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who lovingly bestows rain on his loyal followers.

Back in Britain, however, many people find the scent during and immediately after rain especially pleasant or distinctive. The source of this scent is petrichor, an oil produced by plants, then absorbed by rocks and soil, and later released into the air during rainfall.

Rainy reputations can however be deceiving. We have gained our reputation for being a rainy country due to the fact that the Western coast of Britain can receive anywhere from 40-100 inches of rainfall a year. This is a stark contrast to the Southern and Eastern parts of the country which are much drier. In fact the southeast of England receives less annual rainfall than Beirut.

Seattle, Washington in the States (otherwise known as the good people who brought you grunge music and Starbucks) is known as one of the rainiest cities in the world, but in fact they only receive on average 37 inches of rainfall a year. This is less than the Big Apple itself, as New York receives 46 inches a year.

Elsewhere around the Commonwealth, Vancouver, Canada is considered to be the rain capital of the world, receiving rain almost every day during the winter. Melbourne, Australia suffers a similar fate to Seattle. It is widely regarded as the rainiest city in Australia. However it's annual rainfall of 21 inches pales in comparison to Sydney's 43 inches. However, the Commonwealth can proudly boast that it holds the wettest spot on Earth, namely Cherrapunji, situated on the southern slopes of the Eastern Himalaya in Shillong, India. However, due to it's location in the Himalayas, it is difficult to measure the amount of rain it annually receives.

So whether you consider rain a depressing bringer of danger and doom, or a comforting promise of happiness, the fact remains that we here in Britain seem to get more than our fair share of it. Embrace the rain, as it is a quintessential part of British life. That being said, it seems to have stopped raining for now so I'm off to grab a few rays of sunshine before the clouds open up again!

Learn more about this author, Abigail Luftig.
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