It’s impossible to predict UK weather, but who can deny the pleasure of seeing a row of sunshine icons at a journey’s end?
Now I’m in my 30s, I like to think I’ve left the stuff of make-believe behind. Tooth fairy? Pfft, I saw through her by seven. Fad weight-loss drink that tastes like suffering? Couldn’t fool me past 25. Yet when it comes to the little icon of the sun behind the cloud – that is, my phone’s weather app – I continue to suspend my critical faculties, choosing to fulsomely believe in its ability to do what we know to be impossible: predict British weather.
As it turns out, I’m not alone. This week it was revealed by the children’s writer Francesca Simon, of the Horrid Henry series, that Queen Camilla is teased over her obsession with weather apps. Simon had met Camilla at a literacy charity event that was due to take place in the gardens at Clarence House, and the two had a good laugh about watching weather in various places where they weren’t. “She mentioned it was raining in France, where I’m meant to be today, and I said, ‘Yeah, I know,’” said Simon.
Coco Khan is a freelance writer and co-host of the politics podcast Pod Save the UK
