The Metropolis

Weather and portents for the week ahead. It will rain, but new orchards augur well

Mike Pollitt | Monday 24 September, 2012 11:24

Weather

More rain fell on London yesterday (Sunday) than the previous month and a half combined. About 21mm came down, making it the year’s second wettest day after June 11. But don’t let the numbers fool you. That June day may have seen more rain, but yesterday was wetter. June’s wetness evaporated into the light midsummer air. Yesterday’s wetness seeped through skin, muscles and nerves and came to rest inside our bones themselves. It resides there now, in the deepest marrow of our thickest bones, and carries with it this certain knowledge: there will be no drying until the spring.

The forecast for the week of 24-29 September 2012:

• Monday – Wettest.
• Tuesday – Wetter.
• Wednesday – Wet.
• Thursday – Wettish.
• Friday – Wettisher.

The full BBC weather forecast is here.

Portents
New orchards are being planted across London as part of the London Orchard Project. In the dark ages orchards were considered hallowed ground, and any person who chopped down an apple tree was fined a cow as punishment. The planting of orchards in London must then be considered a good augury for the city’s future.

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