El Andalous - The Weather

My Sheltered Balcony

There’s not usually much to say about the weather here – it’s constantly sunny and warm. However, despite this constancy, it’s surprising how sometimes you go outside and the day just seems especially nice. I’m not sure what it is and I’ve noticed that others will say it on the same day, so I don’t think it’s anything to do with my mood on a given day.

Saturday just gone was one of those days – it was sunny, the air was somehow fresh and warm, there was a slight breeze and it was just, well, perfect.

However, since I’ve been back, the weather has actually been a bit temperamental.

Extraordinarily, at the end of October, we must have had about two days of non-stop rain. On the first night, thunder cracked right overhead, and dramatic sheet lightning lit up the bay accompanied by many simultaneous streaks of lightning. Egypt isn’t really equipped for this weather, so a number of people died. Hurghada was flooded, and a total of 150 million cubic metres of rain fell over the Red Sea in those two days. In Sahl Hasheesh, the rain mostly washed down (naturally) into the sea. A friend in El Andalous had to scoop 180+ litres of water off her balcony. Fortunately, I’m tucked away in a corner and got only a few drops. My sofas didn’t even get wet.

I’ve experienced proper rain here before, but never for two days non-stop. Each time it rains, you can see most of the Egyptians running around, bringing in things from outside, and laughing away. It’s a bit like snow for the Brits, I guess – a novelty which makes life interesting and fun for a while (until the reality hits). There was a power cut, of course – I was just waiting for it to happen – but fortunately it was only for a few hours, so it could have been a lot worse. My two newly-purchased solar lights were put to use but it did dawn on me that if I was thinking I could just use the sun to charge them up again, this didn’t work if we had rain! It was something that never even entered my mind.

After two days, things resumed to normal. The sky was blue and the sun shone. However, for the next two weeks we had quite a lot of wind and in the afternoons, cloud would come and cover the sky for some periods (maybe an hour or two only, though). I almost didn’t go to the beach one day because it was cloudy, but sometimes it’s deceptive and it looks cloudy from my balcony, but when you’re on the beach, it’s actually fine.

But now, it’s back to normal. This is really the best time of year here, because the water is still warm from the summer and the temperatures are a bit cooler. Having said that, it still took me some time to adjust back to the heat and I’ve been having air conditioning on every now and then, particularly at night in order to get to sleep.

However, I can see from my dwindling water and diet coke consumption that it’s no longer so hot and slowly but surely, I’m starting to lie in the sun again rather than just the shade. The UK is supposed to be looking forward to its coldest winter in 100 years this year, so I'm happy to be here instead.