britain

Over the last week, Britain has been enjoying some unseasonably warm and dry weather. Whilst this may be perfect for sitting out in the sun and enjoying the lighter evenings, there is also a downside. After the driest 18 months since records began, most of the east and south-east of England is now officially in drought.

For several days now, record temperatures have been hitting Britain. Up and down the UK people have been basking in temperatures over 20oC (68F), with the Scottish record for a March temperature being broken on Sunday and then again yesterday. Whilst we are already enjoying hotter weather than Barcelona and Nice, forecasters are now saying that the best of the weather is yet to come.

All this has led to what is shaping up to be the worst drought to hit the UK for 30 years. With the south and east of England already suffering, it is expected to spread throughout the country, to as far north as Yorkshire and as far west as Wiltshire.

The ForeignStudents.com Editor, Andy, describes his very British tarditional day out at Cheltenham horse racing festival.  

"On Friday I ventured out to Cheltenham in the west of England to spend my very first day at a horse racing festival. What followed was a day of crowds, Guinness, betting (largely unsuccessfully), and most of all, good old-fashioned fun.

Horse racing is one of the great British traditions, with everyone getting dressed up in suits and hats to go and put a few pounds on their horse of choice. Cheltenham Festival is one of the biggest and most prestigious meetings in the horse racing calendar in Britain. Up to 70,000 fans turn up to each of the four days, and over the course of the festival, hundreds of millions of pounds are bet on the races. On Friday, I was one of those 70,000, contributing my own little bit to those hundreds of millions of pounds.

My Winners and Losers

I arrived at the grounds with a group of about twenty friends all dressed up in suits, hats and dresses, and we looked pretty stunning if I do say so myself. Whilst we had to make do with a coach to the Festival, there was a constant stream of helicopters dropping off the slightly wealthier festival-goers. Indeed, on the day, Princess Anne, Zara Phillips, Sir Alex Ferguson and Joe Hart (England goalkeeper) were among the celebrities there.

After a wet, windy and cloudy summer, it seems summer has finally reached the UK- just a few months late. This week Britain is going through an unseasonal heat wave, with temperatures at 27^oC in London today. What's more, by Friday it is expected to reach 28^oC, which is hotter than Hawaii at this time of year.

A source from the Met Office (the British weather forecasters) revealed: "It's going to be a warm week, and in some cases the night-time temperatures could get up to about the same as you would expect during the day for this time of year". Usually, the average temperature in September in Britain is just 15^oC.

The even better news is that the Indian Summer is expected to last in to October, with warm, dry weather predicted. The British public are always happy to take advantage of some nice weather and by the weekend, Brits will be out in their millions enjoying one last BBQ or day at the beach.

However, if there is one thing that Brits enjoy more than lounging in the hot weather, it is talking about it. There are hundreds of stories across the internet, conversations can be heard on every street and there are already Facebook groups set up, all about this year's Indian Summer!