12 APRIL 1946, Page 14

COUNTRY LIFE

A FAVOURITE phrase in local weather lore is "our blackthorn winter." This year the blackthorn came out fully on the hottest spring day recorded in the annals. People say that this is the " exception which proves the rule." The trouble is that the phrase, as commonly used, is entirely devoid of meaning. It may mean something in laboratory experiments, but it is worse than meaningless, it is misleading, in common speech. Perhaps English weather in general has so many exceptions that the rule is untraceable. A kindly system from the Azores and a hostile system from Iceland are wont to fight an equal battle for the dominance of middle England, and we seldom know which is going to win.