the perfectly crisp air, I hope that this has been at least slightly educational. (And listen to me obsessing about the weather! Could I be any more British than this?!)
educationally,
image from: 21 Fantastic Examples Of Brilliant Photography With Humor
ReplyDeleteok note taken.... fyi lovely day in Malta too, lots of sun although nippy... So don't you go around thinking that it's always really really hot in Malta... hope that was educational too!:)
ReplyDeleteAhhh, don't worry - I never though of England to be particularly grey. Stateside, the same myth goes for Seattle - everyone thinks it's constantly raining. It's not. In fact, Chicago, Atlanta, and NYC get more rain than Seattle - almost a foot per year more. It does happen to have a few more grey skies than other cities, but it doesn't always rain. So, touché!
ReplyDeleteEasy now I don't know if I would call England a large country coming from Australia it seems quite small to me. Although I do know that when I first landed in Englund it was 36 degrees celcius at 5 pm. That goes to show that it that it does have days that are sunny and hot.
ReplyDelete(1) Britain is decidedly NOT a large country. :P
ReplyDelete(2) I hate the weather. It's crap.
Annie - oh God i know it's not always good weather in Malta! Those Rih Isfel headaches aaaah!!
ReplyDeleteand lol - i know there are bigger countries than England, but I was comparing it to Malta (seriously - look it up lol), and my point was that England's a big enough country for the weather in the North and South to be able to be drastically different at the same time.
it sounds like a lovely day!
ReplyDeleteThis post was so enlightening. I never thought there could be different weather in England other than 'grey and rain.' It's good to hear this from a Maltese person.
ReplyDeleteok well i admit.. i am going through your posts hehe but I had to comment about what you said about the UK not always being rainy and gray... my bf said the exact same thing today hehe =)
ReplyDelete...and its true coz everytime i have been to the UK i have had nice weather
glad to see some sense unfolding here!!! :P
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