Have you ever wondered why English people talk about the
weather so much? Well, it has been proven in a survey by the Telegraph
that the forecast is the top conversation discussed by English people. Want to
know why? Read on to find out what is so interesting about the weather in England.
If it’s filling in an
awkward silence or breaking the ice at an interview, it is always very easy to
get a conversation rolling when talking about what is going on in the skies. This
is probably the main reason why we nervy Brits retreat to talking about the
weather so much. We analyse it, complain about it, love it, hate it and are
never completely satisfied with our climate. When it’s cold, we want to it be
hot, and when it’s hot, we want it be mild, and when it’s mild, we want it to
be hot again… the forecast will never win against Britain. To be fair to Brits,
the weather in England is extremely random and you can never bet on what the
weather will be like tomorrow even if you watch the weather forecast. It could go
from being 20 degrees, to raining for 2 weeks straight, to snow and thunder, to
sunny and bright but cold and crisp; British weather really is mayhem. If
there’s a persistent outbreak of snow or rain, the English predictably resort
to another trait they are well known for – moaning.
The truth is, we don’t have any reason to moan. We don’t
have the freezing cold conditions of North America reaching -30 in the winter, or
the danger of typhoons and hurricanes sweeping the roofs off our houses, and neither
do we have 50 degree climates creating frantic forest fires. So why do Brits
feel the need to talk about our low risk dull weather all the time? Experts
claim that at our location on the globe, we have a very unpredictable and
frequently changing climate. This is what can cause us to have brand new
weather points to talk about every couple of days or even daily! It’s good to
know that there is a reason behind the constant day-to-day chat about the
weather, and we guess Brits aren’t moaning about how bad the weather is,
they’re complaining about/discussing how inconsistent it is.
It is known that the British use unusual sayings to talk
about the weather. Test yourself to see if you can understand or guess what
these sayings mean…
1.
‘Red sky at night, shepherd’s delight – Red sky
in the morning, shepherds warning’
2.
‘Three days of rain will empty any sky’
3.
‘When the wind is in the East, ‘tis good for man
nor beast’
4.
‘In the morning mountains, in the afternoon
fountains’
5.
‘Cold is
the night when the stars shine bright’
Now you’re waiting for the answers right? If you’ve guessed
any of these sayings right then you’ve done pretty well… Scroll down to find
the answers.
1.
Deep red sunsets are associated with dry
weather. This could indicate a spell of nice weather in days to come. It’s the
red sky around the sun, not the clouds, that indicates this weather.
2.
In the
British climate heavy rain doesn’t last for a very long time. Gloomy days and
cloudy days can last for a while but heavy rain normally clears in a day or
two. Very rarely does it last for three.
3.
This saying is insisting that Britain normally
gets its harsh winter from Eastern Europe. Years ago, if a farmer in Britain
felt a cold, icy wind, he would expect snow and cold conditions to be on their
way.
4.
Clouds building in the morning tend to turn into
thunderstorms in the afternoon. This happens more often in the summer months as
the sun heats the ground and air; it causes these clouds to build up in the morning
and rain in the afternoon.
5.
This weather saying has the answer in the title
already… When the air is dry and cold, (having come from the artic), it’s much
easier to see the stars shine at night.