Today is 15th July, which can only mean one thing… it’s St Swithin’s Day of course! Or maybe like us, you’d never head of it before? Well no need to worry, because we’re here to educate you…

Take note of the weather today, because tradition states that whatever the weather is like on St Swithin’s Day, is how it will be for the following forty days after. Unfortunately for us Brits, it seems we’ve got forty days of dreary weather to look forward to, how lovely! I guess we shouldn’t have expected anything less really.

Here is the well-known St Swithin’s Day poem:
St Swithin’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ‘twill rain nae mare.’

St Swithin, the Saxon Bishop of Winchester, was a very popular man. He was known for being very generous and often donated gifts to charity. When he was near his death, apparently, the Bishop requested that his body be laid to rest outside the church – which it was. However, years later his body was moved inside the church. As the stories told, moving his body is said to have caused an horrendous rainstorm, which continued for forty days.

However, of course, there isn’t much evidence to back up this theory, with many saying it is simply a myth. The Met Office have tested this theory 55 times and it has not proven to be true on any of those occasions.

… So it looks like we’re not in for 40 days of miserable weather – hurrah!

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