The London Weather Station

Two very different London weather reports made the news today.

On the one hand it seems that the ugly weather that we have experienced has not had a big effect on the economy in London - surprising especially in sight of the bad economy headlines that we have got used to seeing in the newspapers every day.

The reason for this and a plausible explanation were the foreign visitors that flooded into London on a mission of hunting down cheap bargains due to the strength of the euro against the pound.

However, experts warned mass job losses in the City could hit sales in the coming months. It is feared 40,000 jobs could go in the next two years. The cull has already started, with Citigroup, UBS and Merrill Lynch laying off staff.

In difference to the tourist who have been keeping London's economy afloat, Elijah Wood has revealed he struggled with the English weather while filming his latest movie.

In January 2007 the actor filmed The Oxford Murders in London and Oxford and he admitted that "It was very cold!". Poor Elijah! It was so cold that he even fell ill during shooting.

"It's funny, because it happened to be a very mild winter for the most part, and we were filming in interiors for a lot of the London time because the exteriors were in Oxford.

"But the interiors were often colder than outside. We were filming in these abandoned buildings with no heat so a lot of the scenes where it's supposed to be very cosy and warm - particularly the love scenes with Leonor in her apartment - were very cold."

In the film that is released on the 25th April 2008 (a Friday), Elijah plays overseas student Martin, who comes to Oxford University to study under his idol, Professor Arthur Seldom, played by John Hurt - however they find themselves solving a murder using mathematics.

Sounds exciting. No matter the economy that is one film that sounds worth the money. I guess I will go and watch that one on a rainy day!