HERE COMES THE SUMMER! BARMY THAN BALMY
THE HEAT IS ON
It has snowed in June. At least a centimetre fell in parts of the country on June 2nd, 1975, forcing the abandonment of several county championship cricket matches. And, if that wasn’t bad enough, the bedding plants took a proper battering on June 19th, 1955 and June 1st and 3rd 1962 in Santon Downham, Norfolk, when temperatures dipped to a bulb-numbing -5.6°C – that’s 21.92°F, chillier than most winter nights.
Although meteorologists say summer officially starts on June 1st, the astronomical summer doesn’t begin until the 21st, when there is a 23.5° tilt of the Earth’s axis in its orbit around the Sun. The summer of 2006 is considered the warmest on record with daytime temperatures averaging 15.8° Centigrade (around 60° Fahrenheit). However, the hottest day was recorded at Cambridge University Botanic Garden on July 25th, 2019 when plants wilted in the sweltering 38.7°C heat (101.66°F).
Figures show that the summer of 2012 was the wettest on record. From June until the end of August, 366.8mm of rain fell across the UK, compared with 384.4mm in 1912.
The Eiffel Tower grows in the summer. Paris’ iron landmark can expand by up to 17cm on a hot day. Theoretically, it is possible to fry an egg on a car bonnet. TV chef James Martin did it in June 2018 in 26°C heat, although experts say you really need a dry heat of 70°C (158°F) to get it done properly. Which means you need to be in Death Valley, California, or the Australian outback to have a decent fry-up on your Merc, although it will make a mess of your paintwork. Droughts are not uncommon in the UK. One of the worst started in the autumn of 1975 when below-average winter rainfall preceded a blistering summer. From June 23rd, the temperatures did not dip below 32°C (90°F) for two weeks, peaking at 35.6°C (96.1°F) with the first significant rain falling on August 27th. You can work out the evening temperature by listening to a cricket. Count the number of chirps over 25 seconds, divide by 3 and add 4 to the Celsius figure. Yes, really. More
THAT’S N-ICE
More than 405million kilogrammes of ice cream were sold in Britain last year. Hardly surprisingly, ice cream manufacturers say the most popular flavour is vanilla, followed by mint choc chip and raspberry ripple.
Folklore says if it rains on St Swithin’s Day, it will rain for 40 days thereafter. Remember the date – July 15th. More thunderstorms occur during the summer than at any time of the year, most occurring over the south-east of England.
There are currently 195 Blue Flag beaches in the British Isles. While most accept it is a recognition of water quality, the flag is also awarded for environmental management, safety and services, plus education and information. So, it is aimed at resort beaches with plenty of facilities as much as smaller, picturesque coves. Even though it does not have a sandy beach, the little village of St Mawes in Cornwall was last year named Britain’s ideal seaside resort in a Which? study. Skegness, Great Yarmouth, Bognor Regis, Blackpool, Morecambe and Cleethorpes didn’t fare as well. Chesil Beach in Dorset is the longest in the UK, at 18 miles long. But it is a shingle spit, so the sandy beaches at Bournemouth and Pendine Beach in Wales, which are more than seven miles long, are officially the longest. In comparison, the largest in the world is at Praia do Cassino in Brazil – a piffling 150 miles long.
WALL OF FLAME
One of the world’s largest fixed barbecues has been made in Gloucestershire. The £10,000 monster, commissioned by a wedding venue, can cook seven whole lambs, three pigs or two cows at the same time, as well as
1,000 sausages or 500 burgers, is heatproof to 600°C, weighs two tonnes, measures 5m across, needs 14 bags of coal to ignite and can be worked by three chefs. It is made by the Bespoke BBQ Company and is dubbed… God-grilla.
LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE
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