A great prompt word today for Linda’s Just Jot it January challenge. Being British, I think it must be ingrained in me to be obsessed about the weather. We love to moan about it whether it is too hot, too cold, too wet, too…..well you get the idea!

Actually, on the whole, we are pretty fortunate with the weather over here. Now, I know that might sound a bit controversial to some, but we don’t tend to get the extremes of weather that other countries do.

Take for example Australia, I know from a few of our Aussie blogger friends that temperatures recently got as high as 42 degrees C which is about 107 F! I cannot even begin to imagine that kind of heat, and as much as I love the sun, the heat does not agree with me.

Yes, I know you have air-conditioning and are mostly prepared when temperatures soar, which is more than can be said for us. As soon as we get a heatwave (a couple of days on the trot of 30 degrees or more), the country gets hysterical. First off, we have a drought (we don’t always need a heatwave for this, but it helps), which leads to a hosepipe ban. It is not the green and pleasant land then, Oh no, brown, parched fields and drooping, wilting flowers are a sad sight to behold. Then we get the panic buying, The shops sell out of bottled water and you can’t buy a fan for love nor money!

Conversely, my Canadian friend talked of it getting as cold as -22 C which is -7 F. Again I can’t begin to think how I would cope in such freezing cold.  Our country goes into meltdown if we get a bit of snow for a couple of days. Cars abandoned on Motorways, the railways service grinding to a halt, as it is the ‘wrong kind of snow’ for them to deal with. Councils running out of grit for the roads as they were unprepared (despite weather warnings), and most of the schools closing down as staff can’t get in. Some areas get completely cut off as well, trapped in their homes.  Again panic buying sets in for those able to get out. People risking life and limb to go and get bread and milk  in case they get snowed in too!

I am quite grateful for the climate that I live in actually, although of course, it won’t stop me moaning about it!