We are all familiar with the legend of St Swithun, whose saint’s day – 15 July – is meant to set the weather pattern for the next 40 days. But other, far less well-known, saints have given rise to a number of similar beliefs.
So if it rains on 19 June (St Protais’s Day) it will rain for the next 40 days, while rain on 8 June (St Medard’s Day), will bring another bout of rain 40 days later – on 18 July.
Midsummer’s Day – which traditionally falls on 24 June (St John’s Day) – is also a key milestone in weather folklore, which is perhaps not surprising given that it closely follows the Summer Solstice (the date of the solstice itself varies between 20 and 22 June), after which the nights begin inexorably to draw in.
Rain on Midsummer’s Day is particularly unwelcome, since it is believed to foretell a wet harvest. And as one cynical observer noted: “Before St John’s Day we pray for rain; after that we get it anyhow.”
Rain on St John’s Day is also believed to be bad for the nut harvest, perhaps because these fruits are especially vulnerable to wet and windy weather at this stage of their growth.
But if you are hoping for a long, hot summer, then keep a close eye on the weather on 27 June – the feast day of the rather obscure St Cyril of Alexandria. If it does rain on this day then we can apparently look forward to seven weeks of wet weather to follow.
Even so, we can take some comfort in the Cornish proverb that “a wet June makes a dry September”.
