signs of life

After months of darkness and rain, wonder | wander | women were relieved to finally see the sun out for a whole day! We've had weeks of false alarms and hints of spring, little signs that warmer days were coming.

Gardenias blooming early

It rained every single day of 2026 until the end of February. London is famous for drizzle and rain, but in fact winter days here are often sunny, while chilly. Many Londoners can enjoy a bike or walk in the sunshine if we wrap up warm.

View of the Thames from Blackfriars Bridge

This year there were no sunny walks. Every day was grim, wet, and often blustery. Like Northern countries and their many terms for snow, we had many different kinds of rain - mist, showers, drenching, mizzle, damp, and the wind-driven rain that defies umbrellas and hoods.

If there was any sun at all, it was watery, brief or barely there. Still, Londoners welcomed any hint of daylight and we were out walking at any opportunity, zipped up against the chill.

Spring's true face breaking out in places through the mask of winter. In the parks, planting continued through the wet weather. Crocuses and daffodils, the frontline banners of season change, started to show their colours through the grey.

London Blossom Garden at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park

Last week the sun fought its way through for the first time and we were able to enjoy a little run of sunny days as February crossed over into March. The change of seasons was sudden and dramatic, like a portal opening into a parallel universe.

Skateboarders on the new Bazalgette Embankment

London recently unveiled the new Bazalgette Embankment, a riverside public space built on the new Thames Tideway Tunnel created to clean up the river. Even on grey days it's a good place to avoid the traffic and construction on the main roads, but on sunny days it invites Londoners to come out of our burrows and warm up with our neighbours.

Office workers on lunch break mingled with tourists and young skaters filming stunts along the embankment. We strolled along the river and watched the sunset with a good friend before heading to the Tate Modern for hot chocolate and a long catch up.

There was a beautiful half moon over the angular blocks of the museum, and the golden hour made the warm bricks glow almost bronze. The grim grey haze of the city lifted and a fiery glow touched even the dullest stones with colour and vibrancy - a promise of changing seasons to come.