Will it rain on St Swithins day for George James Symons FRS

Members of the Royal Meteorological Society and their invited guests will be hoping that it will not rain on St Swithin’s Day, the 15th July, although there is a possibility of thundery showers in southeast England. They are gathering together on Thursday 15 July for the graveside re-dedication of George James Symons FRS, one of the world’s most distinguished meteorologists.

At the age of 22 he founded what became known as the British Rainfall Organization, and over the next 40 years published detailed annual summaries of rainfall over the British Isles. By his untimely death in 1900 his voluntary observer network was some 3,500 strong: 110 years later this still forms the backbone of our rainfall observing system and records in the UK, which provides us with the densest rainfall observing network in the world.

It came to the Society’s attention in 2009 that Symons's grave, and that of his family, at Kensal Green Cemetery in west London, had fallen into disrepair. The Society decided to repair the grave and with the help of a kind donation of slate from Mark Weir, owner of the Honister Slate Mine in Cumbria, who will be attending the event, has been able to renovate the site. Situated high in the mountains of the Lake District, Honister Slate Mine is the last working slate mine in England and is particularly appropriate as Honister is one of the wettest places in Britain. To mark the completion of this renovation work the Society is holding a re-dedication event at Kensal Green Cemetery, Harrow Road, London at 1300 on Thursday 15 July (appropriately enough on St Swithin’s Day). There will be a supply of umbrellas available – just in case!

Notes for the Editor: The Royal Meteorological Society is the UK’s Professional and Learned Society for Weather and Climate. The Society was founded as the British Meteorological Society on 3 April 1850. It became the Royal Meteorological Society in 1883, when Her Majesty Queen Victoria granted the privilege of adding ‘Royal’ to the title. The Society is a registered charity, based in Reading, UK. The current President of the Society is Professor Julia Slingo OBE, the Chief Scientist at the UK Met Office; the Chief Executive of the Society is Professor Paul Hardaker; and the Head of Communications is Sarah Grintzevitch. The Society is contactable via email at chiefexec@rmets.org or via telephone on 0118 956 8500. Its website can be found at www.rmets.org.

Contact details for Honister Slate Mine, Mark Weir Tel: 017687 77230, www.honister.com St Swithin’s Day, 15 July, is famous for its weather lore, which allegedly dates back to the contentious reburial of St Swithin (or Swithun), the Bishop of Winchester who died in 862 AD, on 15 July 971 AD: St Swithin's day if thou dost rain / For forty days it will remain / St Swithin's day if thou be fair / For forty days 'twill rain no more.