“Rain, rain go away; come again another day…” as the traditional playground chant goes.

Well it looks like our prayers have been answered. After three days of fierce winds and raining harder than cats and dogs; at last the bad weather has finally stopped. Although local businesses, shops and supermarkets stocked umbrellas on their shelves and counters- people woke up on the first of March ( 2010) to a frosty, but surprisingly sunny, day.

Last week, Merton experienced sporadic outbursts of snow- which led people to believe the British weather would rebound back into the chilly weather experienced at the beginning of January- only for this week to begin with an extended period of sunshine.

The increasingly frequent ‘in-between’ (Winter and Spring) days can only mean the lead up to spring which begins on the 20th March this year. Think lambs, daffodils and most definitely think warmth. The beginning of spring also marks the Vernal Equinox. An equinox is when the Earth is neither tilted towards or away from the Sun and only happens twice every year! In addition, the puddles which infected our roads seem to have ceased to exist. Gone are the tidal wave splashes of passing cars and shrieks of soaked pedestrians… Gone are the upturned umbrellas, threatening to pull their owners away faster than “Wizard of Oz” could be said…. Gone are soggy shoes, bubbly boots and fed-up feet… Well, until the next time it rains.