Bottesford

For sure we should move the clocks back in early March - far more people are awake at 1830 then 0630 so the light is better used in the evenings. It's especially noticeable for me now I work 9am-6pm (instead of 5pm) as I've still got several weeks of finishing work in darkness yet. As for BST+1 - well if you forget June for a moment and think about late March to mid May and mid August to October - those periods would benefit a lot from extra evening light when more people are awake doing things that need light. When we talk about this people tend to immediately think about those few weeks around the solstice which I can understand does mean some quite late sunsets. But this period doesn't last that long and for the benefits across spring/early autumn maybe worth it? More sensibly we should shift society's working patterns to match the rise & fall of the sun- why is it 9-5 we work? Surely 8-4 centralises it. Although really 7-3 is even better since a vast majority of people prefer to have their free time after they finish work. It's not much fun 'relaxing' whilst clock-watching before their shift starts! This is why the "why not just get up earlier?" argument just doesn't work when you work fixed times. It ain't gonna happen of course - the time of day is too engrained in our minds. Take here in Germany - shops open 10am-8pm and office hours seem to be 9/10am-6pm which is even more skewed in the wrong direction than the UK is! And there's Spain....

I'm exactly the same Azazel - Feb can feel like a massive release as the vice like grip of insufficient daylight begins to loosen. I'm noticing the sun being getting much higher in the sky now and it not being totally dark at 6pm when I finish work. The sunny/dry weather over here has made that even more noticable. Spring approaches!

Agree 100% with TWS's ranking and reasoning. The best time of year has to be mid spring to mid summer - increasing light and the freedom that brings, plenty to do in the garden and a feeling of 'clean' and 'improving' to the weather. Could divide the year into chunks: Aug-Oct - the decaying season. Nov-Jan - the dead season. Feb-Apr - the waking up season. May-Jul - the living season. Waking up & living have gotta be the best right?!

Over here - a fairly mild & benign first half but turned very cold the second half. -13c was our low and it stayed below freezing for almost two weeks. Two days it snowed a fair bit with a good couple of inches lying- but nothing stopped, transport worked perfectly and every pavement was made easy to walk on. What a contrast to the UK! In more ways than one... And now the thaw has arrived in earnest!

March would have been fine if it warmed up afterwards which (at least in Nottingham & the east) it didn't until the end of June. The good July came too late for the plants to catch up so much lower yields were the result.

Something seasonal would be nice - yes some cold spells in March/April but mixed in with warm ones too. The UK needs a bit of drying off too so a dry but not bone dry spring would no doubt help. Looking forward to a Berlin spring where day/night temperature swings are more pronounced than in the UK... Be certainly more interesting than this 3-7c day & night winter...

This one is the best site I've come across - got lots of info (solar noon height, rate of daylight increase/decrease) and useful tools (meeting planner very helpful for talking to people around the world): http://www.timeanddate.com

Exciting March with significant lying snow - did enjoy that. But the overall cold spring was problematic in the garden and it took until the end of June for any warm weather to show up. North Sea low cloud was an omnipresent problem during spring and early summer leading to many cool & cloudy days. My wedding weekend was treated to a big Atlantic depression (one of the only ones of the summer it seemed!) so my view of April-June period was generally poor. July was mostly great - a proper summer month at long last. I think the cold spring had tempered it somewhat as we didn't reach 30c and a number of days including notably a weekend were ruined by our friend North Sea low cloud. So nothing like the superb July 2006 but by far better than anything since. Decent slice of storms too. August was ok but nothing like June. After that I can't remember a lot as I was so busy getting ready to move country! Highlights - March & July. Low points - April-June cold low cloud issues.

I'm noticing it here - it isn't quite dark at 5pm. Sunset is about 15 mins later here than in Nottingham (well 45 mins earlier on 'real' time but timezones sort that out) so it does feel the post xmas struggle out of the darkness is lifting that tiny bit quicker. Luckily since xmas its been much brighter than in Nov/Dec so feels better but the lack of anything exciting weather wise (8c sunny or 5c cloudy is the norm - little rain, little wind) means I'm boring of this winter now. The longer daylight hours will be much welcomed to allow much more freedom to explore further afield - and of course to allow the ability to do more things after work.

To say its been mild in Berlin would be an understatement! These are my current stats: Average temperature: +6.5 °CAverage maximum temperature: +8.8 °CAverage minimum temperature: +4.1 °CMaximum temperature: +12.2 °C at 19:23:00 on 09 JanuaryMinimum temperature: +0.3 °C at 07:48:00 on 01 January To compare, Jan average min is -3c and max is +2c so we're some 6c above average. Now my sensor is located on my roof terrace so I did wonder if the building was affecting it but my stats aren't too far off these: http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/EDDT/2014/1/14/MonthlyHistory.html Another sunny day and 7c already...

May-July is the best period of the year. Plenty of light and freedom to get out and about which is most welcomed after the limitations of winter. Everything is growing too although if you live near the North Sea this can often be a chilly grey period if you're unlucky so it isn't always so good! Least favourite is the drag that is January. It can be an interesting month if its properly cold but otherwise the annoying darkness (which was novel before xmas) is akin to shaking off an annoying head cold - it is going but wish it'd get a move on!

