Which month is your most disliked for weather?

[WYorksWeather]

Just a thought I've been having lately around which month is the worst for weather. Kind of following on from the other thread about under-hated individual months.

In my personal view, I think November is the worst month for weather. I think it has essentially no redeeming features. It is never possible to have warmth in November, but on the other end of the scale, these days it is a mild enough month that the chance of any properly wintry weather (barring a bit of slushy snow or the odd frost) is virtually zero. In my view almost all Novembers are poor, but a particularly wet, windy, dull and mild one is frankly awful, and we've had far too many of those in recent years.

Virtually all of the other contenders that are regularly thrown out in my view have at least one redeeming feature. I quite like Christmas and the run up to New Year, and always want snow at that time of year, so December is out as a contender - it's quite an exciting month even if I'm usually disappointed. January is often the snowiest month, and even if it happens to be wet, dull and mild you can start to see the days lengthen in the second half as a consolation. February and March both usually either provide a blast of winter (more common in the past) or hints of an early spring (more common nowadays).

October is another commonly hated month with the abrupt change from BST to GMT, but it can still feature some warmth in the first half, and under the right circumstances can be quite a nice month with the colours of the leaves etc, though less so in some recent years that have been particularly mild.

Interested to hear what others think.

[B87]

November or January.

December is usually worse than January weather-wise (duller and wetter), but it has Christmas.

November is the only month when the stereotype of the UK always raining is usually true.

By February, the sun starts to actually provide some warmth on sunny days, and flowers and buds appear.

Edited August 17 by B87

[Summerlover2006]

for me I always call October the most depressing month of the year weather wise and this is why.

October nowadays is nearly always dull and wet and despite October being mild nowadays you never really notice it.

now there is worst months then October like November or January but the thing with October is it hits you that it’s only getting to get worst then this and it’s not going to get better until March at least 4 whole months it’s just a bleak thought and gets to me worst then any awful days in November.

[Metwatch]

Yeah it's either between October or November, the 2 months where warmth, snow and even thunderstorms are least frequent, although recently October can still have some warm days and the odd thunderstorm, they are still pretty rare for the month.

With November there is no chance of warmth, but there is the slight higher chance of snow, with 2021 delivering a decent event at the end. Still the month that recently has the lowest combined chance of either sunny dry days, or snowy ones, which makes it the most hated month, and the chance of a thunderstorm here is bordering at 0.

I don't particularly like any of the winter months in the UK either but at least the chance of something wintry is higher than October / November.

Edited August 17 by Metwatch

[LetItSnow]

July. The novelty and joy of the lengthening days are over and it's the window of time where severe humid heat is most likely. August is a close second but you're more likely to get cool nights, especially as the month progresses.

[*Stormforce~beka*]

October, November, January I dunno. All as bad as each other. Even February is a struggle to be honest. And I agree with July. Fast becoming an autumn Month!

[CharlieBear9]

July. Seems to last for ever and the light intensity is unrelenting.

[stainesbloke]

November and January, at least in London. Often extremely dreary, weather-wise and January really tests my SAD.

[Don]

I couldn't really tell you TBH as all have been culprits at some point!

[LightningLover]

I reckon it's July for me, as I pretty much mirror LetItSnow's thoughts! I also don't like March much, as winter is on it's way out and it's still too early for any good thunderstorms!

[Frigid]

Probably July, most of the time it's quite benign but when it gets warm it doesn't disappoint. Sticky, humid nights are also a major reason. Oh, and July 2022. August can be similar with warmth but isn't as intense since days are shorter. 

October, an honourable mention. It's just boring, though you do get some special moments like late October 2018. 

 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Dec to Feb probably, constant Atlantic air, loads of rain

[midlandsun]

Even though it's my birth month, I'd say October, as it marks the start of the dreary cold weather. Even in January you think to yourself that spring isn't far away so can put up with the bad weather.

[damianslaw]

November on most occasions. It can sometimes deliver wintry fayre notably in 2010, but more often than not it is dull, wet and mild.

Close second October.

December would top the list if it wasn't for christmas. 

