Posted on September 09, 2009 by Fiona Hilliard

After weeks of being battered by wind and rain, the sun made a long awaited return to the UK skies this week.  Already weathermen are predicting an “Indian summer”, with  John Hammond, a forecaster for the Met Office, telling the Telegraph today that the good weather looks set to continue for the next few days at least.

The same thing seems to happen every year - we get a blast of unexpected sunshine in September and all of a sudden, it’s an “Indian summer”.  But where are they going with the term “Indian summer”?  It’s a strange one. Well, I’m reliably (ahem) informed by some mine of knowledge at Wikipedia that there are up to 43 different theories about its origin but the most widespread one is that it came about when American Indians carried out raids on European colonies.  These raids usually ended in autumn so the settlers called it an Indian summer, as in an extended summer, when they could finally enjoy the warm weather. Another theory is that it is so-called because it was the traditional period when North Americans harvested crops such as squash and corn. 

Whatever’s true, make sure you make the most of the weather over the next few days.  Not planning on sticking around?  Check out the great deals we’re offering in sunnier climes this September:

Gerona car hire £21(€24) per day

Faro car hire £17 (€20) per day

Paphos car hire £18 (€21) per day

Malaga car hire £21(€24) per day

Alicante £22 (€25) per day

Orlando £15 (€18) per day

Bergamo £20 (€23) per day