Country weather folklore based upon trees coming into leaf

by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

This weather lore that is being referred to here is valid for England and – maybe – the northern half of the European mainland only and should not be translated for, say, the USA, and such.

ash-budThe saying goes “Oak before Ash, in for a splash; Ash before Oak, in for a soak.” Meaning that if the Oak comes into leaf before does the Ash then there will be but a little rain during the summer. When, however, the Ash comes into leaf before the Oak then, so it indicates, a wet summer is going to follow.

Many so-called educated people claim those weather signs to be nothing more than old wives tales and those of uneducated countrymen, but we must not forget that such kind of country lore has come about from very careful observation of Nature.

In Britain, at last in the South East where I live, last year the Ash did leaf before the Oak, in general, and we did rather have a soak. In fact we have had, according to the government, the wettest drought in history, as the declared a drought on April 1st and it began to rain about a week later and never really stopped.

I shall definitely keep a much closer eye on the lore based on Nature's signs from now on to see how accurate it is and maybe base my own preparations on it.

© 2013