Good luck with your dad -- my father-in-law (who's been in a wheelchair for ages) just recently got diagnosed with kidney trouble. Doesn't need dialysis yet, but it can only be a matter of time, really. I guess there we all go eventually, one way or another .... :?
Anyway, the weather in the UK is .... the same as always, really. Here in East Anglia where I am, it's been dipping just down below freezing occasionally, with occasional little dustings of snow for a moment or two, but I'm from New York and Boston, and England has neither winter nor summer as far as I'm concerned! There's just the Slightly Cooler/Much Darker season and the Slightly Warmer/Much Lighter season -- both of which are Cloudy and Wet seasons! ;)
I've been thinking about hardcases a little myself recently. Company where myself and the missus work might be getting sold, and while I've got a reasonable chance to keep my job, she's more likely to lose hers -- and if that happens, we may well move over to Colombia where she's a proper lawyer and, with a bit of luck, she can do that while I teach English or something. So if that happens, I've clearly got to figure out how to move my guitar and bass, and at the very least I'll want decent hardcases to drag along on a plane. My LP's stock case (one of those with the gruesome hot pink lining!) is kind of falling apart anyway. Even if I end up trying to FedEx the guitar or something, new cases are probably in order. Anyone have any experience with case brands they like?