The Cold Saints

& what modern Science still can't explain!
Anyway, over the past few days, weather in Paris has been terribly windy and cold, and for a person like me, it leads to snoozing!
While, the day we landed, 1^st May, was bright and sunny, the weather has turned sour over the last weekend. It rains every evening, and is generally cloudy and boring during the whole day.
Talking casually to a Ph.D. here, (again, the only one who manages Anglais), he mentioned something about "Cold Saints". Googling told me that this was the period where days of St.Mamertius, St. Pancras (or St. Pancratius) and St. Gervais, were celebrated and they together (along with a certain Cold Sophie) are known as the Ice Saints. This brief, weather inversion, is particularly well-known in German, Austrian and Swiss folklore. The days from 12^th to 15^th May, are known to bring in cold-weather across Northern Europe (in Julian Calendar). Germans refer to it as Eisheiligen.

And if this wasn't cold enough, apparently, in Gregorian Calendar, the Ice Saints are celebrated from 19-22 May, and the onset is thus still 4 days away.Brrr ...
No scientific explanation known.

Ref:
1. The ever reliable Wiki
2. Ski-ers Blog Entry 1 and Entry 2
3. McUniverse