Full-on Weather (Part 2)

Well the dry weather continues and although it's very nice for some, I am reminded often that it is bringing desperate times to many people the length and breadth of Portugal. I had a letter yesterday from an English friend who now lives down south in the Alentejo. She has a small farmhouse with a couple of horses, some chickens, a multitude of cats and a dog. Anyway, in her letter she commented on how the lack of rain means that she is having to keep a very close eye on her horses. The dry weather has resulted in the grass not growing sufficiently enough to graze them and the water levels in the barragem, the horse's only real source of drinking water, are very low.

Then this morning I was passed a copy of The Portugal News. The headline reads, "Driest February On Record" and goes on to tell how the weather over the past few years has truly been "Full On" in one way or another...

• Winter 2010 - Wettest since 1870.
• Summer 2010 - Hottest for 79 years, with July being the hottest since 1931.
• May 2011 - Hottest on record.
• Summer 2011 - One of the coolest and wettest on record.
• October 2011 - Hottest on record.
• February 2012 - Driest on record, as the headline reported.

I suppose I should mention at this point that, after what has so far been a very cloudy day, the heavens have finally opened, the rain is pouring down and lightning cracks the sky to a literally thunderous applause from above.  The article in The Portugal News did suggest that the rains would not come until the end of the month, but I very much doubt that anyone will be complaining, certainly not least my friend's horses.

<Takes a break to do mundane stuff, like cooking, washing up etc...>

So, it's still raining. I'm sure that there will be many a happy Portuguese farmer right now, looking out at the rain, hoping it will continue. I've already heard through facebook that the rain has subsided a little further south of here, dwindling away to light showers. The thunder and lightning has stopped here, but the rain persists. And it's still quite heavy. And so, to close, and re-iterate, the weather here in Portugual is most certainly "Full-on" and, if I may quote the president of the Portuguese Met Office,

"Extreme phenomena could start having a greater frequency than they have had in the past. We are constantly setting new records for the hottest summers."

I suppose we all have a different angle on the weather and what we want from it. For me, right now, I'm enjoying the sunny springtime weather, and relish the thought of a blistering summer, but I do feel slightly guilty for this pleasure.