Sunday 6 April 2008

Snow showers in April

As happened over the Easter weekend we are getting something of a repeat performance with the weather with an icy Arctic blast affecting the whole country. Sunshine as I look out of the window now but even here at not much above sea level there have been some short lived snow showers this morning. The clocks having changed to British Summer Time a week ago it might be thought that snow at this time is very extreme. However this is nothing that unusual and any snowfall during April is almost guaranteed to be of a very transient nature.

This cold snap is in stark contrast to the wonderfully warm and sunny April we appreciated in 2007! Of course a lot of people will deride those who believe in man made climate change because of the sort of weather we are experiencing just now. I have read and heard many many arguments on this subject and am still not 100% convinced one way or another but on balance believe that man is affecting the climate. What one has to be so careful about though is not confusing weather and climate. Sure we have and will continue to have many fluctuations in short term weather patterns that will suggest that there is no overall warming of this planet. For myself I think a good guide is to see what nature is doing that is different: trees coming into leaf earlier, normally migrating birds overwintering, tropical sea life turning up in our coastal waters, that sort of thing.

With such variability in the weather it is no wonder that this country is so obsessed by it!

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