Winter folklore?. In these less innocent , more switched on, more urban days 'country ways and folklore ' don't have much place in most peoples thinking.
In the uk there are several newspapers, one in particular, that loves an extreme weather story. It's either going to be the hottest summer on record or the coldest winter for 100 years. Currently it's going to be '4 months 0f snow and sub zero temperatures'. Their so called 'expert' is much a much derided 'amateur' weather forecaster with no qualifications . Maybe he reads the pine cones and throws twigs in the air. I think he works on the principle that even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
The paper has about 10 headlines that they shuffle between. I'm waitng for the one. ' Coldest winter since Diana murdered will see Queen abdicate causing house price crash and massive tax hikes'