By Philip Eden
Antipodean Christmases are often outdoor affairs; soaring temperatures, blazing sunshine and family 'barbies' combine to create a picture about as far removed from the traditional northern hemisphere Christmas as it is possible to get. Not that the UK's Christmas weather is often all that 'traditional' either, but that is beside the point.
Not all Australian Christmases are hot and sunny, although in Perth and Adelaide exceptions are rare, and rain falls on December 25 in these two cities in only about one year in ten. By contrast, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will be showery - or plain wet - one year in three. At Brisbane and along Queensland's Pacific coast torrential downpours and fierce thunderstorms are quite common, and even when the sun is shining humidity is usually uncomfortably high.
Darwin, in the far north, is more likely than not to have rain, although here, too, it will be very hot and humid with an average afternoon temperature of 34°C (93F). In 1997, almost 300mm of rain fell between December 23 and 26, and that is equivalent to six months' worth of rain in London, while Christmas 1974 will always be remembered by Darwin-ites because Cyclone 'Tracy' struck that day, flattening parts of the town.
Have you ever dreamt of a red Christmas? That is something that used to happen, albeit infrequently, in Sydney, in the rear of an active cold front. Such a front sometimes introduces a very strong and decidedly chilly southerly wind, usually called a 'Southerly Burster' in most parts of Australia. In the distant past, such a wind would raise enormous clouds of dust from the extensive brickfields which then existed south of Sydney, reducing visibility significantly and depositing copious quantities of dust of various shades of red, orange and yellow across the city. In Sydney itself such a dustladen wind was known as a 'brickfielder'.
When the gold rush hit Victoria, prospectors who had moved from New South Wales attached the same name to winds coming from the opposite side of the compass - from the north - which are characteristic in this region during the summer half of the year. Thus a hot, hazy, north or northwest wind blowing through the streets of Melbourne from the arid Australian interior may also be known as a 'brickfielder'. Somehow this seems more appropriate: anyone who has experienced such weather can well imagine that the wind is blowing straight out of a brick oven. in the outback of New South Wales, such a gusty, dusty wind may be known as a 'Darling Shower', after the biggest river in the region. Sadly, though, these colourful names for local winds are going out of fashion.
Christmas barbecues are less likely to be sun-blessed in New Zealand than they are in Australia. Wet weather on December 25 is as like as not in most places, except along the east coast of South Island. It will be reliably warm in Auckland and Napier in the north, but in the rest of New Zealand a typical late-December day will resemble a typical late-June day in Britain, often bringing part-cloudy skies, showers, and cool breezes.
© Philip Eden