In Absence of True Seasons

Really dire, just a continuation of the pattern that has dominated this whole Spring tbh, especially in the South. My "hope for the best" mindset towards this is that the sheer, unwavering inaccuracy of the forecast in this country could mean that the weather over the next 10 days may end up being very different to what's predicted. But admittedly, I've had it countless times where when the forecast looks to be pleasant, it'll end up being wrong and then gets downgraded at the last moment, and when the forecast is bad, it ends up being an accurate prediction.

Saturday was a great day, first day in so long that felt genuinely Spring lake. Yesterday was not bad either, but clouded over thick by afternoon and then showers in the evening. Today, thick cloud blanket and potential showers and looks the same over the next couple of days. When I checked yesterday, the forecast actually had a few consistent days of partial sun coming up, but its now changed overnight to now be cloud and rain. Hence why there's no point paying much attention to what's predicted for next weekend. It can all change in the space of a 12 hour period lol. More value in sticking your head out the window than looking at the British weather forecast.

Zero % sun in London and feeling a few rain drops on my head en route to the pub. Why is the SE jut unable to remain at least partially clear skied for more than 30mins? Genuinely frustrating. Its a little more mild than it has been for much of April, just is more comfortable I guess, but the sheer lack of sun continues and looks like the long weekend is more or less just a repeat of today but a tad warmer. Yeah I don't hold out for anything now tbh, seeing as multiple times this month they've forecast sunny weather the evening of for the following day, then it doesn't materialise. Even this morning my forecast had the clouds clearing up completely by this afternoon but they've fully thickened back up with zero blue visible....

Most definitely

It lasted all of about 20 mins lol hence why I went to sit outside with my tea when I appeared

Yes!!!

I think its clearing up guys....!! (Not). Apparently it's 16c but feels bloody cold still without the sun and a chilly breeze. Reaffirming what I was saying earlier about air temperature during this time of year. 13c and sunny legitimately feels warmer than 16c and overcast.

My phone forecast must be completely wrong then! My bad. However I don't see how this thick blanket of cloud can clear

I'm really confused as to how the Met Office just consistently gets its predictions so wildly wrong on the actual day-of. They are currently claiming 19c and partly sunny in London / SE by 2pm...considering it's nearly 1pm and I'm sitting at 12c and fully overcast (looks about to rain tbh), I honestly can't fathom how they post things like this. I can just go outside and feel the weather, right now, and it's so radically different to what this shows. But heyho, apparently it's going to warm up by 8 degrees in the next 60 minutes

The sun being out is incredibly important this time of year for warmth perception. It's been overcast for the vast majority of the month here in London / Essex which makes it feel significantly less warm than it actually is. The days where its actually been clear, has felt noticeably warmer as a result, even if its like 12/13c air temps, because I'm like "oh wow, so thats what the sun is meant to feel like on my skin!" So, yes whilst the mean temps are important to a degree, the sunshine levels are more impactful in April overall. A good example of this is April 2021. A really, really sunny month but also colder than average...however, felt lovely during the daytime even if it was only say 11/12c. So jealous The SE continues to wallow in cloud, actually where i am in London looks ready to rain, its so bloody dark. I do genuinely think that England has flipped in recent years, SE and London is often way more cloudy than everywhere else, even if it is 'warmer'.

That's a shame, it always feels like a bit of a "waste" of leave taken when that happens. Taking leave and staying in the UK really is just such a gamble weather wise. I had the entire month of April off last year as I was between jobs, and spent much of it outdoors, a week in the lake District as well where we had 6 out of 7 days with sun! Had a full-tan by the time May rolled around lol. If I'd had this year's weather, last year, would have been a completely diferent story. A week of rain and muck in the lakes camping. Grim. Weather-wise, we seem to keep getting stuck in these patterns that fail to shift or change nowadays. Last year it was favourable as we got stuck in a solid, long run of sunny, warm and dry weather. This year seems to be very much like 2021 in being the opposite - stuck in cooler, duller and wetter weather that doesn't abate. Feast or famine...

That's interesting. Surprised by 2018, 2020 and 2022 seeing basically no sun on this day, as those years had great Aprils overall.

Forecast for the long weekend looks to have been downgraded somewhat, looking at it. Not 1 properly clear/sunny day predicted. Temps over the weekend look to be around 18c max, (after the Met Office said a couple days ago that we would likely make 20c over the Bank Holiday). So, highly unlikely we will reach 20c by April or start of May, other than in NW Scotland...unusual indeed. First week or so of May looks the same trend as April, just a tad more mild. Temps hovering around 14c or so, mix of rain and cloud and a bit of sun. I am getting more and more resolute in that I don't think we will see any real warmth until June...

