This summer was one of the hottest ever on record across the whole of Europe. In order to appreciate this amazing summer, we decided to organise a picnic in Hyde Park for the middle of July. As the day approached, being a weather and climate focused CDT, we checked the Met Office weather forecast daily and much to our disappointment the weather predictions were getting worse and worse. The traditional british summer was returning and for the first time in weeks the Met Office model was predicting a chance of rain. We decided to go ahead and luckily for us although cloudy in the afternoon it turned in to a beautiful evening. We even managed to play some very competitive football with people in the park and some slightly less competitive, but a lot of fun, frisbee…
With large amounts of food and, true to our environmental CDT leanings, recyclable paper plates and cups and reusable containers, the event was a great success and a great opportunity for cross cohort, cross Reading Imperial bonding. We even had a surprise appearance from David Ham’s 9-month old son Patrick, who very much enjoyed the strawberries that we’d brought for the picnic. We hope to make this picnic an annual event, hosting it next year in Reading.
Reported by: Mariana Clare and Jennifer Israelsson
