Is it summer....?

Technically summer starts on 21st June.  According to the almanac, summer starts on the solstice, which has to do with the position of the sun, rather than the temperature.  Well that explains it then.....

Summer is a wonderful opportunity to participate in all the outdoor activities that are organised around the country.  Having said there, there are a few hints and tips to make these experiences more pleasant from a purely meteorological perspective. 
We recently attended the Queen’s Club, one of the outdoor tennis tournaments in preparation for Wimbledon, and were to see two semi-final matches, as well as a couple of doubles matches.  The weather forecast was very typically mixed – sunshine with scattered showers.    

Being a long-time resident of London, I knew this meant I should be prepared for 4 seasons in one day, and carried a rather large handbag to the event.  My husband asked me why I was taking a ‘suitcase’ and I told him that I was prepared for whatever the British weather would throw at us:  as well as being dressed in many layers (including a cashmere sweater!), I had a small umbrella, a rain hat, sunglasses, and a pashmina.  When we met our friends at the gate, she presented us all with clear plastic rain ponchos – mine went straight into my bag. 
As we arrived and took our seats, the rain began.  There was a flurry of activity as a small army of men took to the courts to pull out the rain cover.  At this point I took out my hat.  When it started to pour, the stands emptied rapidly, and it was only at this point that I took out the umbrella.  It is very rude to open your umbrella at an outdoor event while the event is still going on – you block the view of those behind you, and your neighbours will not be pleased!

 
 

Eventually the rain stopped, the court was uncovered and all the spectators went back to their seats.  The sun came out with such brilliance that I folded the umbrella, put the hat away and took out my sunglasses.  I opened my leather jacket and soaked up the warmth of the sun.  The players arrived on court, warmed up and played one set before the heavens opened again.  This time there was a huge gust of wind, hail and then torrential rain.  I quickly put away the glasses, pulled out the hat, pashmina and poncho, layered up and was on my way out of the stands. 
Two hours later, the rain had stopped and the court was once again uncovered.  This time, what looked like an industrial strength hairdryer was brought out, and the court was ‘dried’ in preparation for play.  At this point, 4 hours had passed and we had seen 30 minutes of tennis.  We were informed that several of the matches that we were to see were now going to be played on other courts simultaneously.  At 5pm, centre court was ready to go, but the players weren’t! We were told that they would play one hour later. 

Eventually play began at 6pm.  We were lucky to see one entire match, instead of 4 that we were anticipating.  The sun was out again, but a strong breeze was blowing and the temperature had dropped significantly.  I had buttoned up, wrapped up and kept the rain hat and poncho on for warmth.  Looking around, I noted that our neighbours had brought woolly gloves and blankets, and were wearing their winter boots – I made a mental note for next time!
Written by Eva Stock
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