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weather-uk press pack

Ready-prepared articles on old wives’ tales and country weather lore

• 980228 March proverbs There are two old country sayings about March weather that most of us know: “March winds and April showers / Bring forth May flowers.” Well, this
• 980516 The legend of St Dunstan Cider apples were in rather short supply last autumn in Somerset following sharp frosts in mid-April and again during the first week of
• 980711 St Swithin’s Day There are 39 churches dedicated to him in Britain, and worldwide just two cathedrals – one at Winchester and the other at Stavanger, in Norway.
• 000715 More on St Swithin Whatever the old rhymes may say about rain, weather experts regard the middle of July as marking the warmest segment of the summer, on
• 000205 Groundhog (or Candlemas) Day One small indicator of the creeping Americanisation of our popular culture is the media’s growing obsession with Groundhog
• 000527 Rain before 7, fine before 11 Still uttered from time to time in rural Britain, this old saying is one of our simplest and most enduring snippets of old country weather lore.
• 010714 Weather and animals Collections of ancient country weather lore would not be complete without a substantial section devoted to the alleged ability of animals and other
• 030411 Red sky at night A correspondent recently asked me to explain the old country saying: "red sky at night, shepherd's delight”. There would be no colour at all in the
• 010513 The Ice Saints The Ice Saints have been sleeping on the job in the last few years. In old country weather lore, St Pancras, St Gervaise, and St Mamertus, whose
• 020324 A change in the weather There is an old saying, well known to mariners, which runs: Long foretold, long last; short notice, soon past. It is different from run-of-the-mill
• 020519 Casting clouts in May The ancient advice "ne'er [to] cast a clout before May be out" was never more appropriate than during the last few days. The mini-heatwave was
• 040222 Getting colder in February According to ancient weather lore “As the days grow longer the cold grows stronger.” This old rhyme is usually applied to late-January
• 9802xx New weather lore Moles, frogspawn, and an old wives' tale / To predict the weather 'twill surely fail /Get on-line and surf the net /To find out if the morrow will be wet.
• 9908xx Pre-Christian seasonal festivals Usually just a euphemism for alcoholic drink these days, John Barleycorn was also the personification of the harvest, the spirit of the
• 9703xx Christmas and Easter A warm Christmas, a cold Easter; A green Christmas, a white Easter. Or so ancient weather lore would have us believe. It is easy for the present
• 020401 November ice Perhaps more than any other month November is replete with old country weather lore. People feared the winter because it brought not only damp and
• 020402 Cold weather in May and St Saviour’s Day “He who sheers his sheep before St Servatius’ Day, loves his wool more than his sheep.” The feast day of St Saviour falls
• 020403 Weather lore parody Little new weather lore has developed since the beginning of scientific endeavour in meteorology. This should hardly surprise us, as