Not for a town hall clock

A number of the Brits that moved here around the time that we came have now returned to their motherland. People ask us if we would consider going back and whilst Pam always says you can never say never, we have no plans to return to Britain. Each time we visit England, we return to our home in Bigastro pleased to be back. Although there are a combination of factors that keep us here; high on the list is obviously the weather.

Yesterday, hundreds of schools and nurseries in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had to close because of snow and ice.  Now the UK is bracing itself for several days of gale force winds and a weekend of sub-zero temperatures as a deep Atlantic low pressure system rolls in.

In parts of Cornwall, South Wales, Tayside and Teesside there have been reports of “thundersnow” which is the new name given to a storm which combines thunder and lightening with snow rather than rain. I have to say that sounds thoroughly miserable. 

Much of Britain is on yellow alert for wind, ice and snow. People can expect their travel to be disrupted along with the chance of power lines going down. A large swathe of Scotland has only just been reconnected to power following last week’s fierce storms. They will not be looking forward to the possibility of a further disruption.

I am not gloating at the expense of our friends and relatives in Britain but our weather here has been mild over the last week. Today we are expecting sunshine and a high of 18 degrees. However, that is not due to last – it will get a lot colder after today with highs in the low teens and lows of single figures. There may even be snow over the weekend but it will be at about 1,200m above sea level. To put that into perspective, Bigastro is at 23m above sea level.

PS For the benefit of my Spanish readers, “not for a town hall clock” is another quaint English expression which means highly unlikely. It is based on the fact that town hall clocks are usually expensive items.