Moans, ramps and banter

[East Lancs Rain]

3 hours ago, RJBingham said:

Houses in Australia are terrible, I've never been so cold inside a house, as I have been in Melbourne. 

 

27 minutes ago, stainesbloke said:

Same here, visited family in Aussie winter once when overnight temperatures went down to 2°C, it was horribly cold indoors, just lay in bed shivering.

Their houses are built to stay cool which is the reason why, which is sensible considering it’s warm/hot for most of the year down there, however I would’ve thought Aussies would invest in portable radiators/fan heaters to stay warm during those rare “cold” days in the winter, just like many Brit’s have got fans/portable air conditioners ready for the 2 weeks of hot weather we get a year lol.

[East Lancs Rain]

8 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Yeah I'll get that in a few hours. Probably right at the time that I'm going to the pub with my friend and his German shepherd lol.

Which was why I put in my comment "dry day so far". "So far" being the key bit there...always time for more rain later on eh...

 

8 hours ago, *Stormforce~beka* said:

I need to go to the shop for some chicken to make soup! Better get my skates on before I get wet

Ha ha, It’s actually been a dry day here for a change!

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 East Lancs Rain I got wet ... Had to take the brolly ...

[East Lancs Rain]

9 hours ago, Markus03 said:

I feel like I've seen something like this: UK people want winter all the time due to endless rain. Northern Europe wants winter to end already and miss the rain. When snow melts it's going to be much more wet here than it will be for you when it rains. It depends how much you'll get but usually it's not that bad outside of storms for you. For me it's much hard to move in the snow than to move in the rain. You can use an umbrella for that to not get wet. There's 50 cm of snow here. Isn't that more than enough? Geez, everyone I know is tired of winter.

Can I just ask..? Have you experienced a British winter? Because they’re generally pretty miserable, mostly just 6-12°C, gloomy skies, and frequent wind and rain. The mildness and lack of severe cold is the only good thing about them. Many people suffer with depression in winter because of the constant gloomy skies. Whereas when it snows, it looks pretty and at least brightens things up a bit. I don’t know about you when it’s been snowing I haven’t got wet.. Rain certainly does get you wet though… And about using an umbrella to not get wet. Try doing that when it’s wet and windy, it won’t end well… 

 

You probably think I’m crazy but I actually like walking through deep snow… Of course, what you consider deep and I what I consider deep are probably completely different, but here in Northern England we only get about 1 or 2 snowy days a year, and about 170 rainy days a year… Definitely wish I got a few more snowy days and a lot less rainy days! So on the rare occasion it does snow here, I like to go for a snow walk. It’s usually slushy on the pavements (unless there is a thick covering) but walking on snowy grassy land it’s nice. ️ And when the sun comes out in the spring and summer, I like to make the most of that too, and will go for a walk or sit in the garden. The beaches are packed in the UK whenever there’s a bit of sun..

 

That said, not everyone in the UK likes snow, and many people prefer mild weather in winter, even though it’s nearly always accompanied by wind and/or rain.

 

You’ve got to admit though, as fed up as you might be with the snow, it does look pretty.

 

8 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

yes...case of the "grass is always greener".

It's like the walking videos of London in the pouring rain, Americans from Texas and such will comment on it saying "wow looks so cosy and peaceful" because they view it as such, due to getting warm sun nearly every day. 

I imagine most coldies on this forum, myself included in there as someone who enjoys snow and frost and wintry weather, would quickly tire of proper wintry conditions of the type you get in Scandinavia as it would be so impactful and disruptive to just day to day activities and errands etc.

Yes… Definitely a case of that. When we look at pictures of deep snow in places like Finland, Sweden, Scandinavia etc. we go “ooooooooo doesn’t it look pretty, wish it was like that here”!

 

Ive found another one of those walking videos but this time of snow in Stockholm in Sweden.

 

This video below looks really nice, very relaxing. Looks very pretty. The lovely sound of his feet crunching on the snow… Sure beats our overcast grey skies and rain soaked roads and pavements. Plenty of people loving it in the comments too, who are  probably not from Sweden.. Or anywhere that gets a lot of snow… 

 

 

5 hours ago, al78 said:

I don't know what Norwegian houses are like in 30C temperatures but I know UK ones aren't good either, nor are UK houses good at holding heat in during the winter. UK housing stock is generally poor overall. Most buildings in the UK are unpleasant environments without air con in 30+C temperatures.

It depends on what kind of house you have, detached, semi detached, terraced, old, new, well insulated, no insulation etc. I live in a detached bungalow and it’s quite a cool house, it doesn’t really get any warmer than 26C, even when the temperature outside is over 30 degrees and most of the time in summer it’s around 19-22°C. However, the downside is the heating needs to be on between around late September to late May, and even in summer it’s often not warm enough to just wear a t-shirt in the house!

 

At the other extreme I’ve seen people on here and elsewhere who live in modern apartments in London, which are super warm, they barely need the heating on in winter but it’s baking in summer.

