Spring Weather Chat

[Barry12]

I also hate getting up in the morning when it's dark, when it's light and sunny it's so much easier, even more so when it's warm.

[Barry12]

On average the Isle of White is sunnier than Northern Spain, I might move there

[sundog]

Id love a cool bright and fairly dry spring. April 2010 springs to mind it was a bright coolish month overall if i recall with some blocking to the northwest i would not mind another April similar to that.

[summer blizzard]

2010, 2006 and 2001 were all below the 1981-2010 spring means.

I never have ill effects due to the weather and never use heating.

[Bottesford]

That's hardly surprising when you consider that most people in the UK would probably prefer a climate similar to the Costa del Sol. I have to say though, that I don't notice or experience the problems that you appear to during the winter months, other than stuffy rooms causing headaches, which is easy to remedy.

Dry skin/cracked lips/cold sores tend to be worst in cold conditions as you're frequently going from dry heated rooms to cold generally dry air. The longer/dangerous journeys to work come from cycling. Much as I love cycling it is a lot harder in winter. It takes ages to put all your gear on - coat, hat, helmet (squeezed over the top), scarf, reflective jacket, lights & finally gloves. This happens four times in two orders per day - yes its only a few minutes but its a few minutes that I don't need to bother with outside of winter/cold weather. All my winter gripes I can cope with fine - really its not that bad - I'm just saying they annoyances that simply don't exist in summer.

Oh some more to the winter annoyances to add... cold feet, can't see my keys to open garage, gate & door, gate & door becoming next to impossible to open in cold conditions (the wood swells), having to keep fiddling with the awkward heating system to not waste fuel but not let the house get cold, mould growth in the house due to lack of airflow, forced to use tumble dryer which ruins clothes/costs money, complaints from the missus of all of the above plus many more..... OK I'll shut up

I never have ill effects due to the weather and never use heating.

Never use heating? How is this possible - even primitive man built a fire to keep warm!

[IanR]

That's hardly surprising when you consider that most people in the UK would probably prefer a climate similar to the Costa del Sol. I have to say though, that I don't notice or experience the problems that you appear to during the winter months, other than stuffy rooms causing headaches, which is easy to remedy.

I am not too sure about that, most would like it if life was just a big holiday, but for day to day normal living a lot would find it uncomfortable and become irritated by it

I know I would hate that heat and I am a mildy

[Milhouse]

2010, 2006 and 2001 were all below the 1981-2010 spring means.

Its remarkable that last Spring was still above average despite my overriding memory being a cold and wet season. I guess May would have come in below average if the final week wasnt as consistently warm as it turned out. It was really only the final week that was any good. The rest of May and the whole of April were dismal. I guess whilst the March was remarkable in itself, it doesnt really go towards making a good Spring as much as a warm May does.

[Weather-history]

2010, 2006 and 2001 were all below the 1981-2010 spring means.

You shouldn't really use a 30 year average against years that make up that 30 year average. Comparing 2001 against the 1981-2010 is daft IMO. 2001 is two thirds into that three decadal average!

Edited January 24, 2013 by Weather-history

[Thundery wintry showers]

I remember 2001, 2006 and 2010 being very close to the 1971-2000 average. March and April 2001 were cold but were counterbalanced by a warm May, and in 2006, following a cold March, April and May were both slightly warmer than average. In 2010, slightly colder-than-average temperatures in March and May were offset by a warm April.

Also none of those three springs were significantly (more than 0.5C) short of the 1981-2010 average either, contrasting sharply with the large number that were more than 0.5C above.

April 2012 was not an exceptionally cold month because we didn't get any particularly long-draw northerlies- the prevailing pattern was generally cool and cyclonic- and excessive cloud cover, particularly in the second half, helped to hold the night-time minima up. The consistently low daytime maxima, lack of sunshine, frequency of grey windy weather and absence of any pronounced warm spells gave the impression that the month was a lot colder than the statistics suggest.

