WEIRD WEATHER

A sk any weather enthusiast and they will probably tell you that there was a precise and dramatic moment when they fell in love with the weather. For many, it is an epiphany that comes during childhood. That is certainly the case for my colleague and co-writer on this feature, Sara Thornton.

Sara remembers the time she found herself in a Pennsylvania snowstorm white-out as a child. Suddenly the world was completely white and silent. There was no horizon, no distinction between ground and sky. Yes, it was disconcerting, but it was also magical.

For me, growing up on the Sussex coast, it was a night-time rumbling of distant thunder that transformed an interest in weather into an obsession. Storms developing in France and drifting across the English Channel provided the soundtrack to my summer nights, and as I lay listening in bed, I was inspired to train as a meteorologist.

DRAMA IN THE ATMOSPHERE

The lightning-bolt moments that ignite a passion for weather often come from the completely