 

Good insulation though is key to helping keep the heat in in winter and keep the heat out in summer, as well as keeping your windows shut during the day in a heatwave (many people have them open thinking it will cool the house down!)

 

[East Lancs Rain]

9 hours ago, cheese said:

Yup. It was an exceptionally mild/snowless Christmas for much of Canada last year, and on Reddit I saw a lot of people in Calgary/Edmonton etc celebrating the lack of snow. 

Just goes to show the grass is always greener on the other side. There is even someone on here from Edmonton who posts in the moans thread occasionally, and they don’t like snow either!

 

Ideally, the happy medium would be climate where it alternated between cold and frosty/snowy and mild and dry in winter, rather than weeks of sub zero temps and heavy snow or 8-12C and wind and rain. And in summer, the ideal climate (for me at least) would be somewhere that had a decent amount of sunshine, didn’t have too many wet days but wasn’t too hot either (average high below 25C). Somewhere which wasn’t predominantly cool, damp and cloudy but not just 35C and sunny everyday either. I’m not sure if there’s anywhere in the world where you’d find a Goldilocks climate like that though, maybe up in the hills in Spain?

 

8 hours ago, markyo said:

Those who had this idea we would have a hot Southern France or Northern Spanish  climate are wrong, very wrong.

I think in the future, as the climate is getting warmer, wetter and sunnier, the UK could eventually become a humid subtropical climate, and maybe in 1000’s of years time who knows maybe a humid rainforest type climate. 

 

5 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

A properly grim evening for anyone in the south. Cold, windy rain. 

Oh well, at least it will be… Oh wait, can’t even say that, highest temp is only 9C…

Edited February 26 by East Lancs Rain

[Dark Horse]

 East Lancs Rain i think we should call you serial quoter given how much you quote people on here

[raz.org.rain]

29 minutes ago, East Lancs Rain said:

think in the future, as the climate is getting warmer, wetter and sunnier, the UK could eventually become a humid subtropical climate, and maybe in 1000’s of years time who knows maybe a humid rainforest type climate

It's certainly possible, even if a small possibility. People always point to our northerly latitude to make the point that such a climate can't exist here, but a much hotter climate did indeed exist here a few millennia ago. The planet was once hot enough to support a tropical climate as far north as the Arctic.

But realistically speaking, we could very easily end up with a much hotter and drier climate if things continue to progress the way they are doing in Spain and France. Changes in Iberia are already having an influence on our weather, I'd imagine that will grow stronger in future. If I was to make an educated guess I'd say that most of England will have a climate resembling what central and western France currently has, which I believe still falls under a temperate maritime classification but with much more frequent hot and dry spells.

[RJBingham]

 East Lancs Rain

7 hours ago, East Lancs Rain said:

Their houses are built to stay cool which is the reason why, which is sensible considering it’s warm/hot for most of the year down there, however I would’ve thought Aussies would invest in portable radiators/fan heaters to stay warm during those rare “cold” days in the winter, just like many Brit’s have got fans/portable air conditioners ready for the 2 weeks of hot weather we get a year lol.

No, they are not built to stay cool, they're built with little or no insulation, cold in the winter, stinking hot in the summer, I've spent 15 years in Victoria, and it gets plenty of cold days in the winter, some inland towns in Victoria and NSW get snow most winters, try spending a winter in Ballarat in a single brick house, makes me shiver just thinking about it. 

Edited February 26 by RJBingham

[Catbrainz]

 East Lancs Rain 
Flagstaff in Arizona seems to fit that profile pretty well. (American weather stations overestimate sunshine hours by 10-15% I would estimate 2900-3000 a year) 

[SussexSnowman]

A jolly weekend of grey skies and yes you guessed it....more effin rain! I can't remember a time when I have been so fed up with the weather. Irony of today is that any clear skies will occur once the night sky moves in. Couldn't make it up. 

[Metwatch]

10 hours ago, East Lancs Rain said:

the UK could eventually become a humid subtropical climate

9 hours ago, raz.org.rain said:

I'd say that most of England will have a climate resembling what central and western France currently has

Absolutely! We still get a lot of rain which can be quite variable, and summers still aren't consistently dry. Infact as we know it's getting wetter across most seasons but also warmer, only short term trends in some months which may have gotten drier recently are April and May, but even those can still be wet even in today's climate; examples being May 2021 and April 2023.

Bordeaux is almost if not already a humid subtropical climate now with still a fair amount of rain even into summer but quite warm, it's only about 600 miles south of southern England.

Edited February 26 by Metwatch

[JoeShmoe]

Lovely early spring / late winter day here, clear blue skies, warmth of the sun clearly there, spring is stirring

[In Absence of True Seasons]

10 hours ago, East Lancs Rain said:

I’m not sure if there’s anywhere in the world where you’d find a Goldilocks climate like that though, maybe up in the hills in Spain

I think you'd be surprised. Quite a few places have the type of climate you describe. Not bang on, but close enough.

Most of Slovenia, or Northern Italy. Certain parts of Austria, etc. Georgia (the country not the US state lol) could also be a contender. As could parts of Romania (Brasov monthly averages shown below).

