Weather Report: Iced up Britain

It's cold. This is where I used to live, Great Britain.




Picture from NASA, January 7th

Apparently the Gulf Stream shifted direction, which could be an apocalypse for Britain if it doesn't change back. I've never seen England so snow covered - though I suppose it was as cold in the mid-sixties, when I remember making snowmen in the yard in northern England. Generally speaking, Britain is warm. I know Brits complain about the weather, but that's because it rains, not because the entire country is covered in ice.

;

It's cold here in the US too. Iguanas are dropping out of the trees in Florida. Iguanas are an invasive species in Florida, so it's not surprising it occasionally gets too cold for them. They didn't evolve here. But that iguana - a fine and healthy-looking adult male in breeding condition - really is comatose, or the handler would be like, short three fingers.

Frost in Florida means bad things for the country's orange crop. Apparently the US has had a record Soy Bean and Corn year - the two crops no sane person would want to eat - but now it is orange season and it looks like Florida's crop is doomed from frost.

My own orange tree is full, which is not a lot of use as there is always a glut at this time. The wild orange trees in the town are also fully-laden. There are so many oranges around here (I live in Orange County, CA) that people don't pick up the windfalls. They aren't food, just nuisance-tree trash. My lemon tree's more use to me, even though I don't eat nearly as many lemons as oranges.