The wintry onslaught continues across Britain. Alison considers a writing career for the weather section of the Beeb…but wait! There are signs of an alternative weather front looming…
Never mind fog (although many do, of course, particularly those driving). What we want at the weekend is fug.
Fug is one of those words that suggests it’s a bit hot and stuffy, but we like it that way. It’s just what we need indoors when outdoors, we and our possessions are likely to be blown away in all directions.
Now that smoking is banned in public places all across the UK, fug is less of an option for pubs, which used to be a potential locator when there was lots of smoke. You can tell that those who described it as fug in pubs rather liked it after all.
Next option is cafes that fill up when it’s raining.  A great example of a cafe that had the right level of fug is one a little below Snowdon. I once attempted to climb Snowdon with someone I knew from my gap year, plus a couple of friends of hers. We didn’t get very far up when really driving rain set in, and by the time we were back down, we were all completely soaked.
Thankfully, the cafe was just the place for having a huge pot of tea and full fry ups all round. No doubt we added to the fug by steaming gently as we dried out.  By the time we had drained the tea pot, we were even mostly dry. A very happy outcome – I might even suggest happier than having reached the summit, although I’m sure that’s not really the spirit.
Meanwhile, the home fug is settling in nicely – probably my favourite sort. A little light soup making (though the soup itself will probably be reasonably ribsticking), a batch of sauce, some veg to add to the oven in a sec. In a while, I can add to the fug by bringing out a roast chicken, making gravy, that kind of thing.
You could describe it as steam. Even condensation. But that defeats the point. It’s happy steam. It suggests that the world is, for a little while at least, set to rights.