I would be quite in favour of a cold bright spring for a change, but not another spring like 1996- March 1996 in particular was dominated by grey south-easterlies and some parts of NE England had 15 consecutive days without sunshine from the 11th-25th- which would be unusual enough in January, let alone March!

Edited January 24, 2013 by Thundery wintry showers

[Bottesford]

I am not too sure about that, most would like it if life was just a big holiday, but for day to day normal living a lot would find it uncomfortable and become irritated by it

I know I would hate that heat and I am a mildy

If it were normal it'd be fine - most of the populated world is warmer than the UK and they cope just fine (well most of the time anyway - take recently in Australia as an exception! But that's extreme.).

[summer blizzard]

Dry skin/cracked lips/cold sores tend to be worst in cold conditions as you're frequently going from dry heated rooms to cold generally dry air. The longer/dangerous journeys to work come from cycling. Much as I love cycling it is a lot harder in winter. It takes ages to put all your gear on - coat, hat, helmet (squeezed over the top), scarf, reflective jacket, lights & finally gloves. This happens four times in two orders per day - yes its only a few minutes but its a few minutes that I don't need to bother with outside of winter/cold weather. All my winter gripes I can cope with fine - really its not that bad - I'm just saying they annoyances that simply don't exist in summer.

Oh some more to the winter annoyances to add... cold feet, can't see my keys to open garage, gate & door, gate & door becoming next to impossible to open in cold conditions (the wood swells), having to keep fiddling with the awkward heating system to not waste fuel but not let the house get cold, mould growth in the house due to lack of airflow, forced to use tumble dryer which ruins clothes/costs money, complaints from the missus of all of the above plus many more..... OK I'll shut up

Never use heating? How is this possible - even primitive man built a fire to keep warm!

When he lived outside, yes.

Being born in Scotland (i was only there 18 months) i appear to have aclimatised myself to the hard Scottish weather because i can happily wear a t-shirt at 5C and i keep my window open until maxima falls below 10C. Further if your cold just save on the bills and wear a jumper and coat.

[Scorcher]

Ideally i think i would go for March 2012, April 2011 and May 2008 all in one.

We can dream haha, perhaps could even swap May 2008 for 1992 or even 1833 and add in February 2008 or 1998 and that's a dream late winter/spring for fans of warm sunshine!

[summer blizzard]

Its remarkable that last Spring was still above average despite my overriding memory being a cold and wet season. I guess May would have come in below average if the final week wasnt as consistently warm as it turned out. It was really only the final week that was any good. The rest of May and the whole of April were dismal. I guess whilst the March was remarkable in itself, it doesnt really go towards making a good Spring as much as a warm May does.

That March personally overshadowed everything else for me.

You shouldn't really use a 30 year average against years that make up that 30 year average. Comparing 2001 against the 1981-2010 is daft IMO. 2001 is two thirds into that three decadal average!

Of course you can, i'm comparing it to now and it would be deemed cool.

[Bottesford]

When he lived outside, yes.

Being born in Scotland (i was only there 18 months) i appear to have aclimatised myself to the hard Scottish weather because i can happily wear a t-shirt at 5C and i keep my window open until maxima falls below 10C. Further if your cold just save on the bills and wear a jumper and coat.

But I were to have not heated my house at all during the last two weeks it would be roughly 0c in here - the same as outside. The pipes would freeze & burst quite quickly, the windows would ice up and the bottle of water next to my bed would freeze solid.

Much as I bang on about warmth I'm actually quite cold tolerant - always last with coat on or first with it off. Tolerant at both ends of the spectrum but with a preference for an easy life - so outside temp at 22-25c!

[Weather-history]

Of course you can, i'm comparing it to now and it would be deemed cool.

