Weather forecast aka... the joke!

July 15, 2012 at 11:07 AM

I can't feel sorry enough for the tourists who have been in Scotland for the past...months. Talking about the weather is never boring, or is it?, and certainly summer 2012 in Edinburgh has been particularly wet or as a certain 6yrs old I know would put it, soaking wet.

Never mind, today's best news is that forecasters are predicting a much dryer spell of weather across the UK today which means it's still going to be cold but dry. If you are wondering where the blus sky is just now it means only one thing, you did miss that window of opportunity at 6.30 this morning (what were you doing?) as there was a cloudless sky for about 1 hour.

This is not unique to the UK though and in Belgium bosses at major theme parks have lobbied the Met Office to "encourage" weathermen and women to be a bit more positive. The fear is that the poor weather will put tourists off from visting or going out. On the bright side (so to speak), they're turning weather forecast a bit like Simon says: Simon says "it will be sunnier today" rather than "it should not be raining today". Simon says "it will be warmer in some areas" rather than "temperatures are still predominantly cold for the season".

Anyway, I might be able to bring some hope to the tourists! Our well informed Met Office is telling us that a lot of places are expected to remain dry today. This is very good news indeed because today is St. Swithin's Day. The legend has it that if it rains on St. Swithin's Day, it will continue to fall for 40 consecutive days which means that it would look like a lot like the past 40 days.

Never mind, this is Scotland and despite the weather there's still something interesting going on somewhere. If you have a young family and are around Edinburgh on sunday 22 July here's something cool to do. You'll be able to meet birds of prey close up in Holyrood park, try your hand at archery and if ground condition allow, the organisers of the "Royal pursuits" event will be hosting artificial lure coursing with whippets. This is open to all but children must be accompanied by an adult. The event will be in the Holyrood park education centre (post code is EH8 8HG) from 11.00 to 15.00. Booking is recommended on 0131 652 8150 or at: hs.rangers@scotlabd.gsi.gov.uk

Do bring warm and waterproof clothing just in case it rains today...

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