THE thing about bad weather is that you want someone to blame.

“Thank you, God,” shouted Basil Fawlty, when life went wrong, but is it really fair to blame a deity for grey skies and heavy precipitation?

David Attenborough, for instance, blames man as the architect of climate change. He says research suggests melting Arctic ice has slowed the jet stream, causing the UK to have unseasonably cold and wet weather.

And there I was thinking climate change meant Yorkshire would have long hot summers, the Huddersfield Narrow Canal would become a tourist paradise of spas and water pleasure parks and the Pennine hills of Slawit and Marsden would be rich with vineyards and outdoor cafe society.

Not so, apparently. Well, not yet.

They’re even feeling it in Belgium where television weather forecasters have been asked to be more optimistic by theme park owners. Gloomy predictions, they say, could lose them a fortune.

Over here the school holidays haven’t started yet and they can be a nightmare even if the weather is good. Which is why, I suppose, forecasters on the internet are now being specific with their predictions.

Mums can check online, see a window of opportunity between two and four when there is no rain and take the kids to the park with a picnic.

“But mum, we don’t want to go to the park at two in the morning.”

“You can sleep this afternoon when it’s raining.”

It didn’t rain on St Swithin’s Day, of course, but I’m still not holding my breath for good weather.

The saint’s day was last Sunday which was surprisingly dry and may have kindled hope in the hearts of many that summer may yet occur.