What's your weather like right now?

[ruggie]

We did our searching for an area to live by travelling around in winter. Some places that seem idyllic on a summer holiday are rather different in winter - for instance the hills inland from Nice are in the clouds quite a lot of the time.

You can help people still trying to choose an area by telling them what kind of weather you're having, and whether you think it is typical.

Here in the Limousin, at 400 metres altitude and a long way from the moderating influence of the sea, our winter weather varies a lot. Whatever happens, the locals say it is 'pas normal' - not normal. On average, we don't get much snow, and it can fall any time from now (as it has just done - exceptionally early) until late March. We always get minimum temperatures of -10 degrees or so for several days, and one year we had -14 for five nights in a row.

Quite a contrast from summer, which will always hit 40 in the shade for a few days.