Madam, - Brendan McWilliams (Weather Eye, December 11th), underlines the inevitability of sudden shifts in regional weather patterns with tragic consequences for many.
I was prompted to look back and see how the weather was 100 years ago, when that talented observer of nature and wildlife, Edith Holden, penned her Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady. The chosen entries for December 1906 include:
"December 12th: Wind and rain with bright intervals. . .
"December 14th: Heavy fall of snow. . .
"December 20th: A rapid thaw and four days of wonderfully mild, still weather without wind or rain. . .
"December 25th: We woke to a snowy Christmas morning; sunshine later and sharp frost at night. . ."
Maybe we can find some consolation in knowing that those sudden shifts in pattern were observed 100 years ago also. - Yours, etc,
MARGIE CULLEN,
Holycross,
Co Tipperary.