Opening Lines

IF we are to be friends there are some things you should know.

If we happen to be chatting and at some point the conversation includes some speculation about whether it might rain that afternoon, chances are I’m going to say: “Let me just look up the Rainfall Radar.” Then I take out my phone and make some tum-ti-tum noises to myself before announcing: “We should be grand till six I’d say”. Rainfall Radar fanatics: I know you’re out there. You’ve recently told everyone in the family to bring a coat because it WILL rain. You’ve seen the people in your life who you love, roll their eyes and exchange glances when you mention it, as if you were some hairy-eared eccentric poring over 1986 World Cup Panini stickers in your garden shed. But we know don’t we, brethren — and sistren, but probably mainly brethren — that the Rainfall Radar has changed our lives.

For those not aware of Rainfall Radar — or fools as we radarchitects call you — it’s a page on the Met Eireann website which shows exactly were the rain is and has been. And then by playing the rainfall data over the last six hours, you can extrapolate out where the rain is going to be over the next while. The reason is showers — specifically scattered showers; the curse of temperate maritime climates.