Storm Eleanor

I come from Cornwall where the weather’s important.

It’s important for farmers when they take in the harvest.

It’s important for fishermen so they don’t sail right into a storm.

It was a common practice for a fishing village to have a communal barometer in the harbour.

But there are also more traditional ways of telling the weather.

If the swallows are flying low, it means it will rain.

If a piece of dried seaweed becomes slimy it means high humidity.

If a fir cone opens up its scales, it means fine weather.

If the cows are lying down, it means rain.

And my personal favourite:

If you can see clear to St Austell clay tips it means it’s going to rain.   If you can’t see St Austell clay tips, it means it’s already raining.

But for the violent forces of Storm Eleanor, just passed, only one piece of weather lore would do.

And it was discovered by my Uncle John, who wasn’t even Cornish.

He said:

“You can tell if it’s very windy indeed….the seagulls will be flying backwards.”

Traditional weather forecasting at Betty's Bothy, Orkney, last summer.