Change in the air

Huw Williams | 14:44, Wednesday 17 April 2013 | Turin, Italy

Spring has certainly come to Torino, and seems to want to make up for lost time, with temperatures now soaring much higher than normal for April. It's a glorious day in the middle of what has been a beautiful week so far, and I type this at my desk beside the open doors to the balcony, thankful for the occasional cooling whisper of a breeze. If we didn't know what is yet to come, we might have said that Summer has come early.

It feels as though the city itself is relieved that the prolonged leaden Winter we have had this year has finally taken its leave. It feels different somehow, it seems to breathe differently. Certainly its inhabitants clearly have much more of a spring in their step than they did seven days ago. Glancing out at the bus stop opposite, not many people have been persuaded to discard jackets just yet (after all, it is only April) but there is an almost tangible sense of collective relief in the air.

We Brits get some strange looks when we go out in shirtsleeves. Kitty seems confused that she no longer needs to be mummified in her snowsuit and hat to venture forth. But it's a joy to feel the sun and to sit outside to enjoy a coffee again.

The forecast is not for plain sailing into the real Summer from here however. Rain and much cooler temperatures on the weekend (that must mean we have visitors staying…) to be followed by a return to the sunshine next week.

But for now we'll enjoy it. It's been a long Winter.