We don’t half say some fatuous things. Finally, as spring threatens to arrive and the temperature in the United Kingdom is destined to creep into the double figures the weather forecasters are like cats who have got the cream. They say things such as next week will be hotter than Greece and our thoughts turn to swimsuit clad perspiring holiday makers sipping Raki at some beach side bar, surrounded by brilliant white houses with roofs as blue as the unblemished sky above.
It is not going to be that hot yet unfortunately we fall for it every time.
Greece is a big country and indeed there are parts of the country which are quite cold. Florina, a mountainous city situated in the Northern part of Greece, is said to be one of the coldest towns in the country due to its height above sea level and geographic position. It suffers from, or enjoys depending upon your position, heavy snowfalls, thick fog and below-freezing temperatures during the winter months.
In April its temperature ranges from a chilly 5.0 degrees centigrade to a much more pleasant 16.5 degrees centigrade. The normal temperature is somewhere in between at around 11.1 degrees centigrade. Even as I sit here writing this with an outside temperature of just over 8 degrees centigrade it could well be (though it is not) hotter here than in Florina. The truth is that on many occasions it is hotter in parts of the United Kingdom than in parts of Greece.
I know that such comments are not meant to be taken seriously yet they are a distortion of reality made to make a point which we, in our ignorance take as gospel. For us, the weather forecast is a national institution that is held in such esteem yet they are playing fast and loose with reality.
Really? I’m off to put on my bather.
Thoughts from a Guerrilla Worker 