Weather watch
We’re halfway through the year, and what strikes me is just how
‘average’ it has been so far. On any given day, average weather doesn’t actually happen as often as you might think. Instead, the jet stream tends
to lurch from one side to the other, producing spells of wet, dry, cold or warm.
These spells then tend to ‘average themselves out’ over longer periods to give
us our typical British climate. Three or four ago years ago, a faltering jet stream had opened the door to a run of bitter winters. The lack of moist westerly winds also meant the countryside was becoming dessicated through
a sustained lack of rainfall. Then suddenly, in spring 2012, it started raining and seemingly didn’t stop for the rest of that year. As the atmosphere played catch-up, the countryside flooded. Who can forget the winter before last – the stormiest in memory? Then, in another lurch, 2014 was the warmest
year on record. This year, by comparison, has been serenely unremarkable. There’s been
nothing too extreme in terms of temperature and rainfall. Nature emerged
from winter into spring in a steady undramatic fashion, and summer has arrived on cue. There is, however, one notable feature of the year so far that may
have helped matters further. It’s been unusually sunny – we’ll put up with that…
Countryfile.