Whatever the weather.

Global warming, is it occurring or not? Are we experiencing the coldest winter since records began? Is the summer going to be a wet one?

The continuing questions we seem to ask each year about our weather. The British seem to be pretty good as a nation at finding a myriad of ways to talk about the weather. From the conversation opener – “Nice weather we’re having?” to the yearly debate about snow at Christmas.

To start with the UK, being and Island has a big problem in that it’s weather is dominated by the sea around it. Generally, our weather is a battle between the milder wetter air from the Atlantic to the West with the colder dryer air from the Polar North and the Continental air from the South. If you go out in the UK it’s likely that you may need a Brolly, Jumper and Hat and suntan lotion all in the space of 48 hours. Because it’s so changeable it gives us a lot to discuss. It also means we have long memories of when it was horrendous.

Ask anyone over the age of 65 and they will go on about the winter of 1962-63. The temperature plummeted and snow fall was massive, even lakes and rivers froze. It doesn’t matter that subsequent winters were of the mild and wet variety because it was so extreme we go on about it. The 1962 winter weather was a fluke. Cold easterly winds from Russia were drawn on to the country this was combined with some strong North wind, creating the set of circumstances that made the amount of snowfall possible. In the early 80’s a string of 3 cold winters produced claims that we were heading for a second Ice age. By 1988 it was the birth of Global warming and the cold winters forgotten.

Image Credit

The freezing conditions of the 1980s and 1962-63 occasionally make a comeback. It is important during these times to make sure that you are stocked up on essentials, and always carry some previsions with you in the car. It is also important to make sure your boilers are in tip top condition. If your google searching ‘Boiler Installation Gloucester’ then  HPR are a Gloucester boiler installation company that can update your system to ensure that you are nice and toasty in the cold weather. For further ideas of how to stay warm in cold weather take a look at this article.

So, what does the future hold for our climate? Well the truth is predictions are hard to make. It’s also difficult to get accurate readings before the advent of proper scientific measurement, which only really starts in the year 1850. So, we’ve only got 167 years of data to go on. Only trouble is the earth has been around for 4.54 billion years (give or take 50 million years as a margin of error!) What ever the weather in the UK make sure you’re prepared for anything.