God, this is the most dismal weather to crack open a new year. Thick rain, low clouds, booming wind and insidious bone-sapping cold. We are creeping along, eyes to the floor, battened down and battered by grey.

I'm a January babe, with a Capricorn's love of the dark and sere, but even for me this is draining. A little sun, a few bright, sharp afternoons please.