Whining Thread

[Nick L]

I don't like heat. Upto 22c is comfortable, after that I find it unpleasant. I am counting down the days until the end of summer.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Some people have better tolerance for heat than others, for various reasons. I used to be one of those who would find 27-degree heat uncomfortable. So I can certainly understand some not liking the current heat towards the SE.

Again "each to their own" applies. For the record I'm one of the ones enjoying this mini-heatwave.

[Guest]

France has been enjoying a much hotter summer than here, today for example temps are in the high 30`s C, it seems they get much better weather than us, much better cuisine but at least not a much better language spoken much more in the world

At Watford we have had a lovely day, probably just shy of 30C - checking the French weather - they are declaring a Canicule in a number of Departments (see the description below). Next year when my other house gets done I will have Air Con and heating powered by an air to air pump which puts out about 3 kwts of power for each Kwt of electricity, plus the squirty water in the garden will have water in it.

La canicule est une période de très forte chaleur durant l'été.

Même s'il n'existe pas de définition officielle, on considère qu'il y a canicule quand, dans un secteur donné, la température reste élevée et l'amplitude thermique faible. Cela correspond grosso modo à une température qui ne descend pas en dessous de 18 °C pour le nord de la France et 20 °C pour le sud la nuit, et atteint ou dépasse 30 °C pour le nord et 35 °C pour le sud le jour, ceci d'autant plus que le phénomène dure plusieurs jours, et a fortiori plusieurs semaines, la chaleur s'accumulant plus vite qu'elle ne s'évacue par convection ou rayonnement.

Cette définition serait applicable en France ou en Europe de l'Ouest. En effet, la notion de canicule semble relative et la canicule en Afrique ou en Scandinavie pourrait se baser sur d'autres valeurs. C'est probablement cette difficulté qui a empêché la création d'une définition universelle.

En Occident, la canicule était censée survenir au moment où Sirius, l'étoile la plus brillante de la constellation du Grand Chien, se lève et se couche en même temps que le Soleil, c'est-à-dire grosso modo, au Moyen Âge et de nos jours, pendant le mois d'août.

[snowingman]

Some people have better tolerance for heat than others, for various reasons. I used to be one of those who would find 27-degree heat uncomfortable. So I can certainly understand some not liking the current heat towards the SE.

Again "each to their own" applies. For the record I'm one of the ones enjoying this mini-heatwave.

Heat - what heat - imagine living somewhere where the highest temperature over the two months of july and august was a meagre 20.1 C !!!! and where it has rained for 46 days out of 51 days since July 1st,

so please please - don't start complaining about 27C or 30C - give me 19C and dry any day - 21C is a heatwave

this summer has to be even worse thant he last two - and they were crap also

I give up

[Costa Del Fal]

All in all, an 'average' Summer. Please, Please let Autumn provide deep atlantic Lows and stormy winds, otherwise I will go insane!!

I think August has helped compensate for the rubbish July making the Summer OK or just below average id say though i know its way below for the North!

The last few days have been summer-truly fantastic especially today!

On the point of the Autumn Lows and Stormy Winds-as were in the Midlands its always hard pushed to get real strong winds-they only ever seem to come with squalls and rarely with a very deep low perhaps. A lot of the time the forecasts suggest storng winds over us but it never seems more than a breeze sometimes!

Edited August 19, 2009 by Blizzards

[Thundery wintry showers]

Heat - what heat - imagine living somewhere where the highest temperature over the two months of july and august was a meagre 20.1 C !!!! and where it has rained for 46 days out of 51 days since July 1st,

so please please - don't start complaining about 27C or 30C - give me 19C and dry any day - 21C is a heatwave

this summer has to be even worse thant he last two - and they were crap also

I give up

I'm certainly not the one complaining about it! Despite being bogged down with lots of work today I still made sure I took breaks so I could go for walks out in the sun, as days with sunshine and maxes in the mid to high 20s have indeed been remarkably absent since late June. I'm just saying that some of those who do complain might have legitimate personal reasons for doing so.

I could post about what I've thought of Norwich's weather over the last few days, but then it would look out of place in a "whining thread" lol.

[Nick L]

I will complain about the bloody heat if I want to, that is the purpose of the WHINING THREAD!! Besides, some of us don't like heat, we don't have to be normal and like it!

[Harry]

I LOVE the heat - 30s all the way, love it!

