The English obsession with meteorological small talk, which extends to all inhabitants of the British Isles, was neatly skewered by Dr Samuel Johnson in 1758. He observed that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather, attributing this to the unusual fickleness of the native climate. Over centuries, certain expectations about British weather patterns have become received wisdom. One such expectation is that April is particularly showery, prompting advice to pack umbrellas and avoid outdoor events without heaters and awnings.
From Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, celebrating April's "shoures soote" (sweet showers), to T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land, where the "cruellest month" stirs dull roots with spring rain, there is little doubt that April is sporadically and deliciously wet. However, this April was not. After a notably sodden January and February, the middle-spring month flaunted blue skies. Between 1 and 17 April, south-east and central-southern England recorded only 8.9mm of rain, just 17 per cent of the monthly average. In East Anglia, it was even drier, at 7 per cent. Scotland was an exception, being wetter than normal. But for the English, April showers are steadily shrinking.
Record-Breaking Dryness and Heat
Last year saw the UK's sunniest April since records began in 1910, followed by the hottest and driest summer on record, nudging the famously scorching summer of 1976 out of the top five. Hosepipe bans were enforced across England last summer, and given the dry spring this year, similar bans may be in place again this summer.
Broader trends indicate a shift towards wetter winters and drier summers in the UK, largely due to man-made climate change. Spring has moved its opening date; according to Nature's Calendar, a citizen science project, frogspawn, nesting blackbirds, and flowering hazel all emerged this year at their earliest point this century. Such rapid change raises concerns that complex, smoothly running ecosystems will be knocked out of sync. For example, food sources like caterpillars may peak before the nestlings that depend on them have hatched.
Historical Perspective and Modern Concerns
This disturbing awareness of intricate natural systems being irreversibly damaged haunts the modern consciousness in a way alien to our ancestors. Yet they too were beset by their own terrors. Alongside danger, human survival demands optimism and the ability to relish beauty in the moment. The shadow of existential angst cannot hang over every sunny spring day or branch of flowering hazel.
Now that April showers have been re-examined, so might the wise sayings associated with May. The adage "Ne'er cast a clout till May is out" was thought to be a stern warning that British weather is too unreliable to shed warm clothes until June. However, others argue that "till May is out" refers to the period when hawthorn, or "may", is flowering. In many areas, the plant is already in bloom; this year, the annual British ceremony of "getting your legs and arms out" might happen sooner than expected.
