From Borea

Last year our summer was still-born; grey leaden skies, constant wind, lower than average temperatures and localised flooding blighted July and August. I flippantly speculated that it was a direct result of Gordon Brown taking over as PM, heralding a new era of restained fiscal policy, and government ruled by sound but dour prespytarian principle rather than shallow charisma and spin. I was wrong on both accounts, the country now seems to be descending into runaway recession and knife crime while the weather was not simply a bit of scene-setting but the direct effect of an ocean tempertaure oscillation in the Pacific known as La Nina.

This summer seems so far like a re-run, La Nina (the female sibling of the more dramatic El Nino)has dominated the global climate for almost the entire year. Cooling of ocean temeratures in the eastern Pacific associated with La Nina events have big implications for British weather, speciifcally it leads to a weaking and repositioning on the jet stream so that it tracks further south than it normally would in one of our summers. Atlantic lows, which normally move to the north of us instead track continually across us with the Azores high pressure kept well to the south of us.

The summer hasn't been a complete wash out, I've managed already to get sun-burned, enjoy a few bbq's, get heat-stroked from running at midday and have a couple of dips in the sea. But it hasn't been great either, few warm balmy evenings and always the thought in the back of your mind that you should be packing the waterproof as well as the sun-cream on days out. Also nature doesn't seem to mind too much, the forests are still lush and full of flowering plants, the hills are green and not starting to take on that parched July look they sometimes get by now. The vegetable patch is loving the weather, espcially the pumpkins which are already swelling, spreading like mad and well, generally smashing.