With wintery weather set to continue across the UK, it’s time to look on the bright side of things…
Unless you’ve been living under a very warm rock for the past few weeks, you will probably have noticed that the weather in the UK and most of Europe is not at its best. Spring has been replaced by a second, angrier winter intent on messing up everyone’s Easter weekend travel plans. So instead of moaning about the latest bout of snow, or jetting off to warmer climes (because let’s face it – March has been tough on our bank accounts), here are a few reason to embrace the spring of our discontent.
1. Scarf longevity
We can finally justify our elaborate pre-winter fashion purchases made in October – just look how much wear we’ve got out of them! After paying over the odds for a scarf on a market stall in Italy (real Finnish wool, apparently), I am pretty pleased I’ve managed to wear it almost daily for the last five months, it felt great to get such long use out of it.
2. Return of the Christmas jumpers
There’s only one real way to stay fashionable in this weather. Who cares that it’s nine months ‘til Christmas? Snowflake-patterned knitwear is practically a political statement right now.
3. BBC News coverage
There are very few things the BBC reports on more efficiently than weather. Graphs, videos, meteorologist opinions, real-life stories – the BBC churns them all out with professionalism and vigour, dwarfing the coverage of any other story. A personal favourite is the excessive usage of the phrase ‘battling the snow’.
4. Small talk
Talking about the weather is bringing people together. And not just the Brits – this unseasonable cold has broken down international boundaries and brought the people of different nations together – no doubt to huddle for warmth. Working in an international office, every phone call this week has started much the same way: “-11 in Hamburg, you say?!” “How much snow in Amsterdam?!” There’s even been up to 24 inches of snow in Kiev.
5. Snow photography
Without using words like ‘enchanting’ or ‘magical’, there really are few things more beautiful than scenic snow photos.
5½. It could be worse…?
Not a real reason, because let’s face it – this weather is awful, but it’ll end eventually and ‘summer’ will arrive, which will mean – yep, you guessed it – floods. Hardly a selling point, this Sophie’s choice of seasons makes me wonder why we haven’t all packed our bags and moved to Benidorm, but in the meantime I suppose we’ll just have to have a brew and try to keep warm.
Any other reasons to love the cold weather? Comment below.