Icy blast just in time to stir up that festive feeling
TOMORROW is Stir Up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent and the traditional date in the Christian calendar when families get together and mix the ingredients for their Christmas puddings.
The date takes its name from the collect for the day in the book of common prayer – “stir up, we beseech thee…” And fittingly, finally, after this sultry autumn, something a little colder appears to be cooking up in the weather, too.
The past week has been incredibly mild for this time of year. On Thursday, Aberdeen was the warmest place in the UK with temperatures reaching 16.3C – nearly double the November average of 9C. In the North East of Britain these excessively warm temperatures have been attributed, in part, to the foehn effect, where warm air cascades down from upland areas. But while that has intensified the heat, it has been unseasonable all over the place.
Many so-called autumn straggler flowers are still in bloom – nasturtiums, cosmos and daisies – while wasps, bees and even butterflies are still being seen.
Fortunately, at least as far as following tradition goes, from tomorrow temperatures will drop to around average at this time of year. Into the week there is snow forecast in both upland areas and potentially on lower ground. Even further south there is the possibility of some snow and proper frosty evenings to come.
I appreciate not everybody will feel the same but I welcome this icy blast and all it chooses to throw our way. Seeing the Christmas decorations start going up despite it being warm enough to dispense of a jacket stirs up in me a curious feeling of disquiet.
Our seasonal traditions mean little without the seasons themselves following suit. And delightful as a Christmas pudding is, it is a delicacy that we need the cold weather to properly stomach.