I guess the topic of conversation for most people at the moment is the weather – and not what we think of as typical British weather of cold grey skies and rain, but of the heatwave which is giving us cloudless blue skies and sunshine. We live in the southwest now but I was born and grew up nearer the east coast and not only was it cooler over that side of the country (and sometimes jolly chilly with the east winds rushing in) but it was drier than the west coast when we moved when I was sixteen. The west might be more moist but it was very much warmer, I noticed the winds in particular which might be strong, but didn’t have that biting cold.
I have vivid memories of the different types of weather we had in the past – I remember that terrible winter of 1962-3, when my family travelled to Sheffield during the terrible snow, in a car with no heating, and no warm air keeping the windscreen clear of ice! I remember the very hot summer of the 1970’s where reservoirs dried up and people were told not to stand beneath trees which might drop their branches on them. I remember wet summers and mild winters, I remember dreary grey weather which seemed to go on for months, and pleasant balmy weather which allowed for picnics, bike rides and punting on the river.
Our weather is very strange now – yes it’s summer, and yes it’s warm as we always think we hope it will be, but the present intense heat, boiling hot days and steamy nights, is becoming somewhat oppressive. We are lucky in the home we live in, but for people living in small flats and apartments, bed-sits and single rooms, it must be a very different and uncomfortable story. We have the sea to the west of our home, countryside to the south and east, and the town to our north – but I feel sorry for those living in bigger towns and cities, it must be very difficult.
This is what the BBC says about our heatwave:
2025 is already shaping up to be an extraordinary year for weather records in parts of the UK.Spring 2025 was the UK’s warmest and sunniest on record. Hot on its heels, June became the warmest month on record for England. And now, we’re already experiencing the third heatwave of the year—and it’s not even mid-July.
The predictions are that this type of weather will become the norm, and probably heatwaves will be an expected part of our climate. It’s a frightening prospect. Is it too late to do anything about it? No-one is quite sure.
Here’s a link to the BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/articles/cwyrw66jkkko
Lois Elsden 