It's Getting Hot!

What's going on?  Rain all May - couple of nice days towards the end of the month (coinciding with my visit) - then torrential rain again and now heatwave.Is there something happening to our climate that we should know about?

We had perfect weather for our trip, from 2 to 24 May, but it had been very wet almost until we landed...  so glad we weren't there when it is as hot as that... our trip to Umbria was in 40 deg temperatures - too too hot.

The heat during early May was torrid we had an air conditioning system installed late May, otherwise the only place bearable in the villa is the basement flat!  Now I follow the example of the other half, who is Italian: outdoors between 6am and 9am and 6pm till late, when you can hear the mowers and streamers going all around the village!  The saying "mad dog is an Englishman goes out in the midday sun" no longer applies!  Coming from the tropics one is also brought up to avoid the sun, but sometimes the urge to go out outdoors under the baking sun prevails! Sensible clothes and a hat are all obligatory for our family, old and young, when going out in the sun, that is unless you want to get sunburnt (roasted). My Italian neighbour did just that everyday during late spring and summer 3 years ago and ended seeing the dermatologist.

 Agree totally Serge - any jobs needed doing on the land is done between 6-8am and then off to the beach till about 11.30 - home - lunch - siesta - shower - drinkies on the terrace and a late supper - leave all the mad dogs and englishmen to their peril!!! It's a hard life but,someones got to do it.

It is the first time that we have spent a couple of weeks in Tuscany in August in 20 years.  What an experience: the temperature at 600 metres was 44 degrees in the sun.  We could not stay outside for fear of getting sunstroke: it was difficult to breathe.  This is too much, even for somebody who was raised in the tropics and for the other half. who was born locally.  We stayed all day in the basement flat to cool down and had  the air conditioning going full blast.  We wonder what it was like at the seaside, in the south of Italy and in cities like Rome, Florence, Milan etc.  In future we will certainly not be staying in our villa in August .  If not staying in London we will go north to rediscover the Lake District, the Scottish Highlands, Ireland, or cruise the northern cities or around Norway. .