Summer cool

The warm weather that spread North from Spain last week is a distant memory. Today is already June 7th but it is 13C in Hamburg and raining.

 I am very pleased I packed some woollies. I am wearing them all.

Hot, cold, windy, calm

Brisbane waters - flat calm in December

Summer is meant to be sunny, calm, warm and perfect for the beach but this year we have alternating extreme heat, cold, storms, wind and floods.

December was hot and cold, flat calm one day and stormy the next. January has been even more unpredictable.

Stormy seas on the beach tonight

The first week of January was so wet a lot of people were rained out of their camp sites or, in the Hunter valley, flooded out of their homes.  (The coffee shops did very good trade as there was little else to do.)

Then came the heat.  41C on Thursday was incapacitating and was followed by big winds and thunderstorms that chased away the rest of the campers and cut power to eighty thousand homes in western Sydney.  Temperatures dropped from 41Cto 22C in a matter of hours and yesterday was cold, windy and wet. Today is still cool with stormy seas.

We are not alone I know; Melbourne and Adelaide have been even more extreme and bush fires in Victoria and Western Australia have razed great swathes of land. 

Our recalcitrant government is disinclined to take action against climate change but lack of demand for coal and gas might force the issue. China, it appears, is leading the way.

Hamburg in the wet

I am in Hamburg and the weather is typical: Hamburg 'Schmuddelwetter' (muddle weather??).  I don't mind a bit, I love this city regardless!

Town Hall and Sqaure

August! Wet and dark, but warm!

Wellington Gales

I watched the severe weather warnings from Wellington NZ with some trepidation earlier this week as I was due to fly across the Tasman on Wednesday. Gale force winds were predicted. 

The cold front crossed Wellington on Tuesday night with such strong winds that shipping containers were blown into the harbour. 

Wellington - beautiful again the day after the gale

There was still a brisk wind on Wednesday but the biggest bump our flight experienced was a tire blowing out as we touched down. We had to be towed to the terminal but no one minded the delay at all. 

Passionfruit

Passion fruit flower

It is already June but the passion fruit plant in my garden continues to produce flowers and fruit. It is as confused as many other plants are by the unseasonal warm weather.

The abnormal autumn comes after our hottest year yet.  I am wondering if summer will always be as long as it was this year.

When Australia has particularly warm weather New Zealand seems to have particularly cold weather. There was snow in Dunedin not so long ago ... will this become more common as well?

Rain Rain Sun Rain Rain

Rain rain rain. Then out comes the sun for five seconds, shining brightly before it is blotted out by the clouds again. Rain rain rain.