Tag Archives: weather

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It’s been warm in the Scottish Highlands

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Another short postcard written at the end of a day that’s changed itself from warm and beaming, to wet.

In the morning we woke up to sunshine and wind. Clouds raced above fields of sheep, the sun was bright on the grass, and the dark chop of the Beauly Firth just visible in the distance. It was beautiful, but weirdly warm for October. I wondered whether it was normal to see rose buds still clinging to cottage walls in the middle of autumn so far north.

Tonight though is a different story. We are still in Scotland but further south, and the rain has arrived with amber warnings attached. I don’t think tomorrow will be an easy day for sheep or roses up here.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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A little heatwave and a little bird

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Here in England, the seasons should be changing, heat giving way to damp autumn. This year, in the south of the country, the normal weather track to Christmas has been diverted via a September heatwave. Lovely if you like the sun, but a little confusing even for us.

I wonder how it feels to the house martins? I imagine that by now their mud nests under the eaves are unusually hot and crowded, and possibly a little crumbly. Will this sudden heat muddle their timings? Delay their departures? Is it the heat or the hours of sunlight that tells them when to leave? Do the young birds know the route they will take? How far must they travel?

It is almost impossible to imagine that these small birds, bombing across our September skies, will make it all the way to Africa. And yet they do or, at least, so far they have.

I hope this year will be no different. That they will find all the insects they require to gather their strength for the long journey south, and that they’ll find enough of what they need to bring them all the way back.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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So how’s the weather with you?

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It’s cold, in England.

The photograph above was taken on an early morning, in the middle of this week, just south of London. Leaves were trapped in frosted white, and the sunlight danced. It was beautiful. Proper winter cold. And dry, which was a relief after the days of rain we’ve had.

Then I came back to the centre of London. Today, Thursday, it is still cold, but I haven’t seen the delicate ice lines that fill the gardens and hedgerows.

Here, in the built world, the pavements hold a cold of their own, and the wind more slice, as it whips between and around the buildings in the City. There are fewer greens and browns, and less sky. There is more scaffolding, concrete, hard greys, and steep sides. It is only in the evening that it softens. Then the hard lines fade around bright office windows, and bars and restaurants beckon like burrows.

I suppose a cold city has its own kind of beauty, but it is the cold I am happiest about – happy that London and the south of England, can still do cold after the dry summer of 2022, with temperatures that hit over 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit).

Here is a link to an article I found when typing 40 degrees Celsius into Google.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023