We Brits have a strange relationship with the weather. Some would even call it intimate. We are obsessed by it. It occupies our thoughts daily. The weather forecasts on TV are among the most watched of programmes. When we have nothing to talk about, we talk about the weather. When we do have something to talk about, we still talk about the weather.
I guess that the reason for this national obsession is that the weather here is so interesting. It’s not exactly dangerous – I mean, we don’t get tornadoes or hurricanes or droughts – but it is varied and unpredictable. We can happily complain about the rain or the cold or the heat or the snow, while knowing that actually, it’s never going to be so extreme that we have to worry about it.
Yesterday (Sunday) the weather was glorious – hot and sunny all day. It’s the same again today and the lovely Carol Kirkwood on BBC Breakfast tells me it’s going to be the same again tomorrow. Still, it doesn’t stop some of the older girls in the office complaining that it’s too hot.
See, we Brits complain about the lousy weather, but actually, we quite like it – it gives us something to moan about. But we have a very, very odd relationship with hot weather.
The slightest hint of sun and the barbeques and shorts come out and the shirts and shoes come off. And that’s just the men! I won’t even describe what the women wear – I’d have a heart attack.
Actually, I’m the world’s youngest dirty old man, so I quite enjoy the show that hot weather brings. From my third floor office on the high street in a rural market town, I can look out of my window and see acres of lovely female flesh – I can see quite a lot of not so lovely female flesh, flabby man-boobs and beer bellies too but let’s not talk about that.
So, let’s celebrate these hot, hot days – we may not get that many. Let us rejoice that the sun sees fit to shine on us and do what we Brits do – strip half-naked and eat badly cooked sausages. Long live the Great British Summer.
Oh, and long live Carol Kirkwood too – what a way to wake up in the morning.
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