We have suffered greater hardships than this year with floods and droughts in previous summers.

But for simple week after week of drab, wet weather, 2008 has piled on the misery more than we can remember.

Does it really matter that we have hardly seen the sun through June, July and August? Health-wise it always feels good to have the sun on our backs; you feel fitter and stronger. But losing one summer will probably not deliver any lasting damage – and there certainly cannot have been many cases of sun-stroke this year.

Nor is there any real sign that we are all going to go down with depression – at least not just because the weather has been damp and dull. One thing for sure though, come next February we will be looking forward to a beautiful May in 2009.

What we have missed are those fantastic mornings when we wake up and know it is going to be a glorious day. Halifax, like many towns and cities in England, is transformed when the sun comes out.

So let us hope that 2008 is going to provide an Indian summer and a pleasant September will bring some warmth into our lives.

Then perhaps we will see Calderdale at its best again – and if the sun does finally shine through, let's make sure we make the most of it.