I know the weather in England is the butt of jokes the world over, with everyone thinking that it’s always grey, wet and cold here, but actually we’ve had a pretty good year so far! September and early October were unusually mild, which was great.

But that all changed a couple of days ago. When I left the house yesterday it was just 5 C and the wind was strong and cold all day. Then it began to rain. And this morning it was pouring as I set off for work at 6am. The train is always rather unpleasant on mornings like this. The ventilation is poor (whoever decided train windows mustn’t open should be shot!), newcomers getting on the train at each stop drip all over the place and the windows steam up and obscure the view. And commuters like me pay good money for this experience.

Ho hum.