Total Washout

I was reading the Sunday Times half-way through my fortnight vacation and there was an article about the weather which is the most blase thing one can write about but it pretty much sums up the metaphorical equivilent of my first week off. Grey clouds looking to overcast their grey dull existence on a week planned for outdoor events and relaxation.

We had planned day trips to the Marble Arch Caves in Fermanagh, picnics atop Cavehill overlooking Belfast and a cycle along Shaw's Bridge to Lisburn for a long lunch before following the meandering river back towards home.

Instead I've been mostly cooped up inside, the back garden looks like a safari park, I finished the book I was going to leisurely read over two weeks in an evenings sitting and I've been told that we're in a cyclical weather pattern which means this awful weather is going to last another 5-6 weeks with the Met Office stating that "the cool and unsettled weather looks like continuing for the foreseeable future".

June has been the wettest month since 1914 and if you're looking to point the finger, you could jab it in the direction of La Niña, El Niño's sister. It's also been the hottest and this is where people have been mistakenly ill-informed that hot equals sunny. In all likelihood, hot summers from now will be more of the same the climate warms and the atmosphere becomes moister. So if you're looking for that idyllic summer it's time to start looking for that second house in Spain.