4 out of 5 stars
The publisher provided a copy of this, free of charge, in return for an honest review.
If you are thinking of planning an event in the UK that is dependent on the weather being good then it is a bit of a lottery. You might have a fantastic day of sun in the middle of March, or downpours in the middle of August.
When the weather isn’t nice, most people tend to head indoors, after all, who wants to get wet or lose their hat in the wind? But in this book, Gaw wants to explore for himself what being out in various inclement weathers is actually like. He begins in the rain, the weather that has spoiled 1000 barbeques and ruined all sorts of occasions. Most, i.e. normal people, choose not to venture out in the rain, though some people don’t really have a choice. It is a weather type that we need, we rely on water to give us life and irrigate crops, but too much of it can be a disaster.
I must admit I am not a fan of going out in the rain, probably from too many soakings when cycling to and from work in the rain. I do like the sound of the rain on canvas and listening to rain on a conservatory roof while it hammers down is quite the experience. The is a particular pleasure to summer rain; petrichor. These are the oils released by the rain and they give of such a distinctive smell that is almost addictive.
Seeking rain takes Gaw to the Lakes, one of the wetter parts of the UK. As he walks the fells, a storm approaches, and suddenly, he is in the middle of it. He pokes his tongue out to drink the rain as it falls around him, but it brings back memories of acid rain, an almost nostalgic memory where we can see the tumult of climate change begin to unleash itself.
Finding rain is straightforward, we have had the wettest 18 months here in the UK so it will be raining somewhere… Finding fog or mist is much harder. Very specific conditions are needed and even then it is elusive, very elusive.
These particular climate conditions mean that it can often be pure luck that you come across it. But of the times when it does happen, autumn is the most common season to get it where I live in Dorset. I never know if we are going to have it or not and glancing out the window after I have got up will soon show if we have fog. This unpredictability means that Gaw has to work to find it in his part of the country. He checks the forecasts obsessively and even having the correct conditions in place is no guarantee.
He heads out to Great Livermere and parts in the dark. He and his son make their way to the mere, he can see the mist hanging over the water. At last, he has found it. It isn’t swirling, as you often would see in many horror films, but the density of the mist varies in thickness as they pass it. Capturing the essence of what they are seeing is much harder though. It is a reminder that this low-lying cloud can change so much of what we see and hear about us.
Finding ice and snow is much easier than fog. However, it is getting much harder in this country due to the effects of climate change. Gone are the hard winters of the past with their bright crips days, now we have more precipitation and much higher than average temperatures.
We rarely get snow in Dorset, so much so that I remember that satellite photo showing the entire country white, except my part of Dorset… I do like a bit of snow and frost. A hard frost with clear blue skies is quite special. Where Gaw lives on the fens it is often blasted by icy winds from the Arctic or Siberia, he describes it as turning the grass to glistening metal. When he heads out it is supposed to be -2C but it feels much colder. They are entranced by the way that the hoar frost has touch the plants by the path.
It is cold enough to freeze some of the fens, supposedly the coldest day in over a decade with temperatures well below zero. The ice is around 3 inches thick, right at the lowest limit for safely skating and when the reach the edge, they see skaters moving at speed across the ice.
To find snow he has to head north to Scotland and has thankfully got a Christmas holiday arranged on the Isle of Skye. They swim (!!!) in a bitterly cold sea and warm up in front of a blazing fire pit. The clouds a re thick like smoke and when it begins to snow they are a little surprised and delighted in equal measure.
Wind is one of the strangest of all weather phenomena. You can feel it, and hear it if it is strong enough and see its effects, but you can’t actually see it. The wind systems that flow endlessly around the planet have built empires, flattened cities and driven people mad.
The best place to experience wind in my opinion is by the coast. Standing on a beach and leaning into the wind as the waves pound the shore is for me an elemental experience. Gaw experiences this at Neist Point, as they walk out they can feel the raw power of the wind pushing against them. Some winds are famous enough to acquire names and reputations, one famous one is the Mistral in Provence, but in the UK we only have, one, The Helm. I kind of fee there should be more of them.
If you want a book that explains weather phenomena, then this probably isn’t going to be the book for you. The crux of this is one man’s desire to experience all types of weather rather than just the sunny days. I liked this a lot, probably because I find the weather endlessly fascinating, I love storms and have taken numerous pictures of clouds when out and about. I like Gaw’s writing in this too. He is engaging and it feels more personal than his previous books. If you have the slightest interest in the weather, then I would recommend reading this.
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