No white Christmas

NO doubt children will be disappointed, and their parents delighted, to learn that a white Christmas is not on the cards.

Apparently, the south winds blowing warm air from the tropics account for the unusually high temperatures for this time of year.

In the grip of the average cold and wet winter, people would normally be shivering and burning oil as if it was going out of fashion.

In West Cork, fields of daffodils have been blooming since November. They normally wouldn’t be out in January. Because some can’t spray winter crops since the ground is too wet and soft for machinery, last year’s plantings are reappearing.

Meanwhile, hoary old blue bottles are buzzing around kitchens, and frogs that should be hibernating are out and about. An inflatable snowman has been spotted.

Is this global warming? Scientists will probably shake their heads. Whatever the explanation, the last rose of summer is turning into the first rose of spring.