What happened
When the then British Prime Minister, Harold Macmillan, spoke of the “Winds of Change” the last thing in mind would have been the weather. But, after all, wind is weather and as such is (like the poor) always with us. But the local example of the “winds of change” saw the irruption of windy conditions on to a scene where placidity had held sway. A check on the calendar proves that this is August, there is a reputation for wind in this month. The core of the surface anticyclone has nestled over much of southern Africa for some weeks: it's still there, but increasing daytime warmth tends to tighten the isobars somewhat.