What I will whinge at is the lack of storms this month! August seldom goes by without producing at least one humdinger, let alone no storms at all! As of tomorrow, there will be 11 days to fit a storm into - it's not too much to ask is it??

[Geordiesnow]

On the point of the Autumn Lows and Stormy Winds-as were in the Midlands its always hard pushed to get real strong winds-they only ever seem to come with squalls and rarely with a very deep low perhaps. A lot of the time the forecasts suggest storng winds over us but it never seems more than a breeze sometimes!

Try living on the east of the Pennines, normally being 'lee' of the hills, wind gusts can tend to be stronger and its no fun to be out in especially if its raining! :wacko:

One thing i hate about this time of year is the nights are starting to draw in pretty quickly(only just over 4 months until the shortest day of the year!) signaling that summer is drawing to a close. I suppose i get used to it as we progress through Autumn/first part of winter and i actually start to like the long nights.

[Severe Blizzard]

Another heatwave ends - another letdown with no thunderstorms. Another unpleasant humid night with insects and ANNOYING WASPS. I don't mind the high temperatures and I tend to enjoy clear hot days with good air quality and LOW humidity, not this c**p endured this summer. If it has to be humid then it is natural to expect a thunderstorm set up - that is in a NORMAL summer.

There have only been 3 days with thunder this summer - the worst I have ever known.

Indeed, there have only been 5 days with thunder heard in the last year now; Sunday 31st August 2008; Wednesday 15th April 2009; Tuesday 7th July; Thursday 16th July and Friday 24th July.

None of the thunder events were associated with hot weather breaking down. Unstable cooler S.W. and westerlies came to the rescue. 2008 was also extremely poor for successful plume events in this area but after that letdown one doesn't really expect the following year to produce NO hot or humid weather related thunderstorm event.

If nothing is heard after Monday week then that is only FOUR days in the last year which is even worse than 1990 which was completely rubbish for storms.

It defies belief that with all the high humidity and annoying discomfort suffered during June and now in August, that thunderstorm activity has been so lacking. June was so frustrating with storms always so tantalisingly close to Guildford but August has just not produced the goods in other areas either despite some good potential synoptics.

If we can't get any storms it would be nice to have just plain anticyclonic weather with a high over the U.K. with lovely clear skies, cool nights (8~10 deg.C) and pleasantly warm days (22~24 deg.C) and it is sincerley hoped that this could prevail in the first half of September when I go on holiday as I don't want dull, drizzly and miserable weather when in Cornwall. Nor do I want to run the risk of missing some big thunderstorm event at home while away, especially after the tremendously boring August and almost thunder-less year leading up to it (not July).

Ideally, a warm and sunny September and October with fun and games in November followed by a colder than average winter with plenty of snow and nice quiet anticyclonic frosty and perhaps foggy nights. The "Indian Summer" could be punctuated by thundery breakdowns and thundery downpours as in late September 1976, September 1981, September 1999 and September / October 2006.

Whinge over.

[Guest]

Try living on the east of the Pennines, normally being 'lee' of the hills, wind gusts can tend to be stronger and its no fun to be out in especially if its raining!

One thing i hate about this time of year is the nights are starting to draw in pretty quickly(only just over 4 months until the shortest day of the year!) signaling that summer is drawing to a close. I suppose i get used to it as we progress through Autumn/first part of winter and i actually start to like the long nights.

A miserable thought to think of those very short days, grey skies and drizzle in just a few weeks time.

[Eugene]

Yes as bottesford says on last nights status reports if only the rest of summer was like yesterday, people moaning about missing most of the rain and its too hot in the far E/SE area are just strange, temps into the mid 20`s C most days would be heaven for most people in the midlands northwards(not too hot or too cool), summer afterall is about heat not cool windy unsettled weather with temps into the high teens/early 20`s.

[snowingman]

Yes as bottesford says on last nights status reports if only the rest of summer was like yesterday, people moaning about missing most of the rain and its too hot in the far E/SE area are just strange, temps into the mid 20`s C most days would be heaven for most people in the midlands northwards(not too hot or too cool), summer afterall is about heat not cool windy unsettled weather with temps into the high teens/early 20`s.

Must agree.. there are too many whiners on this board!!

[Eugene]

However, the front will introduce much fresher conditions to all, a welcome relief after todays heat in much of England.