Another warm day here, 11.2c which is 9c above average. Think things are going to change next week however!

This flat is very warm and I don't have to cycle in it if I don't want to, so I say - bring it on! Keen to feel some real continental style cold.. (oh and heat in summer too of course!).

Meanwhile over here it has definitely been very mild as that chart shows! Averages for Dec are: 3c max, -1c min and for Jan: 2c max, -3c min. During Nov we had some average days (3-4c max, 0-1c min) but as we went into Dec days have been 5-10c and nights 0-5c. This week its been maxing around 9-11c (warmer tomorrow), last nights min was 8.4c although we had a 'cool' night of 2.4c the night before. Given I was all prepped for -5 to -16c this winter its quite a contrast! Not used hardly any heating, the windows are open now (its sunny) and my big winter coat is only out at night. I'm sure something will change soon...

Guessing easterners need to win somewhere... not forgotten that very chilly & cloudy start to last summer whilst the west baked!

Once xmas is done with and we've had some snow (and no doubt some type of very cold weather in this part of the world) I'll definitely be ready for the days to lengthen so I can get out and explore. Got so many places around here to investigate as well as some train trips to other interesting nearby cities. But this time of year its just so difficult with the lack of light especially as its cloudy almost all of the time. Looking at averages for things like sunshine things make a marked improvement in February so not too long gladly!

Off here these past few days as its 10c out night & day. Windows open in the mornings to get some air through then closed partly to keep the endless drizzle out. Living room holds at about 20c day & night having not been heated for many days. Will prob need a little later in the week when we return to the more normal -1 to 2c range but pee in the ocean compared to my old place.

I'm having windows open during the daytime then putting a little heat on during the evening. This is with outdoor temps -1c to +5c with unbroken sunshine all day. We're in a top floor flat so get all the sun that there is morning to sunset. All of this couldn't contrast any more to my old UK place it really feels alien how it can be cold outside but warm inside without a boiler burning away for hours & hours.

Well what a contrast now I've moved! Back in my old place we'd be heating all the time by now except for a few hours overnight. But now... well I put a tiny bit of heat on in the bedroom/bathroom overnight then in the morning off it goes, open three different windows and there it stays till sunset. If the sun is out at lunchtime then the balcony door is even opened! Berlin has been around 7c by day and close to freezing at night with clear skies so certainly not mild. I actually have no idea how cold it is outside until I reach the street whereas before I knew it from when I woke up - icy bedroom and condensation all over the place. Well equipped & ready for a proper howling easterly directly and unmoderated from Siberia!

Jan isn't popular with most away from weather forums - no money left, Christmas over, still dark, still cold and a long way to go yet till spring. Nov although still dark & often cold does have that Christmas excitement beckoning! As for daylight in hotter countries - they probably don't want later sunsets as in those places it's the middle of the day you avoid due to the strength and heat of the sun. The evenings are the best time with pleasant warm temperatures. In the UK away from those few days a year (if you're lucky) when we get hot weather then evenings rapidly turn chilly so there's more of a benefit to later sunsets - the beer garden might be enjoyed after work instead of only on weekends... Even on the hottest days the heat in the sun is rapidly going by 6pm so I for one would enjoy that shifting to 7pm - more of a chance to enjoy the warmth after work. Although ideally office hours should change to 0730-1600 instead of 0830-1700 but can't see that happening...

The nearer the equator you go the faster the sun rises & sets due to the sharper angle relative to the horizon it takes. I know when I went to Barbados it was 5:30pm and the sun was well up but by 6:30pm it was pitch dark! Very different to long slow sunsets we get here in northern Europe. Yes into the darkest time of the year - definitely not the easiest time to explore a new city I can tell you! Especially as Berlin is not very well lit - often by gas (in the west at least) or by the same fluorescent tubes you might use in your kitchen. I've got used to the UK's intense modern street lighting (well except my old estate which was also gas lit) so its quite a contrast! And yeah I'm extremely glad christmas is in December and not June - it provides an island of joy in the sea of gloom. Be dire the other way round that's for sure!

Always a pain drying clothes outside of April-Sept as you've got to be super organised (to get it out early enough) and super careful (to get right combo of dry & warm). In my old place I didn't even try as no matter how sunny it was overhead none of that sun would strike the washing and it'd never dry. I did one year of stringing it round the radiators but its pretty labour intensive as you have to keep it moving to allow all items access to the warm spots - plus we ended up with damp/mould issues in the house and if clothes didn't dry fast enough the lovely 'damp dog' smell would linger on them. So since then we just used the dryer which did a fine job of ruining clothes extra fast! Just getting a new washer/dryer for this flat but as ever will look forward to the ease of drying things naturally and quickly out in the fresh air come spring!

Opened the upstairs windows this afternoon whilst I was packing things up but heat came on again this morning and this evening. The very idea of 20c with windows open seems quite crazy! But maybe I can experience this too myself when I move next week...

Because the cloud was so thick this morning meaning light levels were very low. Sun has only been up 40 mins by then too - so had too little power to penetrate the cloud.

Yes last journey home from work in daylight for most (which for me admittedly only reached the pub before 2 pints were had!) for a long time. Still at least mornings will be a bit lighter - this morning was almost dark still when I reached the office at 0830!