November remains warm in Cyprus...

 I wrote, in my previous post, about the weather cooling slightly at the end of October.  I assumed that the temperature would continue dropping, with - as so often happens - quite a sharp drop by the middle of November. 

I was mistaken. I should not make assumptions. 

I took a screenshot of the weather forecast on November 5th, when the daytime temperature was still 29 degrees - more like early October than early November.  I was quite excited to see a prediction of rain for a week ahead, and that the night-time temperatures would be dropping as low as 15. But no sign of the usual chilly weather by the middle of the month. 

And it remained decidedly warm. Still, I made a few concessions to the cooler night-time temperatures. I got out our thin (4.5 tog) duvet. I kept throwing it off when it became too warm, but it was nice to snuggle into if I woke in the middle of the night. 

I got out Lady Jane's warm bed, not expecting her to want it yet... but, as in previous years, she loves it. She's a cat who prefers summer temperatures.

On November 7th, I made our Christmas cake. A week later than I usually do, but at least it's now made, and will mature (with a bit of extra 'feeding' with brandy) over the next few weeks.

I started wearing long trousers for early morning walks, rather than shorts. And by the end of the month I was wearing a very light-weight long-sleeved top for walking, too, as well as a polo shirt.

We had a bit of rain, though nothing that lasted more than a few minutes until the last week of November, when it rained rather more heavily overnight. At last, there was some water in the Salt Lake:

It's a little cooler now. Highs of 25-26 rather than 28-29. I'm wearing a light hoodie jacket (mostly unzipped) during the daytime, and jeans. I put away my sandals, and started wearing socks and shoes again. But I'm getting tired of the daytime heat, which still means that I don't like to go out of the house between about 11am and 3pm. 

Most years we've been using the central heating for a couple of weeks by the end of November, and needing the water heater for our showers.  But we haven't even had the boiler serviced yet, and I haven't used the water heater at all.  On overcast days it takes a bit longer for the solar panels to warm the water, but the sun usually comes out at some point.

I know some areas in the UK and northern Europe have had snow in the past couple of weeks, while we're still basking in early October temperatures. I shouldn't complain. If it were like this in July and August I would be very happy. But quite apart from personal discomfort or frustration, it's a worrying sign of climate change. Some places will get more tornadoes and rain, some will be hotter and dryer. And there's a serious water shortage in Cyprus at present. So we hope and pray for lots of rain, and for snow in the mountains to fill the almost empty reservoirs.