We haven’t had the snow that other parts of the North East have had but the weather is bitterly cold. An Arctic wind has added to the cool temperatures over the last few days to keep the spirits of Movillians decidedly low.

Happy Man

Indeed the only man seen with a smile on his face the last few days has been Seamus Harkin as Movillians have ordered in extra bags of coal and slack. He has been smiling for a while anyway as people, including myself, have been switching back to coal since the price of oil has soared.

There doesn’t seem to be an end to it either. This bitterly cold weather is predicted to last at least till April and maybe longer. The daffodils, which had just started to come out, have now decided to wait a little longer. The buds had just started growing on the trees and bushes. Let’s hope we don’t have another punctured spring like two years ago when a cold wind killed all the south-facing vegetation and had the place looking like it was autumn instead of spring with all the dead leaves on the ground.

Snow Days

There have been a few snow flurries but they haven’t laid yet. That could still come. The local schoolchildren will mind less if they get one or more ‘snow days’ out of it like a couple of years ago.

Local businesses will be hoping that it picks up for the Easter weekend to attract people from the north to come up here and buy a bag of chips or an ice cream – but that is a pretty forlorn hope at the moment according to the forecast.

We have to live in hope though. Most of the worst is behind us and most of the best is in front of this. Just keep that in mind as you hover near the fire or the radiator over the next few days.

Those warm sunny days are not too far off. And you never know it might be a balmy summer the like of which we haven’t seen since 1995 and anyone under 20 won’t remember at all.

But we’re going to have to touch an awful lot of wood.