August downpours have always made the headlines
As a cub reporter on the Halifax Evening Courier, one of my jobs was to search the archives for stories from 25 years, 50 years and 75 years ago to fill its dedicated weekly nostalgia page.
It was also one of my favourite tasks, disappearing into the archives for hours on end. There was a whole room in the Courier building filled with photographs and clippings dating back to its formation in 1892.
Like the Telegraph, and many other newspapers of its time, back then the front page was taken up with society announcements and parish notices. The actual news was buried inside by the adverts for Bile Beans.
In summer it was noticeable how often the news pages were taken up with stories about the weather and, more often than not, how the holidays had been ruined by some deluge.
There was often a Courier reporter dispatched to Blackpool which was the main resort of choice for people living in the West Yorkshire town. Indeed such were the links between the two (which started with a stage coach service in 1782 and later a train line) that Blackpool was for a time known as “Halifax-by-the-sea”. Its pier, which opened in 1863, was largely funded by industrialists from the Yorkshire textile town.
Anyway, I digress. The point is that a rainy British summer was considered news at every point in the 20th century, just as it is now. Indeed the Telegraph today reports from the rain-sodden south-west coast where campsites have been washed out.
It may feel like news but the meteorological data tells us that we should not be surprised. While July and August are on average the warmest months of the year, they also rank among the most unsettled.
A solid downpour is a fixture of the British summer and this weekend expect more of the same. Consider it a national affliction, and one which we never grow weary of discussing.