‘Rain, rain, go to Spain….’

I was out walking near Ripon this morning. For once it’s not raining – and it has been, more often than not, for days and days. But the river, viewed on a gusty but mild Autumnal morning, offered proof of all that recent rain. The Ure raged and surged at the bridges. Every bank had been breached, and trees were paddling in several feet of water. Impromptu lakes formed in fields and too-close-for-comfort to urban streets. Riverside paths, usually solid affairs of beaten earth, were slick and slippery with sludge: or worse, deeply hidden under soft ribbons of oozy mud. How very like an English November, I thought.

But then I remembered a November in France, only two years ago. It made our current Autumn weather look rather OK, especially as it’s unseasonably mild: 16 degrees today. Nobody’s talking about snow …… yet.

From Pyrenees to Pennines

Bridge over the River Touyre Bridge over the River Touyre

I think we’ve had enough.  When I last posted  – three days ago – we’d already had a week of rain.  It’s barely stopped since.  During the night, we can hear dull thudding as the roof tiles take another sodden pounding.  We get up in the morning, raise the shutters, and immediately the rain batters the windows.  Going for the breakfast loaf, usually a good way to begin the day, seems unattractive.  We make a comforting pan of porridge instead.  And so the day wears on.  We go out when we have to, but there’s no pleasure to be had in scurrying down the street, heads down, coats spattered by any passing car.  And I don’t know when we’ll ever have a country walk again.  The fields are waterlogged, the paths sticky and slippery with thick deep mud.

This was the River Touyre this morning…

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Author: margaret21

I'm retired and live in North Yorkshire, where I walk , write, volunteer and travel as often as I can.

11 thoughts on “‘Rain, rain, go to Spain….’”

  1. Gosh yes, I remember that November. And what a contrast with this November here, where it’s as warm as a summer day: 25 degrees, with almost unbroken sun since 2 weeks ago and another 2 weeks forecast. Working on the house wearing shorts and tee shirt, it feels quite bizarre when it starts to get dark just after 5pm!

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    1. Well, we’re not in that league, but it is super-mild. I do really prefer to have seasons in season though. Winter, spring, summer, autumn. You know it makes sense.

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  3. These weather extremes are getting more common. Interesting to look back at the deluge two years ago. We’ve had unseasonably warm weather until a few days ago too.

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  4. Just playing catch up with your blog – you’ve been super busy and still manage to write beautiful posts – I feel such a failure 😦 We’ve had quite a lot of rain but as I judge the amount by how many days the dog comes in wet it hasn’t been too bad. But I am disconcerted by the mild weather – mind you the girls are happy, still bringing pollen in!

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  6. Oops–I hit send too soon. Since you wrote this ages ago and I’m just getting here, I hope you have sunshine by now. But you also have had the most devastating news out of France to deal with . . .

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