Good old-fashioned weather

It's hard to believe that this time last year we were enjoying temperatures above 25C. Twelve months on, the Uk's hottest April on record is nothing more than a distant memory. Despite several days of cloudless, blue skies the average temperature this week hasn't risen above 13C. In fact this month's average temperature has been 4C cooler than the same period last year while rainfall is already 25 percent above the average.

Long-term forecasts are predicting a warm but very wet Summer. We can expect regular sunny days followed by brief periods of rain. The Telegraph even went so far as to call this pattern a "return to good old British weather." The possibility of floods again this Summer also remain on the cards. I must admit that this is one tradition I'm not so keen to revive.


My recent business trip to Australia made me terribly homesick. I arrived in Sydney on a morning filled with sunshine and glorious blue skies. While waiting for my trans-Tasman flight I sat in the new Qantas First Class Lounge (which is stunning!), soaking up the sun's heat. Even at 7am its warmth was noticable. The city skyline looked magnificant in the distance, while service in the Lounge was friendly and attentive. Nothing could have felt more different to living in the UK. I had to ask myself what on earth was I still doing living in London.