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The changing daylight hours thread


Boydie

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

Im more active during Winter months, Mountaineering/Ice Climbing and Walking with some of the best Sunrise and Sunset's of the year, When the low sun put's a lovely sparkly Orange tinge over the snow covered silent landscape, I could not wish for anything more..

But with barely 7 hours to play with its quite restrictive to do walks. We love walking too but to get anywhere good for walking its over an hours drive from here so assuming you don't want to get up in the dark for the 6th day in a row you've only got 5 hours or so which makes it risky if you end up taking longer than expected.

Agree about sunrise/sunset - see more of those in winter for sure. Although the afternoon one tends to come in work time whereas in summer it can come with a beer in hand...

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Posted
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks
  • Location: just south of Doncaster, Sth Yorks

I'm with you on that TM, Could not come soon enough...! The last 24hrs have felt very Autumnal, and the night's noticeably drawing in now, Not long till Winter Posted Image 

 

 

thanks TM the 1st Christmas card

But with barely 7 hours to play with its quite restrictive to do walks. We love walking too but to get anywhere good for walking its over an hours drive from here so assuming you don't want to get up in the dark for the 6th day in a row you've only got 5 hours or so which makes it risky if you end up taking longer than expected.

Agree about sunrise/sunset - see more of those in winter for sure. Although the afternoon one tends to come in work time whereas in summer it can come with a beer in hand...

ah those year ago when I could walk for 7 hours, come on botty, how long are spending in the pub at lunch time?

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Posted
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL
  • Weather Preferences: January 1987 / July 2006
  • Location: Purley, Surrey - 246 Ft ASL

Driving home for Christmas (in the dark)

I cannot wait to see the (sunlight)

 Posted Image

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

thanks TM the 1st Christmas card

ah those year ago when I could walk for 7 hours, come on botty, how long are spending in the pub at lunch time?

Weelllllll one needs to wet ones whistle...

Whenever we end up going walking its more like 11 or so start as we have to come from so far to any exciting countryside... the pub comes at the end however!

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Posted
  • Location: Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire
  • Location: Bearsden, East Dunbartonshire

I've noticed that: the sky isn't as light in the late evening; a shorter duration between sunset and dusk; it is certainly darker at 10pm on clear nights, and earlier when it's overcast; the night sky is much darker around midnight. The early mornings don't seem to be as light aswell.

 

Glasgow for tomorrow; Dawn 0446, Sunrise 0532, Sunset 2113, Dusk 2158 - Dawn and sunset is similar to 1st May, sunset/dusk more like 9th May. 

Hottest day (19th July): Dawn 0407, Sunrise 0500, Sunset 2146, Dusk 2239 - this far north, the light lasts longer in the evening which was really enjoyable last month.

This time next month: Dawn 0532, Sunrise 0630, Sunset 2000, Dusk 2038

 

21st June Glasgow: Dawn 0329, Sunsrise 0431, Sunset 2206, Dusk 2308

21st June London: Dawn 0335, Sunrise 0443, Sunset 2121, Dusk 2209 

21st June Lerwick: Dawn 0146, Sunrise 0338, Sunset 2234, Dusk 0026

 

I really enjoyed the long days during the heatwave and on the clear and bright days in late May and June. The late light was great to make use of the garden until 10pm, and the late sunset and dusk was spectacular with with great views towards Highlands. There's still a fair amount of light to enjoy this month but it is nothing compared to a month or so ago. On the plus-side, it's also nice to see the nights drawing in again.

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

The sunrise and sunset times are only a partial marker to daylight .In winter light can be affected by maybe 30 minutes if it is cloudy or foggy compared to a clear night and on a full moon with snowcover it can be extremely light,hence the 'lunatic' instincts in us .In summer daylight is at least an hour longer at night alone on a clear night with some moon compared to cloud.

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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District South Pennines Middleton & Smerrill Tops 305m (1001ft) asl.

But with barely 7 hours to play with its quite restrictive to do walks. We love walking too but to get anywhere good for walking its over an hours drive from here so assuming you don't want to get up in the dark for the 6th day in a row you've only got 5 hours or so which makes it risky if you end up taking longer than expected.

Agree about sunrise/sunset - see more of those in winter for sure. Although the afternoon one tends to come in work time whereas in summer it can come with a beer in hand...

 

Some days during winter, I work all day then drive all night to the Highlands, just to catch the perfect sunrise of a chosen mountain. You can do anything if you really want to ! Here's a shot of mine from Feb 2011 very early one morning..

post-12319-0-43875600-1375714458_thumb.j

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

That does look very epic... True you can do anything if you try... can't argue with that!

