Is it snowing? I hadn't noticed

Here's how to keep the snow joy going

This morning, I woke up to a flurry of messages from friends and family all about the weather: snow at my mum’s house in Scotland, snow at my sister’s in Oxfordshire and - thrillingly, outside the window - the rare and joyous sight of snow in London!

It lasted about ten minutes in London, but still.

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As it turned to slush (which happens almost immediately in the city), I realised the snow had provided the type of wintery glimmer that people keep telling me to embrace, while I’m grumpily pulling on another jumper and saying things like, “It’s just that we didn’t get much of a summer this year,” like a joy-sucking gloom-monger.

I like to think gloom-mongering is not my usual vibe, and I want to break free of it. Maybe those “find the joy in the season” people are onto something?

So I got in touch with Suzy Reading, a psychologist and author of Self-Care for Winter: Seven Steps to Thriving in the Colder Months, to ask if she could help me.

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She certainly could. Her sensible, gentle advice is a balm in these dark, cold days. And I’m determined that it’s going to transform my attitude towards winter, even on days when it isn’t a) snowing or b) Christmas.

Hopefully it will help you too and, if you find it useful, do buy the book, which has plenty more advice, as well as concrete practises to boost your wellbeing in winter.

Suzy Reading’s Winter Wellness Action Plan