A quote from weatheronline yesterday is quite amusing, a relief from yesterdays heat for much of england they say, LOL i need more than one poxy averagely very warm day (temps were mid 20`s C in most parts of england) before wanting a relief, is that what the country is coming to when we can't take one averagely very warm day in August, it seems like it.

[noggin]

I will complain about the bloody heat if I want to, that is the purpose of the WHINING THREAD!! Besides, some of us don't like heat, we don't have to be normal and like it!

B) Exactly. B)

I hate the b!""£$%g Summer. Roll on Autumn and Winter.

[Terminal Moraine]

B) Exactly. B)

I hate the b!""£$%g Summer. Roll on Autumn and Winter.

Two people after my own heart I see, in Noggin and Nick2702. Suddenly I don't feel so alone.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Yes as bottesford says on last nights status reports if only the rest of summer was like yesterday, people moaning about missing most of the rain and its too hot in the far E/SE area are just strange, temps into the mid 20`s C most days would be heaven for most people in the midlands northwards(not too hot or too cool), summer afterall is about heat not cool windy unsettled weather with temps into the high teens/early 20`s.

I don't like people being labelled "strange" for having particular weather preferences, even when they differ from my own.

Actually, hatred of heat appears to have entred the mainstream in recent years, for instance see that earlier quote:

However, the front will introduce much fresher conditions to all, a welcome relief after todays heat in much of England.

I think those kind of comments are a more recent phenomenon. In the 1990s, I recall that most of the media forecasts I saw that included a heavy dose of subjectivity tended to take a line like "the hotter, the better". These days, the consensus seems to be that 21-24C is optimal and anything 25C and above is too hot (which, ironically, was the stance that I took about a decade ago, before becoming more heat-tolerant in recent years).

The cynic in me suspects that the recent tendency to assume that the majority of people loathe anything 25C and over is based largely on experiences of London and not of the country as a whole. It did not match well with the amount of people that were sunning themselves around UEA in 27-degree heat yesterday!

[Bottesford]

The cynic in me suspects that the recent tendency to assume that the majority of people loathe anything 25C and over is based largely on experiences of London and not of the country as a whole. It did not match well with the amount of people that were sunning themselves around UEA in 27-degree heat yesterday!

Yeah agree with that for sure - London always feels hotter than anywhere else and becomes distinctly unpleasant when temperatures go above the low to mid 20s - especially on the tube or trains.

Not true for many other parts of the UK where 27-28c is lovely when in the fresh air and makes for lovely evenings like last night.

As for you heat haters - luckily for you we get very little of it in the UK. In fact you're almost as lucky as the snow haters!

[ickledoozer]

Although sadly shortlived the weather yesterday was lovely, I want to whine about the fact that I was stuck in a really cold office or on teh underground and missed most of it, why couldnt it be nice this weekend?

I noticed this summer that the nice weather occured Monday to Wednesday and then it was generally down hill to wet and windy until Sunday and then nice again on Monday, this is my own observation and definitely not scientific!

In general I prefer Autumn/winter to spring/summer, nothing beats a crisp sunny day for making you feel alive, plus a nice hard frost, a day where you can wrap up and go out for a walk and possibly kick through a few nicely organised piles of leaves or stay in, keep warm and watch the light change.

Aaaahhhhhhhh

On a less happy note, i am not lookig forward to getting up at 5.30am in winter, nice feeling has gone :-(

[noggin]

In general I prefer Autumn/winter to spring/summer, nothing beats a crisp sunny day for making you feel alive, plus a nice hard frost, a day where you can wrap up and go out for a walk and possibly kick through a few nicely organised piles of leaves or stay in, keep warm and watch the light change.

Aaaahhhhhhhh

On a less happy note, i am not lookig forward to getting up at 5.30am in winter, nice feeling has gone :-(

I agree with the first paragraph here. Re the second paragraph.....I am also an early riser for work (5.45/6.00a.m.), which I really hate, but when it is cold and frosty or even snowy, then I just love the fact that I am the only one out and about around my way and I feel as if the frost and snow is all mine and I get first pickings so to speak! A lovely smug sort of feeling! Most people around here moan about the snow, so I am allowed to have my smug enjoyment. People complain about the possibility of falling over in it too....well, I have ropey old bones and a fall would be dangerous for me too, but, I can't help it.......I just love the cold and the frost and the snow!

I won't be able to whine much more this year, as my sort of whiny weather is coming to the end of it's turn. I shall have a good old moan and whine next Summer though if it's too hot i.e. anything over 70 degrees!

