Wet and Windy

... but at least he knows how to weather them.

Hating wet and windy weather is nothing to be ashamed of. After all, most of us go abroad because its different there, and in a serious squall, with your head down and your shoulders hunched, you'd hardly know a wet pavement in Rome from one in Rotherhithe. It's unwelcoming, bullying weather, pushing you around, forcing you into sensible shoes and an anorak, making you run for cover, and driving you indoors away from what you came to see.

Serious wind and rain are genuinely to be feared. They say that Siberians from the Taiga can only survive there because the air is so still and so dry - a hint of a breeze and a touch of moisture and the frozen forests would become uninhabitable. Climbers are in awe of the Patagonian mountains more for their tearing, soaking winds than for the steepness of their peaks. Sailors fear the roaring, sodden Cape more than anywhere. French explorer Maurice Herzog was almost killed by the Nepalese monsoon, when the bridges between him and a hospital were washed away and the endless rains so drenched the bandages protecting his wounds that they wouldn't heal.

The problems of Siberians, climbers and sailors - let alone Herzogs - aren't something most of us need to worry about, but rain and wind do make travel hard because they're just so unpredictable. You never know what to wear, nor what to pack. (Waxed jackets are très snob right across Europe, by the way, as much for the posh gentleman look as for keeping the rain off.) You never know when to go, either. It's not as if you can say 'don't go to Ireland in April' because April might be bright and sunny. It might be raining in sheets. Most likely - Ireland having a temperate, maritime climate - it'll be both.

There's something relentless and soul-destroying about a monotonously dry climate, however, and we'd miss the wind and rain if they weren't there. When it gusts and spits, you find yourself dashing into archways or cafés or museums that you'd never have seen if you weren't being chased by a cloudburst. New Zealand wouldn't be alive with fabulous tree ferns without its rain. The Scottish hills wouldn't be so glorious if they hadn't been hiding in cloud for a week. Rain is what makes the Emerald Isle emerald, after all, and no one picks up ruddy cheeks in a dead calm.

Travel Tips: Wet and Windy Weather
Umbrellas are useless when the rain is horizontal. Wear a wide-brimmed hat and an old-fashioned woolly jumper - the oils in the wool make water run off the surface. Put a one-pound polythene poncho in a pocket for emergencies. And clean your shoes. Even ordinary polish clogs up the pores in the leather, keeping your feet dry that bit longer.