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Posted
  • Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent
  • Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Not sure if this has been done before and how many replies this will get in this particular forum however I thought I would see what members would wish for if they could import the climate from any other part of the world to here.

Now, if I have my sensible head on, I would surely say the climate of the UK (as it stands today). It is changeable and unpredictable, which makes it interesting, it is benign with pleasant but bearable summer peaks with winter conditions that rarely disrupt for longer than short periods of time. The weather is rarely of a life threatening nature in this country and our long term economic prosperity owes much to our kind temperate climate that has allowed industry and agriculture to thrive for many generations.

Taking the sensible hat off for a moment however, for myself and many on here I suspect, the UK climate is slightly boring - "I'd like more thunderstorms, tornados, hurricanes, snow, cold, hot etc" depending on what my personal preferences are.

I think the best climate I can think of would be somewhere near Virginia or North Carolina, near the coast (but not on the beach).

The reasons being for this is that the temperature is never really really extreme but can get cold of very cold in winter and hot in summer. There is lots of opportunities for snow in the winter. Spring and early summer are generally very nice. High and late summer into early Autumn does get humid however powerful storms and occasional hurricane activity are the payoff against this.

An honourable mention also goes to the Korean Peninsular which has generally warm to hot temps for 9 months of the year and a winter from Siberia which can be bitter. Tropical cyclone activity occurs in summer and autumn and snow frequently falls on Christmas Day. The only thing that stopped me picking this as my preferred choice was that it is too wet in summer and too dry in winter.

Any other suggestions are most welcome

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Posted
  • Location: Maidstone, Kent
  • Location: Maidstone, Kent

good idea stu!!!!

Well my ideal climate is in New York as they get the best of both extemes

They get well below zero temps in winter and loads of snow and blazing hot summers with plus 40 temperatures!!

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Posted
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)
  • Location: Caterham-on-the-hill, Surrey, 190m asl (home), Heathrow (work)

I find the UK climate rather too benign for my liking. My weather interest lies in severe thunderstorms in the summer and heavy snowfall in the winter, both of which aren't really seen in the UK on the scale as some other countries.

For severe thunderstorms, you can't beat the mid-West of America, not sure I'd want to live on the flat Plains of the mid-West or live the American Lifestyle - but every spring and summer you're pretty much guaranteed spectacular t-storms as warm moist Gulf air clashes with hot dry air from the Desert West. Somewhere like Denver would be good as you have the plains to the East where severe storms can easily be within chasing distance and you are also on the doorstep of the Rockies for snow and scenery opportunities. In the winter it can often be bone chilling sub-zero cold with snow - particualrly over the Northern Plains. Also, the Great Lakes would be good for snow with the 'Lake effect' in winter and the good possibility of severe storms in summer too.

In Europe, continental interior areas such as Germany, Austria and Eastern France have the benefit of sometimes severe thunderstorms with often more convective energy available than the UK - mountainous areas in particular that I've visited have had some great storms develop during the afternoons too. During the winter, continental Europe is often more favoured by snowfall and sub-zero temps, particularly the further East you are, such as Austria. Having been to Austria in both summer and seen some great storms and during the winter and seen very deep snow, I can say I could quite happily live there if I could master some German!

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

I also find the climate of the UK too benign for my liking, although I wouldn't want a climate that was too extreme either (e.g. frequent destructive tornadoes, hurricanes, 40C+ heatwaves, winter temps often below -10C etc).

I pretty much agree with Nick F actually- I don't think I could go far wrong with the climates of east France, Germany or Austria, where thunderstorms typically average 25-30 days per year, winters are modestly cold and snowy (average maxima 4-6C) and summers modestly warm and sunny with thundery downpours (average maxima 22-24C, sunshine 200-240 hours per month). The best (in my opinion) week of weather I've ever experienced was the week I spent near Strasbourg in July 2005- the first three days were warm and sunny with scattered sharp showers and thunderstorms, then the next three were sunny and dry apart from a 1-minute rainstorm on the last day. It felt reliably warm and sunny, yet at the same time very unpredictable as to whether storms would develop.

