This week has seen the onset of the first cold weather for the season. With temperatures dropping below normal we have been reminded of what's to come, and had our first taste of snow.

Yet despite its regularity we somehow we never seem to take this transition with ease and lag behind the weather in every sense. As I dropped the kids off at school and daycare I felt the icy wind ripping at my face and in shock watched the snow swirling down around me. Did anyone say it was going to snow today? Damn I forgot to check the paper before I dressed the kids. My daughter had only jeans on and although my son had lined pants they would not be enough. I cursed myself for not taking the cooler temperatures more seriously, for not getting their warmer boots out of the cellar and checking if they even fit, for not putting woollen hats on them.

It seems I am not the only one who so keenly resists the change in seasons, the kids themselves run around in way too little clothing if no-one watches over them. Up until this week I have turned up at school to find my daughter among the kids without hats, gloves and even jackets, despite her hands being icy-cold to touch. This week their teacher finally stopped them from going out without jackets!

Motorists too are renown for being ill-equipped when the icy conditions come and every year hundreds of cars go sliding off the road into ditches, on-coming traffic and anything else in the way. We wait until the last minute to put our winter tires on; I too have been guilty of it and caught in a snowstorm. The garages around the country usually have a very busy few days as motorists wait around to have their winter tires put on for them. The papers are guaranteed to be filled with reports of accidents on the roads.

I watched a kid on a moped this morning on his way to school - as he turned the corner the bike slid out from under him and he came off. He was fine, albeit very annoyed. It is soon time to put the mopeds and motorbikes away for the season, in wait of warmer weather. Only the bravest drive once the roads get icy.

It has been a funny autumn this year with local temperatures being below average, the rain coming mostly at night and the days filled with glorious sunshine. As long as the sun shines we are happy and can cope with the cooler temperatures. The first snow doesn't usually come for another month, which is why it took us by surprise this week. Everyone was talking about it, the kids more excitedly than the adults! 

So after the snowfall I managed to get downstairs and drag out the snowsuits and boots and they were dressed warmly the next day, ready for whatever the skies decided to dish out at us. Of course by the time I picked them and their friends up in the afternoon they were hot, hot, hot and the boys quickly discarded their jackets and ran around in just their snowpants. You never can tell and the temperature is so much lower in the mornings!

Mind you I don't think too many of us will complain about the Brilliant blue skies in the afternoons. The colours at this time of year are glorious.

The last couple of weeks have also seen a dramatic difference in daylight. Once the sun starts sleeping in later than us in the mornings it becomes difficult to get up once the alarm goes off, and even more difficult to raise sleeping children. It is now dark until 7.30am and as early as 5.30 in the afternoon and we are losing daylight at a rate of 5 minutes a day - that is 35 minutes a week! The darkness of Sweden will soon be upon us!

You can keep your eye on the Swedish daylight hours here:

  This graph shows average temperatures, rainfall, humidity etc for Stockholm.

 
Sweden Climate graph contributed by climatetemp.info

And you can check here for the current temperatures in cities and towns around the country

Perhaps you'll manage to be a little better prepared for when the temperature drops than I was!

Happy Winter !?