Grin and bear it
13/clouds Viewed in the right
light, even thick, wet blankets of January nimbostratus have a silver lining
T
he Victorian art critic and essayist John Ruskin was a cloud lover and an enthusiast for all aspects of the ever- changing British climate.
‘There is really no such thing as bad weather,’ he wrote, ‘only diff erent kinds of weather.’ When it comes to January, some of us might beg to diff er. Once Christmas and New Year have been and gone, positive feelings towards winter weather seem to fi zzle out too. Somehow, it feels as if the season is past its best, and we want winter to be taken away along with the Christmas tree lying out on the pavement. But rarely is the weather in this
country truly bad – not in the ice-storms/ hurricanes/Biblical fl oods sense of the word. There is actually great pleasure to be gleaned from blustery, bracing January weather, so long as you are in the right
frame of mind to appreciate it. Moody, stormy, brooding skies have their own harsh beauty. Regal ‘cumulonimbus’ storm clouds march across our skies, attended by dark shreds of ‘pannus’ cloud in gusty, saturated winds below. Their formation is heralded by bruised-grey shadows developing within the low, turbulent cloud cover. It is all great stuff aſt er too much festive cheer indoors with your less-than- functional family. Taking walks in weather like this is enjoyable not just for the comfort you feel when you return home to the warmth of a pot of tea. It also connects you in a very real sense with the awe-inspiring power of our atmosphere. But perhaps it is not the wild and
stormy days that people fi nd most challenging about our January weather. The featureless, overcast skies that drop endless curtains of rain are what
‘Crepuscular rays’, caused by droplets in the air below the clouds scattering sunlight, in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales
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