The former begins about the first of May, and the latter about the first of November. The heat of summer and the cold of winter are intense for about three months, each in its season. The rest of the year is more temperate. Though vegetation begins on or before the first of May, it does not make much appearance till the earth is well warmed with the rays of the sun, when it proceeds with a rapidity unequalled in any part of Britain, and it is no unusual thing to see crops of grain sown, ripened, and cut down all in the space of three months. But it is seldom so plump as in colder climates, where it ripens more slowly.
Storms are sometimes so violent as to do considerable damage.
The most serious I have seen happened on 28th of June 1818. At about mid-day it began to thunder, attended with rain, which continued about two hours, when a violent storm, or rather hurricane, commenced, so violent that trees in all directions were prostrated on the ground. First hail, and then rain fell in torrents. The hail was as large as gooseberries, and besides doing much damage to the crops, demolished many of the windows that were exposed to its fury. I never witnessed a storm any thing like so severe.