It’s St. Swithin’s Day today and we’re about to tell you something that’s really going to put a dampener on your day.
Or should we say the next 40 days.
St. Swithin isn’t exactly the most well-known of saints and that’s probably because he hasn’t got a lot of positive things to shout about. Yes, he was the Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently the patron saint of Winchester Cathedral, which is all well and good, but his historical importance has been somewhat overshadowed by his reputation for “posthumous miracle-working”.
You might very well be thinking that “posthumous miracle-working” doesn’t sound like a negative at all. especially when you think about all the miraculous acts he could be pulling off, right?
Well, here’s what St. Swithin’s Day really means.
According to ancient weather folklore, should it rain on St. Swithin’s feast day – 15th July – then it will continue to rain for the following 40 days, but on the flip-side, if it’s dry and ‘cracking flags’ out, then that fair weather will subsequently continue for the same time period.
Have you put two and two together yet? Yes, it’s unfortunately raining (or at least has been raining) across Greater Manchester and much of the UK today, and if this bit of folklore is anything to go by, it won’t be stopping any time soon.
So much for summer.
Why is this the case though? Where did this tale of legend come from? What’s the history behind it?
To sum it up briefly, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica, when St. Swithin passed away, he was buried at his request in the churchyard of Winchester Cathedral in a location where rain and the steps of passersby might fall on his grave.
After his body was moved inside the cathedral on 15th July 971, a “great storm ensued”.
The first textual evidence for the weather prophecy appears to have come from a 13th/14th-century entry in a manuscript at Emmanuel College, Cambridge. Although, as weather frequently changes around midsummer, it’s believed the tradition that this day can influence ensuing weather may stem from earlier, possibly pre-Christian, beliefs.
The British weather folklore proverb reads:
St Swithun’s day if thou dost rain
For forty days it will remain
St Swithun’s day if thou be fair
For forty days ’twill rain nae mare
Another well-known variant states – “If on St Swithun’s day it really pours, you’re better off to stay indoors.“
It’s not all simply folklore though, there is apparently some scientific basis to the weather pattern behind the legend of St Swithin’s Day.
Around the middle of July, the jet stream settles into a pattern which, in the majority of years, holds reasonably steady until the end of August. When the jet stream lies north of the British Isles, then continental high pressure is able to move in, but when it lies across or south of the British Isles, Arctic air and Atlantic weather systems predominate.
So, there you have it.
Cheers St. Swithin – it’s a good job us Mancunians are used to it.
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Pep Guardiola aims not-so-subtle dig at ‘destructive’ FIFA Club World Cup
Danny Jones
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is the latest to voice his concerns surrounding the ongoing 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, delivering a not-so-subtle dig at the competition.
Ahead of Man City‘s round of 16 match against Al Hilal in this year’s Club World Cup, of which they won all their group stage games, the Catalan head coach has once again come out to criticise the increasingly congested fixture calendar.
His comments come after former Liverpool manager and now Head of Global Soccer for Red Bull, Jürgen Klopp, labelled the current off-season summer run of matches “the worst idea ever.”
Somewhat echoing his statement – or at the very least aligning with it (albeit indirectly) – Pep Guardiola gave his two cents also, claiming that the now extended, 32-team tournament could “destroy” his squad and their fortunes in the next campaign.
Clearly, Pep is far from the biggest of fan of the recently refreshed format, even despite having won the thing on four occasions in the past – the most recent being with Manchester City back in 2023.
Reflecting on what impact he fears the Club World Cup may have on his team next season, Guardiola said: “I try not to think about it, otherwise I will be so anxious. We will rest [for as much time as] the Premier League allows us to.
“And game by game, month by month, we will see. And maybe in November, December, January, ask me, Pep. I may say: ‘So listen, we are a disaster. We are exhausted. The World Cup destroyed us.’ I don’t know, but it’s the first time in our [lives] that that’s happened [a 32-team CWC]. So we will see…”
Unpredictable weather in the United States, where the action is being hosted, has also been the subject of outrage in some cases, with Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca stating, “It’s a joke! It’s not football”, after a major storm delay mid-game pushed meant that one of their games took five hours to finish.
The 54-year-old also insisted that those who were against the tweaked concept “fought a lot” here in England, in UEFA meetings and so on, as was the case with the revision of the new layout of the Champions League, but to no avail.
Jurgen Klopp: "NBA player earns a lot of money & has 4 months of rest per year. Van Dijk didn't even have that in his entire career. Tournaments such as the Club World Cup cannot take place at the expense of players" [Die Welt]
Regarding Klopp, who set this latest chain of criticism, he claims that whoever wins the 2025 Club World Cup is ultimately “pointless” and will be “the worst winner of all time because they’ll have played all summer and then gone straight back into the league.”
In his eyes, the decisions are being made by people who have “never been involved” with the pressure of day-to-day life in professional football and the physical toll of multiple competitions, in particular.
As for who might win the 2025 CWC, it could very well be Man City for a second time, as the Blues are the only team remaining that has a 100% win ratio this year, having most recently thrashed Juventus 5-2 in their last game.
Nevertheless, it seems that the stance of Klopp, Guardiola, Maresca and more is pretty plain: this particular tournament will go down in the record books for the wrong reasons, and they won’t be happy until the format is revisited.
Do you agree with Pep and co. on the Club World Cup controversy?
Featured Images — Man City (screenshot via YouTube)
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Burger King is giving away FREE vegan burgers to meat lovers to prove how ‘tasty’ they are
Emily Sergeant
Reckon you could swap out meat for a vegan alternative?
Now we know there’ll be droves of meat-lovers who read that question with their noses turned up, immediately dismissing the possibility that it would ever be something they’d consider… but what if we told you it was free?
That’s right – Burger King has announced that for the next week or so, it’ll be delivering its delicious Vegan Royale burgers to meat-loving customers for free, all with the aim of giving them a chance to experience just how tasty and satisfying plant-based foods can be, and prove that they won’t miss out by giving it a go.
The Vegan Royale is Burger King’s take on its legendary Chicken Royale burger, and sees a crispy vegan patty – that’s meant to be an alternative to chicken – topped with iceberg lettuce, vegan mayo, and crowned with a toasted sesame seed bun.
Burger King is giving away free vegan burgers to meat lovers to prove how ‘tasty’ they are / Credit: Burger King UK
The fast food chain‘s campaign is in partnership with The Vegetarian Butcher, and comes as shocking new research has revealed that more than 40% of meat eaters admit to having never tasted a plant-based burger.
On the other hand, that same research also found that the UK appears to eb embracing plant-based foods more than ever, as nearly 60% of the population say that are open to trying it.
67% of those who once thought plant-based food wasn’t for them say a great meat alternative burger was what changed their mind – so maybe this is what the Vegan Royale can be for you, if you’re willing to give it a chance.
So, to give hungry customers a taste of what the fuss is all about, Burger King will be offering anyone who orders on UberEats or Just Eat, with a minimum spend of £20, a Vegan Royale burger for free of charge along with the rest of their order.
Emily Sergeant -
15th July 2020 