Secondarily you have certain areas of the US such as Oregon and North California that have fantastic sunshine hours per year, but the winter temps and summer temps maxes/mins might be a tad too extreme for your "Goldilocks" zone of about 25c in summer and not subarctic temps in winter. But nevertheless, still close to what you're describing.

Bend in Oregon for instance gets about 2,700 average annual sunshine hours, average maxes regularly reach 30c in summer and they will get snow for weeks in Winter, milder spells too. Such places in the US are like a marriage between the Mediterranean for summer and central Scandinavia for winter lol. 

 

[East Lancs Rain]

 In Absence of True Seasons Those climates do seem pretty decent. Nothing too extremely hot or cold, and plenty of snow in winter and sun in summer. Although still a wider seasonal temperature range than what I’m used to.
 

The climate of Seattle is quite interesting. It’s basically like a slightly warmer, sunnier version of London, with wetter winters and drier summers. Just looked the weather forecast for Seattle, and it looks just like a forecast for a typical week in a UK winter, rain every day, and temperatures in that not cold enough to feel wintery but not mild enough to feel pleasant range.

[East Lancs Rain]

Another benign day here. Dry, partly cloudy and currently 7°C.
 

But just checked the bbc weather forecast. Rain forecast every single day for at least the next week… ️

[MP-R]

 East Lancs Rain that forecast looks like such a cop out

[cheeky_monkey]

having to dig myself out of 5 ft of snow this morning...worst snowstorm here in the last 5 years..dumped 30cm of snow since yesterday lunchtime. Which doesn't sound too bad however its been very windy wipping up some large drifts of snow and of course not a snow plough in site on the roads this morning ..this one event has dropped more snow in one go than the rest of the winter season so far.

[baddie]

Met Office has given up on the second half of March, now they arent predicting anything. Could it be a good thing or a bad thing (e.g Atlantic after the equinox)

Edited February 26 by baddie

[marky810]

 East Lancs Rain Seattle is one of the USA's dullest cities but still gets on average 20% more annual sunshine than London.

[Summer8906]

A genuinely spring-like day here today: prolonged sunshine in the afternoon, low humidity, and a somewhat chilly but drying wind from a northerly or easterly quarter.

The first day with prolonged sunshine for exactly two weeks, showing how dull this month has been.

Just keep this up for two months and I'd have no further complaints!

Edited February 26 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

16 hours ago, East Lancs Rain said:

I think in the future, as the climate is getting warmer, wetter and sunnier,

Warmer and wetter, yes, but not sure about sunnier. Dull has undoubtedly been the predominant theme for the past 8 months, and aside from spring 2020 and the first 8 months of 2022, much of the past 5 years or so too.

 

Edited February 26 by Summer8906

[ANYWEATHER]

2 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

having to dig myself out of 5 ft of snow this morning...worst snowstorm here in the last 5 years..dumped 30cm of snow since yesterday lunchtime. Which doesn't sound too bad however its been very windy wipping up some large drifts of snow and of course not a snow plough in site on the roads this morning ..this one event has dropped more snow in one go than the rest of the winter season so far.

Well I've seen about five flakes of wet snow this winter so far, And Spring starts on Friday

[Summer8906]

 marky810 I guess it's that bit further south, so Seattle is equivalent to somewhere like Nantes (France)? Also AFAIK the Pacific isn't quite as warm as the Atlantic there, meaning less cloud in maritime airmasses presumably.

Edited February 26 by Summer8906

[al78]

 East Lancs Rain I live in a semi which cannot have cavity wall insulation due to having a timber frame. It takes a while during a warm/hot summer spell to get uncomfortable indoors but it happens at least once every year these days when it is high 20's/30+C for a week or two at a time. South facing windows don't help and there is only so much I can do to keep the heat out, with a 10C temperature difference between outside and inside it is going to seep in even if I close curtains during the day. Opening windows during the day lets the hot air in, and opening them in the evening helps with a couple of degrees cooling but not if it is dead still outside (e.g. underneath the middle of an anticyclone). If temperatures stay elevated overnight it is virtually impossible to get a good nights sleep; I have a choice between a restless night because I am too hot or a restless night because of thoughtless people outside making a racket either very late or very early. As winter approaches I start by putting a hoodie on over my normal clothes which improves my resiliance to the decreasing temperature, so I don't have to put the heating on until well into November, maybe December if it is very mild.

Edited February 26 by al78

[In Absence of True Seasons]

  East Lancs Rain Yes, Seattle is effectively a "London if London were consistent" climate. Their winters are pretty dross, very similar to London, but their May to Sept periods are much more reliably better than London's. I often check Seattle's weather when we are having a particularly bad spell of weather in the UK during a summer month, and every single time I've done so, the weather in Seattle has been markedly better. 

They get alot of rainfall and cloudy days, sure, but most of that is condensed to the Oct to April period. For London, wet, cool and cloudy summers are the default and summers like 2022 are the outlier. Whereas Seattle gets a "London 2022 summer" most years. Or at least, close to it.