Weather folklore often coincides with significant dates on our calendar: saint’s days and quarter days are associated with many sayings, including, of course, St Swithun’s day.
So it’s not surprising that the 12 days from Christmas Day to Epiphany, on 6 January, are said to set the pattern for the weather for the next year, while thunder is supposed to mean heavy snowfalls for the rest of the winter.
Wind at Christmas is said to be a sign of a fine year’s weather ahead; though should it be windy on Boxing Day then the grape harvest will, apparently, be a bad one. Heavy rain at this time of year is also supposed to mean a damp twelve months to come.
Much of this supposed wisdom comes from the various almanacs and calendars that were popular during the early modern period. One of these, the Shepherd’s Kalendar pays special attention to the weather on the feast of the Holy Innocents, otherwise known as Childermas, and marked by the Western Christian churches on 28 December, and by the Eastern Orthodox churches on 29 December. Again, wet and windy weather predicts scarcity while fair, fine weather means plenty.
But the last word must go to this rhyme for the last day of the year:
If New Year’s Eve night wind blow south
It betokeneth warmth and growth;
If west, much milk and fish in the sea;
If north, much cold and storms there will be;
If east, the trees will bear much fruit;
If north east, flee it man and brute.
May the New Year bring the weather you wish for!