Most of the USA would be rather too extreme for me, but if I had to choose a region within the USA it would certainly be the Great Lakes- the lakes help to keep the temperature fairly temperate, while the lakes provide the ideal setup for winter half-year thundersnows.

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Posted
  • Location: Rossland BC Canada
  • Location: Rossland BC Canada

From what I've gathered over the past two years, the climate of central Ontario would be very exciting for most Net-weather members. You get a real winter with plenty of lake effect and synoptic snowfall, probably 30 events in the average winter and a total of 100 inches or so, leaving 30-40 inches on the ground at the peak of the season in January.

Then spring comes on rapidly and brings severe weather events and large swings in temperature. Summer is generally very pleasant, not as hot or humid as further south but warmer than England, with perhaps one or two severe storm events a week in the general vicinity.

Autumn in that part of the world is very pleasant with weeks of warm, sunny weather and the changing leaves adding a lot of colour, but also frequent weather changes and some early lake effect precip of various kinds.

When I say central Ontario I mean the part between Georgian Bay and the Ottawa valley, that's what people who live in Ontario call central because they tend to ignore the vast empty spaces north of about 50 N latitude. Hard to imagine that in the same latitudes as the UK and Ireland, Ontario is subarctic and the lakes are frozen until late May or early June.

Now, if it's a very pleasant year-round climate you're looking for, this part of British Columbia has a pretty nice climate year round, the only real drawback is heavy rain that tends to come in November, December and January mostly. Despite that, you can play golf here year round and the rest of the year is quite moderate in temperature, about the same as you have there but probably a bit more sunshine, on the average. The summers here get into a long dry spell that seems to begin around the 12th-15th of July and in recent years has lasted well into September.

If it's something a bit warmer but rain-free that you would like, San Diego in southern California rarely gets very hot in summer with that cool Pacific water offshore, and the winters there are almost as warm as Florida.

But for sheer weather excitement, the Great Lakes region has everything, more variation than tornado alley without the frequency of monster tornadoes that strike there too.

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Posted
  • Location: South of Glasgow 55.778, -4.086, 86m
  • Location: South of Glasgow 55.778, -4.086, 86m

Canada sounds like it takes the biscuit for climate then, what with even having seasons and all. But for real weather fans, nowhere can beat Scotland; every type of weather event you could hope for, and only five minutes apart, all year round. Perfect.

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Posted
  • Location: Longden, Shropshire
  • Location: Longden, Shropshire

Although I've never been, I've always liked the sound of Canada's climate i.e hot in Summer, cold and snowy in Winter.

Have always wanted and will visit one day, hopefully sooner rather than later.

:)

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Posted
  • Location: Canmore, AB 4296ft|North Kent 350ft|Killearn 330ft
  • Location: Canmore, AB 4296ft|North Kent 350ft|Killearn 330ft

I would have to go with southern BC, in Canada. Coldish winters with heavy snow but not frigid temps, seasons with stunning tree colours in the fall, and long hot summers with low humidity...perfect

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Posted
  • Location: Hubberton up in the Pennines, 260m
  • Location: Hubberton up in the Pennines, 260m

Continental weather is good for me, especially in central europe where you have the choice to go to snow or stay in a relatively temperate climate.

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Posted
  • Location: Reading/New York/Chicago
  • Location: Reading/New York/Chicago

Of the places I've been to:

1. As Roger said, Canada. I like my winters cold and snowy, and also enjoy a bit of summer weather although not too hot. Probably somewhere just to the North East of Lake Ontario perhaps; the Thousand Islands region is a good fishing spot...

2=. Great Lakes. Chicago for the big city lifestyle and weather extremes; I do love Chicago as a city! If I was looking for somewhere with lots of snow then I would go for Syracuse - averaging over 100 inches of snow per year and benefiting from comfortable temperatures in the summer (25-28oC, average minima 13-16oC) and cold winters. Also well placed for mountains and lakes.

2= New York. Potential for blizzards like nowhere other than other North East coastal regions or mountains. Not many places top the 24 hour snowfall record of 28 inches in New York other than Lake-Effect snow-belts. You also have the hot summer and the potential for severe thunderstorms without the potential for life-threatening tornadoes. Only the humidity in the summer really stops New York from being number one for me.

