London Weather

Today was a fairly typical day in London for weather. The day began bright and sunshiney. Later, clouds developed in the sky and it turned quite dark. The next thing we knew, it was pouring down rain - like a flash storm with wind and pounding rain; at one point there was even some hail bouncing off the sidewalk. Everyone on the street ran for cover - under store awnings, bus stop rooftops, and in stores and pubs. In ten minutes, the rain subsided, and in fifteen minutes it had stopped completely; the sky was blue again. We all put away our umbrellas, lowered our hoods, straightened out our damp hairdos, and continued along our way, avoiding the puddles as we walked.

The sun continued for an hour or so, until another dark raincloud appeared in the area. This time, we were lucky to be under the tent roof of a market when the rain storm came crashing down into the tent top and the wind blew anything near the open sides. We all waited ten minutes for it to once again subside before we felt safe leaving the dry market area. Soon, the sun was shining again. At one point the sun was shining on one block, and it was still raining on the next block.

This scenario can occur several times during a day. If we are lucky, we miss getting rained on - but we always wear rain jackets and carry umbrellas, just in case.

I would never plan a special event like a wedding in London at an outdoor venue. The weather is way too unpredictable and extreme.

When the television weatherman shows the weather map for England, it looks unlike any I have ever seen. There are small individual clouds scattered all over the area -- sort of like polka dots or chicken pox.

The picture below captures the beautiful rainbow we saw from our window this afternoon -- that's one of the benefits when it rains while the sun is shining.