Rugging up for winter

On a spur of the moment Garry and I took a detour while on our way to the Supermarket. We visited several shops looking for that elusive rug we've been seeking since March. Within an hour we'd located the last remaining item required to complete our transformation of Swiss Cottage. It's a dark cream shag pile affair that feels wonderful under foot. Winter should be very cozy.

Our purchase is well timed. It's clear that the season is changing. Temperatures have dropped into the high teens in recent weeks and the trees are rapidly shedding their leaves. We've turned on some of the central heating at home to take away the evening and morning chill. I've started wearing a jacket to work each day. Fog has settled across the city several nights in row.

People across Europe say that we're experiencing a surprisingly mild autumn. It seems that we've yet to experience a normal London season. Winter was drier than normal, summer was longer and hotter than normal and both spring and autumn were unusually mild.

The Met Office reports that this year's extended summer has been the warmest on record. Their records dates back to 1659! May to September 2006 has been warmer than any equivalent period since then. The mean temperature of 16.2 °C for the period was 2 °C warmer than the average for 1961-1990. The previous record of 15.9 °C was set in 1947.

The 2006 period included the warmest month ever, July, and a record temperature for September. Normal weather, once it returns, will be a real shock to the system for us poor Antipodeans.