4. Munich. I've always fancied Munich as the altitude makes the climate favourable to my needs. I also like the proximity to the Black Forest and the mountains.

Victoria, BC has an interesting micro-climate. It is drier than both Seattle and Vancouver and has fairly distinct wet and dry seasons. This is all the more astonishing when you consider just how wet the West coast of Vancouver Island actually is. I read somewhere the parts of Vancouver Island are the wettest in the world outside of Southern Chile and the tropics.

Temperatures here rarely stray much above 30oC and in winter are generally above freezing. Having said that when I took a drive yesterday snow was still visible on some of the higher mountain tops. Talking to a chap in the bar last night he rates the ferry journey from Vancouver to Vancouver Island as the second best in the world after Picton to Wellington in New Zealand. I've never been to New Zealand, but what I've seen of British Columbia, dramatic valleys and beautiful scenery, is exactly what I've always pictured it to be like. Roger is a lucky man and also seems to have his very own mobile network and sports channel over here... :wallbash:

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Posted
  • Location: Rossland BC Canada
  • Location: Rossland BC Canada

I wish I had some of that action, he's talking about Rogers Cable TV network and the various ways they have to vacuum money out of people's pockets. Nowt to do with me though.

Anyway, White Fox visited my part of the world here on a really crummy weather weekend, it got so wet we had to think about ending the Saturday golf early but it wasn't quite that bad. Hope you could see a few breaks in the overcast there, White Fox, it has turned rather nice today finally.

That flood potential I was mentioning came to pass mainly in the northern parts of BC about a week ago, but so far the Fraser has been staying just inside its flood control banks and we're still waiting to see what will happen as most of the snow has not melted yet. Speaking of climate change, I read some report many years ago now, some explorer in a part of central Vancouver Island reported snow in June at sea level, that never happens nowadays but it does snow once in a while in May around here. But as White Fox was saying, there is still a lot of snow above about 1300 metres on all the local mountains, and the melt is late this year.

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  • 2 months later...
Not sure if this has been done before and how many replies this will get in this particular forum however I thought I would see what members would wish for if they could import the climate from any other part of the world to here.

Now, if I have my sensible head on, I would surely say the climate of the UK (as it stands today). It is changeable and unpredictable, which makes it interesting, it is benign with pleasant but bearable summer peaks with winter conditions that rarely disrupt for longer than short periods of time. The weather is rarely of a life threatening nature in this country and our long term economic prosperity owes much to our kind temperate climate that has allowed industry and agriculture to thrive for many generations.

Taking the sensible hat off for a moment however, for myself and many on here I suspect, the UK climate is slightly boring - "I'd like more thunderstorms, tornados, hurricanes, snow, cold, hot etc" depending on what my personal preferences are.

I think the best climate I can think of would be somewhere near Virginia or North Carolina, near the coast (but not on the beach).

The reasons being for this is that the temperature is never really really extreme but can get cold of very cold in winter and hot in summer. There is lots of opportunities for snow in the winter. Spring and early summer are generally very nice. High and late summer into early Autumn does get humid however powerful storms and occasional hurricane activity are the payoff against this.

An honourable mention also goes to the Korean Peninsular which has generally warm to hot temps for 9 months of the year and a winter from Siberia which can be bitter. Tropical cyclone activity occurs in summer and autumn and snow frequently falls on Christmas Day. The only thing that stopped me picking this as my preferred choice was that it is too wet in summer and too dry in winter.

Any other suggestions are most welcome

Well, I'm afraid I cant agree with you on that score at all ;) Surely, our climate is far too wet & stormy for anyone with even a modicum of interlligence to seriously suggest that the British climate is anything than 2 sandwiches short of a picnic. Personally, I find the Canaries have an excellent climate, nice & warm/dry all year round with low rainfall & humidity....very healthy! Furthur afield, I would suggest the Chilean desert, virtually unbroken sun & heat all year round, extremely healthy, compared to Britain.

As we have had the wettest summer EVER with ppl killed, I would have thought that our climate was anything, but benign ;)

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