The weather is crazy everywhere – a depressing sign of the acceleration of global climate change. We may not be having the extreme heat of the west coast of the US, but boy have we had a bizarre twelve months.
The most dramatic event was the violent storms which last September destroyed much of the Hérault valley between Valleraugue and Pont d’Hérault. Some places, like our old campsite, La Corconne, are still a sad mess. I gather that some businesses, like the riverside restaurant in Valleraugue, will close forever. Others will take years to recover.
Winter was not too bad. But what happened to Spring? We had so much cold, wet and windy weather that somehow April and May passed, and we thought, well at least we will have Summer. Oh yes? Well it is true that we did have a week or so of unseasonably hot weather in June, but since then I get the feeling that we have had very few ‘normal’ days. We seem to have endless bouts of wind, cloud and thunderstorms.
This week we have had really violent winds, cloudy skies, and two days of rain and cold weather. It feels more like April or September than July! Tomorrow more normal weather is supposed to start. But I don’t see a forecast for day after day of sun, as we usually have by now.
The one upside to this inclement weather is that everywhere is looking incredibly green.
