In a time where we would appear to be experiencing ever more unusual weather and strange atmospheric phenomena, this story grabbed my attention more than others.

I have to confess I have never heard of the ‘foehn effect’, nor do I admit to understanding it having now digested the information, yet when temperatures in northern Scotland briefly reach nearly 17 degrees C overnight, it makes you pause over your morning coffee. And this at a time of year when the average overnight temperature is around freezing point.

My only ‘experience’ of such unusually warm winter weather was when I was a baby, according to my late mother.

Apparently, it was warm enough one dark January evening for her to sit by the riverside in her short sleeves whilst watching me in a pram. Even if such memories did distort the truth over time, I saw no reason to disbelieve her.

copyright Francis Barker 2019