Hi there, I was wondering which parts of France were milder or even 'warm' during the winter? It is 0 degrees here in Gtr London/Kent and it is freezing! As I am a COPD/Bronchiectasis sufferer, I dream of spending some of the time in our colder months in a milder part of France. I'm not in a position yet to up sticks and move there but it would be nice to find a warmer spot there to get away to for my health! This winter here has been a lot more severe than this time last year, my energy bills can testify to that...and my chest infections! Would love to hear others' input on the winters they experience in different parts of France, particularly those who have similar respiratory issues. xx
Yes I think you may be right but house prices etc have moved a little since then! Like Major I lived in Brixton in the 70's and I bought my house for £6k, got an improvement grant and sold it in 1975 for £16.5k. just after exchange some rioting took place and the house was attacked. I panicked but my solicitor told me not to worry because it had become the insurance responsibility of the purchaser. A 2 bedroom flat in Brixton could be as much as £500,000 or even more these days. The IHT tax free allowances have drifted up over the years but have remained stable for at least two parliaments although London property prices have probably doubled during the period. It has become a tax bonanza for the Treasury. I recently paid them £300k on behalf of an estate.
IHT is a soft touch - I thought it was John (corr I don't 'arf fancy you Edwina) Major who supposedly wanted to make it easier for the kids to inherit the family 'fortunes' ? Did I miss something ?
The Liberals are promising to raise taxes including Inheritance Tax but haven't said how. I assume by including the taxation rates maybe on a sliding scale basis. It was them that put the kybosh on the promised raising of the IHT allowances last time. I believe that the Tories are promising this again but if there's another coalition or somebody else is in government it won't happen. This becoming a very serious problem for anybody with property in the SE or London.
I was shocked! I know that it was -21°C the winter before we arrived but that we have had -12°C in November 2013 and just one day 42°C in the hot spell last summer, which is a 54° swing inside a year as Andrew said, but well spaced. Then again I have worked in well over 50°C in a countries and had around -30°C in the north of Norway, so this is just balmy ;-)
Amazing Brian! I have known it touch 50° and down to minus 16, but not in a short space of time of course!
On the back of a recent comment by Andrew Hearne about the around 55°C possible swing, I looked for the biggest swing in the shortest time in this part of the Périgord. In 2002 there was -4° during the first week of April and a 38° third week of May, just over six weeks (44 days) between. I had never thought about that before!
Steve, I found that on the Cote d'Azur it didn't get as scorching hot in the summer as it does in the Gers. Maybe something to do with the sea breaze perhaps?
In a minority parliament very little simple legislation gets through because there is simply a fight over every bill that goes before parliament. Almost none are passed in many cases. If it means a short parliament with new vote in the near future it will not even go to parliament because it is such a 'small' matter. It means that if they are returned, they can go through the motions, expect it to be defeated and then forget it for X years. Look back at the history of short lived minority governments and you will see. That is why, I imagine, in election year nobody wants to act on this and should there be the outcome as above, then it will go the requisite number of years not to be reviewed and revoked, then need a new act of parliament to give us the WFP. Sum ergo, many of us would never live to see it again, if any of us ever, and the ECJ ruling will have been 'legitimately' kicked into the long grass. They know precisely what they are doing.
As for their faith. Yes well, number one and two Christians Blair and Cameron have done the less well off so much harm between them that all their proclamations of faith are worth...
Roger does Parliamentary Privelege apply in this case? If not can we not make a deposition to the Serious Fraud Office?
i would be happy to add my name to this.
David, they cannot see further than the end of their noses. The Tories have said that they will scrap the 15 year exclusion on British ex-pats ability to vote, but not until after the next election.
Why I ask not now!!
I have had this letter from Steve Webb via my Tory MP, who is following the set programme for all Stroud MP’s of all persuasions, ie. fence sitters.
If the Chairman of the 1922 Committee recognises that this is a fraud being perpetrated upon British retirees, why are not more of the Tory MP’s standing up and being counted.
I actually e-mailed Steve Webb who is a professed Christian and asked him to say to me as a fellow Christian how he could validate his position. I had no reply.
We bought the house ten years ago Jacqueline and I've lived there full time since 2010. Even during January and early February the cold doesn't affect my breathing. Unlike in damper climates when I could expect maybe two or three infections over the winter. I lived in Grenoble back in early Eighties and I'd no bother with the cold there either.
Have a look at this Jacqueline http://about-france.com/climate-weather.htm it gives you an overview of weather across the Country. I live halfway between Toulon and Nice beside a lovely village, Lorgues. The weather is only cold in January and the beginning of February and even then it's fine during the day when the morning chill has been burnt off by the sun. I too have dodgy lungs with annual infections when I lived in London and Dublin but no problems in France.
The problem with the places which may be warm at this time is at other times its scorching hot !
I live in dept 47 and its cold right now sometimes wet or sunny or dry so mixed - not too many frosts this year like last.
Spring come early and our summers are fairly hot but importantly historic data show long dry summers - whereas the nearby Dordogne is as hot but gets much more rain year round.
I love these comments about bitterly cold winters in the South and "quite high temperatures" in the North in the summer: upper 20s!
I (tongue in cheek) suggest to spend a day to recalibrate in Winnipeg where I have family - -40 in winter, +38 in summer. Windchill and heat index are easily below minus and above plus 50C, respectively... People actually live there (not sure why :-). They even enjoy it (most of the time).
We have it good here, folks.
I do not mean to belittle the respiratory problems of some, I have some experience, I understand. I think the very South-East corner of France provides an ideal climate and choice between French and Italian cheese and wine as well. And villages perchés!
Exactly, as Andrew says. Wind the NE wind we now have -2°C before 1900 in the evening. Tomorrow morning will certainly not be above -6°C.
The Carcassonne/Narbonne/Perpignan triangle is second windiest part of Europe after the north of Scotland :-O
That is very true Peter. We once called into Perpignan for lunch on our way back from Spain and I think I experienced the coldest, most bitter wind EVER anywhere! ! ;-)
I'm a regular visitor to the Perpignan area and I have to say it's nice in summer with a sea breeze not too far away but in the cooler months the winds can be bitter, as cold as anything i've ever experienced in the UK. The climate doen't seem to be too 'damp' generally tho' which is great for my lungs !