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Posted
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire
  • Weather Preferences: Spanish plumes, hot and sunny with thunderstorms
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire

I agree there is something atmospheric about a wintry sunset after a cold day with shallow mist hanging over the fields. But all too soon we are plunged into darkness by 4pm and you are stuck indoors until 10pm. However last winter i did discover a liking of going running in the evening along a route that was sufficiently lit by streetlights. But i didnt like doing it in anything under 6c as it was too cold.

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Posted
  • Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire
  • Location: Chesterfield, Derbyshire

I'll start this post of with saying that i definitely enjoy longer nights.

 

However, I begin to tire of them towards the end of summer, just as I begin to tire of the darkness by the end of winter. As much as I enjoy late night summer walks and sitting out in the garden until late at night, I also enjoy walking at night in the winter. This will make me sound very anti-social, but I have fond memories of walking the streets alone listening to some good music with some light snow falling. However, I also have fond memories of walking to a field and messing around in the snow with friends like I'm 10 years old again!

 

I guess what I'm trying to say is that I enjoy both. I must note though, as someone on this thread said previously, some music is just so much better in the winter. It just doesn't feel right listening to Brand New or a similar band in the summer warmth.

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Posted
  • Location: Darlington 63 m or 206ft above sea level
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, Snow, Storms, Snow Thunder, Supercells, all weather extremes
  • Location: Darlington 63 m or 206ft above sea level

Me. I hate SUMMER. Bugs, sweat, roasting, humidity, mosquitoes. the dam sunlight 4/5am the seagulls laughing at me cant get to sleep cos its too warm. the olnly thing i do like is the storms
 

roll on aut/winter the cold crispy mornings snow gales freezing fog, BLISS

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

I agree there is something atmospheric about a wintry sunset after a cold day with shallow mist hanging over the fields. But all too soon we are plunged into darkness by 4pm and you are stuck indoors until 10pm. However last winter i did discover a liking of going running in the evening along a route that was sufficiently lit by streetlights. But i didnt like doing it in anything under 6c as it was too cold.

I like to run around the estate I live in but you just can't do it after dark especially with autumn debris around or ice as you could fall easily. The gas lighting round here is a lovely effect but doesn't exactly light things up when you're used to energy efficient new street lights everywhere else! People put their full beam on which is just a right arse as its quite hilly here so you end up blinded. Still prefer the gas lamps though.

 

I too do find enjoyment in those dark nights but I just wish it didn't go on for so long - if it could stay 6pm or later until late Nov then really draw in before heading back out to 6pm by mid Jan that'd suit much better. By early Feb the dark commute home really really starts to get annoying - "oh come on spring already!".

Me. I hate SUMMER. Bugs, sweat, roasting, humidity, mosquitoes. the dam sunlight 4/5am the seagulls laughing at me cant get to sleep cos its too warm. the olnly thing i do like is the storms

 

roll on aut/winter the cold crispy mornings snow gales freezing fog, BLISS

People forget sweating is actually good for your skin... as is sunlight. In winter is gets drier and certainly looks less healthy and more pasty.

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Posted
  • Location: Fazendas de,Almeirim, Portugal
  • Location: Fazendas de,Almeirim, Portugal

I'm not a heat fan at all, just pleasantly warm weather in summer. But I love the long daylight hours and enjoying the sunshine and all the extra enjoyable things that are going onPosted Image

 

I won't be wishing the summer away for sure on the basis of autumn to have to get throughPosted Image . It is my most disliked season of the year. The long days and evenings of summer are gone to enjoy being out and about, the potential for gales and heavy rain and gloom returns (plus even worse, thunder off the English channel which is always a risk with the sea temperatures still high)Posted Image  And on top of that it is too early for any frost and snow which is the hoped for reward for enduring the pennance when you come out the other side.  If the winter is not one of seasonal cold and lots of frost and snow showers off the north sea, then this season too can be as hideous, if not worse if it is just mild, dark and stormy. Uff - what is the pleasure in thatPosted Image

 

There are still some weeks yet to enjoy pleasant warm weather, despite the daylight receding and September can bring lovely weather almost as an extension of summer - in the way that March and Springtime can be an extension of proper winter - as it was so wonderfully and spectacularly this yearPosted Image

Edited by Tamara Road
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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds

. There are better things to do with your lives than worry what position the sun is at.

