UK Weather: Barbecuing in February Is Peak Brit Response To Spring Sunshine

Enjoy it while you can... it's not going to last.
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It’s only February, but after the weekend we’ve just had, you might have forgotten. A couple of days into sunny weather and in embarrassingly British fashion here we are, sitting out in in the sun, braving the bare leg, and literally cracking out the barbecues. I’ll confess, I didn’t wear a jacket all weekend, and it was glorious – even heading out on Saturday night and taking a looong stroll home on Sunday.

It’s Feb 24th people and apparently it’s BBQ weather! pic.twitter.com/gwSn6id1dL

— Jacob Lant (@jacoblant) February 24, 2019

Yes, it’s probably too early to be as excited as we are, but there’s something beautiful about waking up with sunlight streaming through the cracks in the curtains and walking amongst long shadows cast in the early evening. And if Twitter is any guide, lots of people were full-on pretending it was summer:

16 degrees and the whole country is in a beer garden at half 1. What a nation.

— Matt Carter (@MattCarterCFC) February 23, 2019

I’ve just seen a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt. Like I get that it’s warm but it’s still February lol

— bryony⛄️ (@bryonysarah97) February 25, 2019

not saying this weather has made Londoners go feral but I just went to a cornershop that'd run out of ice creams

— Marie Le Conte (@youngvulgarian) February 24, 2019

I swear the sun just puts you in a good mood and makes you forget about all your responsibilities

— 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚎𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚗 𝙳𝚘𝚗 (@whoisjoshva) February 24, 2019

My family are all sat in the conservatory in the sun, listening to The Beatles, drinking coffee, after having a nice breakfast at the table together and I’m sitting writing poems. Lmao how avocado on toast are we

— Snow White (@AuntSursh) February 24, 2019

But we’ve also got to acknowledge how difficult this weather is to actually dress for:

Planning what to wear in this weather: jeans/ugh sticky/jumper/now I’m hot/t-shirt/where did that wind come from my nipples could cut glass/where’s my coat/god it’s boiling in here/my neck is freezing/I’m sweating through my neck/god are they in flip-flops they must be Australian

— Caroline Hirons (@CarolineHirons) February 24, 2019

Officially “do I bring a coat or not?” weather

— MUY BIEN 🍯 (@AmarRenee) February 21, 2019

Weirdest weather ever?? Need a coat and gloves in the morning. Then a t-shirt in the afternoon??

— b.b (@benoobrown) February 25, 2019

Meanwhile some have been also thinking about imminent climate catastrophe:

It’s weird how “nice weather we’re having” has gone from banal harmless chat 101 to an impending siren of global death

— sean (@seanbgoneill) February 22, 2019

hi, sky? i’d like to ask why we had 90 years of summer and only two months of winter .. why is it hot already 🌝

— GABRIELLA ✨ (@velvetgh0st) February 23, 2019

summer in February! everything is normal! what climate change?!

— Michael Segalov (@MikeSegalov) February 23, 2019

It's going to be 15 degrees today. Let that sink in. 15 degrees in Glasgow in February. I could make some political point about the environment but instead I want a BBQ in kelvingrove park

— Duncan (@duncan_kennon) February 25, 2019

Personally, was just getting a bit emotional:

This weather evokes some strange nostalgia, want to spend the rest of the day crying in the sun. at the sun, into the sun. u know

— Micha Frazer-Carroll (@Micha_Frazer) February 24, 2019

In my teary-eyed state, I chatted to Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge, who told me that the beautiful weather is essentially the result of a lot of lucky coincidences – a combination of high pressure from continental Europe, relatively little cloud which has allowed the sun to stream through, and a lack of rainfall.

Relatively little rainfall means the soils have dried out a bit, so when heat from the sun strikes the ground, it’s not having to waste energy evaporating water,” Madge said. “We then get more of that energy being transferred back into warmth.”

Although this might be set to be the hottest February since 1910, there’s also no way to confirm if it’s a result of global warming yet: “We have to be very careful when attributing any weather event to climate change, but these warmer temperatures do fit a pattern,” he said.

Madge also said that the run of conditions probably won’t last past Wednesday. So although there’s something slightly embarrassing about our behaviour as the temperatures climb into the double figures, we might as well paint our toenails, slip on some sunnies, dust off the barbecue, and make the most of it.

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