I have been keeping a close eye on the UK weather and boy does it look cold.

For all of you who are dreaming of sleepy France with memories of your last holiday, basking in the hot summer sun, take a look at the scene that greeted us this morning.

Temperatures are set to fall to around minus 4-8 in the next day or so and are currently hovering at about minus one.

It really is quite picturesque but I can tell you, despite insulation, oil central heating and the Godin kitchen wood burning stove, heating these stone houses is quite a task.

Late yesterday afternoon I spent an hour in the woods with the chainsaw and cut a third of a cubic metre of still standing, but dead oak.

It was like burning pure charcoal and the temperature gauge was screaming to its maximum and for the first time this winter I didn't feel like putting on extra clothes at night while watching the TV.