How do we British cope with our weather?

It’s raining. Again. We are half way through July and we’ve had no Summer. I don’t mind it being wet, as long as it’s not cold, but even I am starting to think, “come on, that’s enough, let’s have some fine weather before Autumn comes!”

In the UK we are famous for our weather. For geographical reasons, it is always changing and often unpredictable, although, to be fair, the meteorological people do seem to have become a lot more proficient at forecasting than they were. What is more, we are very skilled at discussing the weather for hours on end. In fact, in Britain, if conversation about the weather were suddenly banned, most casual communication would cease. It’s what we talk about in shops, bus queues (yay, we’re British, we’re good at queuing too!) and even at parties, sometimes.

One might think that with our climate we’d plan activities indoors to avoid the chance of being “rained off”; not a bit of it! We love everything outdoorsy: walking, picnics, gardening (well, the rain does help with that), festivals. All of our favourite sports are outdoor ones, and even the Wimbledon rules say that the roof must be opened as soon as it looks dry. We’re British, and that means, among many things, that we will “make the best of it” whatever the weather. And that is exactly what many of us are doing in order to watch the Olympic torch despite the inclement conditions.

I love all this, and I’m fine with wellies and waterproofs. It’s Winter that gets to me. From the age of 13, I lived in the Far East with my family, and we only came back to the UK for six weeks during the Summer. So for three very formative years, I wasn’t cold once. Never wore a coat or had to rub my toes or fingers because they were frozen. I didn’t learn to keep myself warm. At 16, I came back to the UK to go to boarding school. September, October, so far so good. Then, November, December, what on earth was going on? So cold I couldn’t believe it, and getting dark half way through the afternoon! I was thoroughly miserable and seemed to feel it much more than everyone else. And I really disliked wearing all those clothes.

I’ve lived here permanently since I was 19, and I still feel the cold very badly. For most of my adult life I’ve resented the cold Winters, even dreaded them, although I have got a lot better at dealing with the cold and dressing appropriately.

A couple of years ago I decided I wanted to do something about my negative attitude. So I asked myself, what was really great about the UK that I might not be able to have if I lived somewhere warmer? Amazingly, it only took me a few minutes to come up with the answer: this is one of the best places in the world to live if you want freedom, rights and respect. Democracy and justice. Equality, especially if you are female. Sure, we may have plenty of deficiencies in those areas and we may complain a lot, but it’s not so bad. There are warmer, milder places where the opportunities, respect for rights and observance of equality are not the same as we have here.

And the very important thing is that I had my answer. If I started to feel sorry for myself or angry about the cold weather, dark mornings and evenings, and the cost of keeping warm, I just had to switch my thoughts to all the advantages of living here. It works! I’m no tougher in cold weather, and I’m certainly not looking forward to Winter, but I know that when it comes I’ll face it with equanimity. I’d rather be cold and happy than cold and miserable!