What happened to the "sunny weather" over the bank holiday This country is so cloudy it's actually a joke. So it's the same old over the next few days just a few degrees warmer. Great.

pretty much

This is pretty much it, i think, compounded by the differing degrees to which people are bothered about cloud lol. Pretty solid showers now in London, 11.5c. It goes without saying that that's dross, however what's more noteworthy is that this rain wasn't even forecasted until...well, it basically arrived. As of this morning my phone's weather forecast for today had cloudy morning and then sun coming out by mid to late afternoon. I checked Met Office yesterday evening, and it had "temps warming up for South England" for today, and highs of 15c for London. Looking at my phone now, it's changed to rain the whole entire evening AND tomorrow morning. Narrator's voice: "Unsurprisingly, it did not warm up, instead, it ended up raining and remaining at 11/12c". This country's weather is like a comedy show at times (that you're forced to watch for weeks on end).

I felt that the Summer of 2020 was pretty decent overall, especially off the back of the fantastic Spring that year. But August 2020 was the perfect example of this. We had that intense heatwave that was a week or so long, but it was cloudy for about 90% of it. When I went outside it felt like I was stepping off the plane at Bangkok in the monsoon season. Much preferred August last year - temps generally mid 20s or thereabouts, clear skies, lots of sunshine. An usual August for England I'll admit, but ideal from my perspective. But, like you, I would happily sacrifice a few degrees C if meant less overcast! 21 or 22c and sunny > 27/28c and cloudy unquestionably.

IMO, April doesn't need to be a full on disaster to be considered generally dull, depressing and moan-worthy. April is a month where it's so great when there's warmth and sun because its the first real month where you'll be experiencing that since the prior September. It's first proper 'green' month of the year, and the first month where the days get noticeably longer and more usable as a result. It's like a nice breakfast after skipping dinner the night before. So, when this doesn't materialise and the month ends up just feeling like an extension of Winter with longer daylight hours, it's really tiresome. I wouldn't care if we had this weather in October, November, or March. But by April - especially mid to late April, I'm fully done with 9-12c and thick cloud day-in-day-out. What would define a 'disaster' April anyhow? A heavy snowstorm? A few days of freezing wind and hail? Or just temps consistently below the statistical average?

As someone still in their 20s, I feel this

Precisely. Sums it up in a nutshell.

Appreciate the sentiments mate, and I get what you're trying to say. However for my personally, my mood and overall energy levels are really affected to sunlight and so when its consistently overcast and lacking in sun (like it has been for the most part this Spring, off the back of a long winter), I start to really notice it. I can't pretend like its not 11c and cloudy every single day, because how my body and brain feels as a result reminds of it lol. Interesting re the bumblebees. Our garden has been basically devoid of insects this year thus far, no bees or butterflies yet, which are usually in full-force by mid April (particularly last year with the wonderful warm spring we had). The blue-tits that usually come to the 2 birdboxes we have, are absent this year as well....very telling.

This is it, 100%. Yes the temperatures haven't been *that* cold for April (although definitely below average alot of days for the south). Its just the sheer lack of sunny days. Outside of the 2 days on the Easter weekend, there have been, I think maybe 2 full sunny days in my area this entire month. Which imo is dire. The other days have just seen a few hours of sun max (usually in the morning or evening). The South of this country just cannot seem to maintain clear skies anymore and it sucks. I've notice this trend in recent years. Even during some.of the heatwaves we've had, it's been 30c with thick cloud. The amount of days over the past few years I go to work to a clear sky but by 10am it's completely gone, is unbelievable.

How do they seem positive? The setup seems similar to 2021 which was a summer without much reliable or consistent sunny / warm weather outside of a couple of heat blasts.

Mad how we can get temps that are a good few degrees warmer during times near our winter solstice, than times closer to our summer solstice (like now - almost May and 9c in London). Sums up this island's climate in a nutshell. God-awful. Same dross for 8/9 months+ of the year, just tweak the sunrise and sunset hours.

Oh my word. Shall we all move to Finland? Or perhaps the tropical climes of Lithuania or Poland? I'll definitely be taking a trip somewhere outside of this godforsaken island if this model materialises