For all their differences, Czechs and Brits seem to share one peculiar obsession. The weather. More specifically, talking about it…

When all else fails, mention last week’s freak temperatures or how rubbish the Summer turned out and you’re onto a winner conversation wise. It helps people connect, breaks down barriers, turns enemies into friends. At the end of the day it’s the same rain that falls on us all. They should broadcast more weather reports in Afghanistan, maybe it would sort out all that nonsense.

But even though Czechs and Brits share this common passion, there is one detail which most definitely separates them… the Weather itself.

It may come as something of a shock to locals but Czech Republic has great weather. All the time. Even when it’s crap it’s still better than what I’m used to.

Maybe it’s geographical. Because Czech sits at the centre a huge land mass by the time weather makes its way here, over mountain high and valley low, it’s good and settled. As you know, Britain is an island and as such all our weather comes straight off the sea. Like a sex-starved sailor after a long voyage, soon as it hits land all restraint goes out the window. Things get wet and wild pretty quickly.

Then there are the Seasons. Ever since I first came to Prague I realised what I’d been missing. Sure Manchester has Seasons but most of the time you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart. Summer is generally wet. Autumn is windy and wet. Winter cold and wet. Spring is, well… wet and then it’s back to bask in the glorious downpours of Summer once more.

Here Seasons feel like they’re supposed to. As if they were illustrations in a kid’s book. Summer – Sunny. Autumn – Golden brown leaves tumbling from the trees. Winter – Snowy and white. Spring – stuff melts, because it was frozen in the first place.

I even love it when conditions get extreme. From a meteorological point of view, as far as I am concerned, more is more.

Take for instance this cold snap we’ve just experienced. In Britain such changes are far more subtle. Expect a few degrees dip in temperature, an icing sugar light dusting of frost on your garden plants and wafer thin ice over the family birdbath. Hardly worth bringing up in conversation at all.

In Czech Republic on the other hand, when there’s a cold snap, it really snaps. But that’s okay, dress properly and you’re free to enjoy Winter as its meant to be. Snow showers and a bone stiffening chill in the air. Make sure you’ve a pair of gloves and you’ll keep hold of your all-important digits as well as have a worthy subject for discussion. Perfect

Truth is, like all good Brits I’ll never stop going on about the weather, whatever it brings. So I can count myself lucky I chose to live in a country where there’s many a Czech ear willing to listen.