[ickledoozer]

I agree with the first paragraph here. Re the second paragraph.....I am also an early riser for work (5.45/6.00a.m.), which I really hate, but when it is cold and frosty or even snowy, then I just love the fact that I am the only one out and about around my way and I feel as if the frost and snow is all mine and I get first pickings so to speak! A lovely smug sort of feeling! Most people around here moan about the snow, so I am allowed to have my smug enjoyment. People complain about the possibility of falling over in it too....well, I have ropey old bones and a fall would be dangerous for me too, but, I can't help it.......I just love the cold and the frost and the snow!

I won't be able to whine much more this year, as my sort of whiny weather is coming to the end of it's turn. I shall have a good old moan and whine next Summer though if it's too hot i.e. anything over 70 degrees!

I do love the cold, I adored the snow earlier this year and took hundreds of photographs and hardly slept! I have my own driveway and footpath leading to my house so I knew I had snow that no one else would walk on :-)

I kept praying for clouds everytime it was sunny, in case it melted the snow!!!

I do agree that slipping over on snow/ice is a serious problem in winter and the issues with gritting earlier this year only exasperated the situation in a lot of places, I saw a few people fall down. I think I was lucky because I could work from home, so I didnt have to risk skidding around car parks or slipping over!

I can't wait for the first properly cold morning!

[Bottesford]

I do agree that slipping over on snow/ice is a serious problem in winter and the issues with gritting earlier this year only exasperated the situation in a lot of places, I saw a few people fall down. I think I was lucky because I could work from home, so I didnt have to risk skidding around car parks or slipping over!

That was what I had to deal with back in Feb - we had some snow which partially melted before refreezing again. It then snowed on top of this now lethal ice making for very dangerous conditions. Now add in that my route to work involves a steep hill covered in this lethal cocktail and unsurprisingly bruises were received! On a number of occasions I had to just walk carefully down the hill and even the whole way on one occasion. Now I'm all for unusual conditions changing the normal routines of life but after several days of having to leave earlier for work then arriving soaked (from melted snow attached to legs!) in double the usual time and boiling hot from the huge coat you needed when you set off it gets pretty tedious!

Gimme summer & heat anytime

[ickledoozer]

That was what I had to deal with back in Feb - we had some snow which partially melted before refreezing again. It then snowed on top of this now lethal ice making for very dangerous conditions. Now add in that my route to work involves a steep hill covered in this lethal cocktail and unsurprisingly bruises were received! On a number of occasions I had to just walk carefully down the hill and even the whole way on one occasion. Now I'm all for unusual conditions changing the normal routines of life but after several days of having to leave earlier for work then arriving soaked (from melted snow attached to legs!) in double the usual time and boiling hot from the huge coat you needed when you set off it gets pretty tedious!

Gimme summer & heat anytime

Awww you poor thing, that't one thing I don't see much of anymore, grit boxes by the side of the road (on hills mostly), they are quite handy in the conditions you speak of. I actually used rock salt from my kitchen to partially defrost my driveway earlier this year.

I can remember the winters of the early 90's down on the most eastern coast of Essex. One memory involves my mum driving us home from school (it was shut because of the snow) and the back end of the car overtaking the front end on a hill, I was very excited, my mum however was not!! :-)

[Nick L]

Two people after my own heart I see, in Noggin and Nick2702. Suddenly I don't feel so alone.

Let's start our own "We hate summer" group

My one annoyance this summer is the seemingly booming population of wasps. I am having to spray up to 5-10 a day, it really is getting ridiculous. Can't wait for the first good frost to kill them all.

Just think, in a couple of months time, cool days, early evenings, no annoying bugs...lovely.

But still one more week of summer to get through...

[Guest]

I love the warm days of summer, which we do get sometimes when the temperature is some 28-30C, with wall to wall blue skies, long light evenings when we can sit outside and have barbies. After the sun has gone down I still love sitting outside gazing at the night sky and wondering if there is anybody up there doing the same thing and gazing in our direction.

There again I love a good storm with dramatic lightning, provided it does not get too close.

When it comes to the winter I prefer the dry cold, say about -5C with some dry powdery snow and crystal clear blue skies. :

Generally what I hate most are damp grey conditions, winter or summer - fog, drizzle, continous light or moderate rain, I will leave it to the sun haters.

Edited August 21, 2009 by mike Meehan