The British are renowned for starting every polite conversation with a commentary on the weather, a way of breaking the ice in any social situation. With the climate changing to more extreme events it is perhaps time to widen the weather vocabulary to become more descriptive of what is happening.
As autumn has begun the UK has been lashed by the tail end of a couple of Atlantic hurricanes that had weakened to become mere low pressures, but still potent enough to cause power cuts and some flooding.
What seems to have changed most about the British weather, apart from the general warmer temperatures, is how the rain comes down.
Long gone are the drizzly days and gentle rain that lasted most of the day. It used to be sometimes said that the wind was too strong for much rain – not any more. Now the rain comes in sharp showers or pours for hours, often accompanied by strong winds.
The Scots, who know more about rain than most, have some useful, descriptive words. Fludders is a massive downpour, sump a sudden deluge, and a baffin is the beating force of wind and rain. The result is to be drookit – drenched through to your skin.
