Wonder Weather

I’ll admit it.  I tailor the weather in my stories to suit the situation.  I wanted my heroine’s first sight of the coal mine my hero owns in my August 2013 book, The Courting Campaign, to be bleak, so I set it on a gray, misty day.  I wanted the hero and heroine in my December 2013 book, The Wife Campaign, to search for creative ways to survive an enforced house party, so I made it rain, and rain, and rain. 

But did you ever wonder what the weather was like in certain seasons in the nineteenth century in England?  Several sources on the web offer tidbits.  From them and from historical documentation, we know the following:

• January 1811, it was cold enough in London, for long enough, that the Thames froze over.
• May 1811, London saw thunderstorms nine different times in one month.
• Spring and summer 1812 were unusually cold and wet.
• The winter of 1813/1814 was extremely cold, and the last of the famous Thames frost fairs was held in February 1814.
• 1816 was the “Year without a summer,” which has been blamed on a volcanic eruption in 1815 that sent up a cloud of ash into the atmosphere.  London reported snow on Easter Sunday (April 14) and more snow on May 12!
• Early March 1818 saw strong gales across England that damaged structures and crops.

Makes our late dreary spring look absolutely cheerful!

If you’re stuck indoors today or next week because of inclement weather, and you wonder what to do with yourself, you might wander on over to the blog of Regency authorLesley-Anne McLeod, where yours truly will be sharing information about Easter customs in the early nineteenth century.  You can also join the Love Inspired authors at Goodreads from now through March 28 for an Easter egg hunt with fun prizes.  My day is Wednesday, March 27, but you’re welcome any time.

Regardless of the weather.