Edited August 18 by damianslaw

[hillbilly]

August,it is supposed to be a Summer month but very good Augusts are as rare as hens teeth,just 3 in the last 20 years.

 

[SunSean]

December definitely! The only decent December of recent times here has been 2022. November not too far behind but 2021 & 2023 had a nice amount of sunny days. January used to be a slog but the last 3 have had nice crisp sunshine surprisingly!

[Methuselah]

Not any particular month for me, just the days between late October and late January.

[Snowshine]

From worst to best:

November > January > December > February > October > March > September > April > May > August > July > June

Edited August 18 by Snowshine

[Carl]

 LetItSnow Was also going to say July.

Usually the hottest month and by quite a margin from recollection. Virtually no night-time - actually, i don't think we technically get "night" during July  so endless light and often the air temperature rarely dips to a level sufficient to clear the house of heat. 

You get barely any wind so again, no way to draw any built-up of heat out.

Then you have people. Oh my god, the people! We live in a detached house, we moved into one purposefully because we've had neighbours in the past with an adjoining wall who you felt were living with you.

July comes around and unless you're in the remotest of crofts in the highlands, you think your neighbours have moved in - you get to hear all their business, can tell when they've been drinking (nearly every night seems the rule in July - no judgement but they get louder and louder as the evening goes on). So coupled with the heat and light - don't think of getting a good sleep that month. Good luck having a private conversation in your own home during this time, unless you shut all your windows and melt. Phone calls, teams meetings, the lot - like a performance for the neighbourhood.

Wall to wall heat and sunshine just bring about all the things i can think of to make the time miserable - and then on top of that you get people who think its weird to be miserable in the discomfort. 

You sometimes get a storm in July which can be great to watch and offer temporary respite - but inevitably, they mostly fade out or miss you entirely - so you spend half the day watching the radar only for nothing to happen. 

And then finally, you know you've another six weeks or more of similar conditions ahead.

Personally, i'm glad we've got just about a year til next July, meaning i can forget about it til it rears its ugly head again.

Give me Oct, Nov, Dec and Jan over July any day!

[HafrenLMP1]

This is a tough one, as there's so much competition; November probably - it's usually a drab, month with obviously no warmth, and we don't get much cold. The trees have usually lost all their leaves by the third week, so there's very little colour left.

December is slightly better, as we do see some cold-ish weather, but the mild returns in time for the Festive period, which puts a dampener on it. January can be as bad, and once the decorations come down we're back to grey, monochrome grimness.....unless we get a short spell of wintry weather.

 

To be honest, mid October to February/March can be a real drag.

[laddie]

January for me, run up to Christmas is usually ok weather and event wise, but January is cold and dark with nothing happening, usually can't wait until we get to mid February when first tentative signs of warmth and light start to appear 

[Dami]

January. My joy for any snow will have mainly disappeared 'cos white christmas  wouldn't of happened and it's such a boring , long month.

[shunthebartlett92]

Theres a definite stigma regarding January, and easy to see why, as its dark, long and comes after all the festivities.  It slightly edges November in the worst month meteorologically speaking as rainfall is usually abundant. Sadly its a little too early usually for a decent synoptic setup here for snow, but its got a much better chance for snow than November so who knows?

 

PS: Are there really any other contenders aside from these two, unless the reason is sentimental 

Edited August 18 by shunthebartlett92

[ChannelThunder]

Difficult to say as they can all have periods of benign nothing-ness, which is my least favourite type of weather as a weather enthusiast.

Probably October though as the light levels are getting truly awful by that point, with the clock change looming too. Also, 'plume season' is over so, barring freak months like October 2022, the chances of storms has fully declined for another year. Saying that, it's not like we get a storm season anymore either way.

On the other hand, some Octobers can provide really interesting weather with powerful lows coming in from the southwest. I don't really care if that opinion is controversial, as it's seasonal & kind of expected for mid-autumn and at least provides interest, meteorologically speaking.

March too, can be very boring, but at least light levels are on the increase and the clocks will be going forward soon.

 

[CharlieBear9]

 Carl Also it's the month that drivers of vehicles with incredibly loud popping exhausts seem to be out on the roads 24 hours a day.