I think you will find if you compare many past seasons to now, you will find even more below average and deemed cool and there lies the flaw in this because you are comparing past years against a period that has been skewed somewhat in one direction. It doesn't give a true impression. Hence why comparing years to immediate previous periods gives a better impression for that year.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Weather-history

[Aaron]

If it were normal it'd be fine - most of the populated world is warmer than the UK and they cope just fine (well most of the time anyway - take recently in Australia as an exception! But that's extreme.).

The same argument is made frequently with regards to cold, snowy weather. Doesn't mean people enjoy it. I think Ian is right, people would soon tire of the endless sun and heat, I think even the average Brit would like some variety, and snow is popular, but only when it doesn't cause disruption.

With regards to tolerance - I am not a big fan of heat, but I can tolerate it. I rarely if ever complain that it's too hot.

I also never layer up - when walking around a few days ago during sunny weather, I had to take my coat off as I became far too warm, and I felt perfectly fine. I can tolerate being outside in subzero temperatures in shorts for long periods, but wouldn't go for an extended walk in such conditions. I don't even wear hats or gloves, hate 'em.

Edited January 24, 2013 by Aaron

[Bottesford]

Yeah I don't like wearing gloves or hats either - but on a bike the wind chill factor makes it impossible without. Your fingers/ears ache like hell with sub zero air rushing past them!

[Barry12]

Thats makes 3, I don't like wearing gloves either.

Below freezing temperatures I find quite easy to deal with, without gloves/hats when it's sunny. But when it's cloudy my hands quickly get painful without gloves

Can't wait until we get temperatures in the mid 20's when it's sunny and you can go out in t-shirt and shorts, althought that's not a guarantee in the UK. I can certainly withstand heat better than cold, I always hope we can get a repeat of the record breaking hot spell we had in Summer 2003 or a repeat of 2006

Edited January 25, 2013 by Barry95

[hillbilly]

When he lived outside, yes.

Being born in Scotland (i was only there 18 months) i appear to have aclimatised myself to the hard Scottish weather because i can happily wear a t-shirt at 5C and i keep my window open until maxima falls below 10C. Further if your cold just save on the bills and wear a jumper and coat.

i lived high in the pennines for 35 years and i'm always the last to take off my jumper but i can stand heat.usually those that can stand cold cannot stand heat,you havnt said wether that is the case

[summer blizzard]

i lived high in the pennines for 35 years and i'm always the last to take off my jumper but i can stand heat.usually those that can stand cold cannot stand heat,you havnt said wether that is the case

I don't mind heat but i cannot stand humidity at all.

[Radiating Dendrite]

I don't mind heat but i cannot stand humidity at all.

Yes.....I fall into this category.

Dry heat is fine, but that seems rare in this country.

[summer blizzard]

Yes.....I fall into this category.

Dry heat is fine, but that seems rare in this country.

Dry heat is much more common in Spring. I can cope with 25C+ in April-June but come July-August-September its horrible.

[Bottesford]

Whereas I love humid weather mostly since it means I get to enjoy it in the evening. No use being 23c all day when I'm at work only for it to rapidly fall below 15-16c by the time I get to sit outside of an evening.

Love the smells & feel of warm, humid weather - the air feels soft and kind and isn't like to catch you out by going cold suddenly.

Sure you get a bit sweaty if you run around - but who cares, we deal with shivering most of the time (which is much less pleasant) its nice to have a change!

[Aaron]

Is dry heat rare? I'm pretty sure the majority of heatwaves in the UK are accompanied by low humidity and dew points. Looking at one station on wunderground in Leeds, during July 2006, the temperature could be as high as 31C with a dew point of 9C. Certainly not humid.

But yes, there is nothing I detest more than humidity, which is why that period of weather in late May last year was absolutely sensational - temps in the mid 20s with low humidity is pure bliss.

Edited January 25, 2013 by Aaron

[hillbilly]

i'm not bothered so long as we get plenty of it .i'll settle for a really cold wet spring so long as we get a good summer .in the last 6 years we have only had one good summer month,june 210