It's effing freezing up here in Veneto. It suddenly got so cold that the Regione had to give permission for public offices and schools and condominio with centralised heating etc to turn it back on again.
People think it's a British thing to always talk about about the weather but my God, the Veneti aren't half complaining and loudly too. But I know in a couple of weeks (hopefully) they'll be complaining about the heat. I do have some friends in other parts of Italy though covered in snow.

We had it around 30C at the begining of April. The neighbours were making barbecues and eating outside. I planted out my tomatoes at the start of April and they have just survived because fortunately it did not go below zero. The fruit trees dont like these temperature jumps.

It's freezing in the UK as well, I switched my heating off beginning of the month and we had a few nice warm days, but the last couple of weeks have been very cold

The good news though is that the return of winter has revived the sprout season. A friend of ours who was in hospital for a couple of days was given sprouts, presumably on the traditional medical basis that if it doesn't taste nice it must be good for you

That was always my mum's saying, "eat them, they're good for you."

May Day bank holiday and it's pissing it down.

We've had so much rain that pipes have burst, garages, cantinas and tavernas have flooded, manhole covers have blown their lids taking some of the road with them and we've had emergency services out at all hours. My house and I are fine but I know more than one person who has lost a car in a flooded garage, others with stinky mud and gloop and all of them asking - where is the servizio civile etc to help with clean up and who is going to help pay for the damage ------- not all of it is a natural disaster or an act of God as the insurance companies are saying. One streeet got flooded because the pipes and sewers burst and they are asking if that's the fault of the comune or the water board that we pay for.

That all looks very scary Lorna. This is definitely happening more frequently in a number of places. Experienced so much heavy rainfall in Auckland, NZ, Spring/Summer of 2022/23. Then, since we've returned to England, we've had lots of heavy rain leading to flooding here.
I see that parts of western Germany and north-east France are experiencing much the same. Dreadful and unsettling.

That looks dreadful. I bet in a couple of weeks it will be 35C and too hot.

That's terrible, Lorna! But good to hear you and your house are fine. Thankfully nobody has lost their lives.

I'm scared of underground car parks for this reason. Not sure if the metro in Milan is any less prone to flooding.