Folk Lore and Sayings About the Weather
Red sky at night, shepherds delight
Red sky in the morning, shepherds warning
If November’s ice will support a duck
The winter will be slush and muck
There’s enough blue in the sky to make a pair of Dutchman’s (sailor’s) trousers
One swallow does not a summer make
Oak before ash, we’re in for a splash
Ash before oak, we’re in for a soak
Don’t cast a clout ‘til May is out
(May probably refers to hawthorn)
No weather is ill if the wind be still
It takes snow to take snow
It’s black over Bill’s mothers
St Swithin’s Day, if it does rain
Full forty days it will remain
St Swithin’s Day, if it be fair
For forty days ‘twill rain no more
Rain before seven, fine before eleven
When the swallows nest is high, summer is dry
When the swallows nest is low, you can safely reap and sow
A swarm in May is worth a load of hay
A swarm in June is worth a silver spoon
But a swarm in July is not worth a fly
When March comes in like a lion it goes out like a lamb
March winds and April showers
Bring forth May flowers
Clear moon, frost soon
As the days grow longer, the cold grows stronger (As the days start to lengthen the sea is still getting colder)
If Candlemas Day be sunny and bright, winter will have another flight; if Candlemas Day be cloudy with rain, winter is gone and won’t come again.
A farmer should on Candlemas Day, have half his corn and half his hay.
Whether the weather be fine
Or whether the weather be not
Whether the weather be cold
Or whether the weather be hot
Whatever the weather
Whether we like it or not
The rain it raineth
every day
On the just and unjust fella
But mostly on the just fella
‘cause the unjust stole the just’s umbrella