Hidden art of reading weather

NOWADAYS with professional experts giving weather forecasts based on science and studies of the atmosphere, it is common to mock traditional weather lore, farmers and other rural folk who relied on signs from plants and animals to predict the capricious elements.

Long before Jean Byrne and others from Met Éireann appeared nightly on our TV screens, every townland had a man reputed to be good at reading the weather. If there was hay to be mown, or saved, such a man would be consulted and his views given due weight.

The wet and windy weather which has marred July has been forecast prettily accurately, in the south-west at least. There’s no doubt that forecasting has improved with the use of satellites and other technology.