Yet that is exactly what you, Bottesford, Scorcher and many others are doing on this thread. Perhaps you should stop worrying about the long nights of winter and actually enjoy your 'social life' before it comes to an apparent end in winter and you start living life like a depressed hermit crab.

 

No disrespect (my social life is quite fine thank you)!

 

People forget sweating is actually good for your skin... as is sunlight. In winter is gets drier and certainly looks less healthy and more pasty.

 

Certainly, but sweating is a horrid sensation, as well as smelly and often socially awkward, hence why people wear antiperspirant to prevent it as much as possible. Sunlight is also good, but people also wear sunscreen to protect their skin against the sun's harmful rays. There is too much of a good thing, and too much sunshine is not only damaging to your skin (skin cancer/premature aging), but also extremely monotonous and boring if it continues for a very long time. Variety is the spice of life - and I'm sure forums like this would be very quiet if the sun was shining all the time.

 

 Uff - what is the pleasure in thatPosted Image

 

Lots and lots of pleasure - gales are exciting and for some people an unusual weather event, much like a heavy snowfall, but I think we all know that you tend to dislike weather that is considered dangerous or possibly life-threatening, except snow of course.. lol. Posted Image

 

My personal stance is that I like the long summer days and long winter nights, as it adds to the variety (you can't get one without the other, remember), but more especially when the weather is 'appropriate' for the time of year. December 2010 was a dream come true with a low sun setting before 4pm, nearly a foot of snow on the ground and lots of ice days and temperatures as low as -18C. That is what winter is supposed to be - that is what people think of when someone says 'winter'. I'd be bored out of my mind in some dull tropical climate where the weather is the same every day - low 21C, high 31C, heavy afternoon showers, sunrise 7am, sunset 7pm, all year -  indeed, it's the time between late August and late October that I hate the most because the day length is too 'equal' and uninteresting.

 

Anyway, these arguments seem to be cropping up a lot, and much like debates about weather preferences, they're quite pointless. Some people like the dark - some people find sun nauseating, some associate it with burning, fire and destruction - some are allergic to it and break out in a rash whenever they are exposed to it. Lots of reasons - all valid. No point in making people feel weird or that their social life is 'lower quality' because of it.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet
  • Location: Leeds/Bradford border, 185 metres above sea level, around 600 feet

I've noticed it. The week before last i sat out a lot and noticed it was pretty dark by 9.30. Today i woke up for a drink and at 4.35 it was still pretty dark.

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

Yet that is exactly what you, Bottesford, Scorcher and many others are doing on this thread. Perhaps you should stop worrying about the long nights of winter and actually enjoy your 'social life' before it comes to an apparent end in winter and you start living life like a depressed hermit crab.

I don't stop living life its just many normal things become harder when its dark/cold. Takes quite a bit of energy and money to 'survive' winter even ones generally mild like ours so of course that can be annoying at times. Doesn't mean you give up of course... 

Anyway, these arguments seem to be cropping up a lot, and much like debates about weather preferences, they're quite pointless. Some people like the dark - some people find sun nauseating, some associate it with burning, fire and destruction - some are allergic to it and break out in a rash whenever they are exposed to it. Lots of reasons - all valid. No point in making people feel weird or that their social life is 'lower quality' because of it.

Of course each to their own - no one is having a go at people for their preferences. I'm just interested in views that seem so alien to me - and enjoy the debate!
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 There is too much of a good thing, and too much sunshine is not only damaging to your skin (skin cancer/premature aging), but also extremely monotonous and boring if it continues for a very long time. Variety is the spice of life - and I'm sure forums like this would be very quiet if the sun was shining all the time.

 

 

Interesting, it's funny that you might think this would be the case, but occasional visits to the Spanish forum foro.tiempo.com shows that it is busy in the summer despite endless wall to wall scorchio.

The members are every bit as zealous regarding weather recording, comparing figures and contributing to the board as we are on here - with many of the same trends i.e being the hottest, moaning about the wind and rain in the northwest (with temps 'only' in the 70s) etc.

(As it stands at the moment, the forum has 1,500 more members and more than twice as many posts as here).

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

It still amazes me that since joining this forum I cannot believe that people actually hate summer and wish for winter to last forever.Dont get me wrong I like winter ,I was born in a snowdrift ,I love a harsh winter but I also look forward to a long hot summer.I have spent all my 27 of work outside and I guess it takes its toll,just now I still love deep winter but less of working out in it and the long spells of cold wet in autumn and early spring .I guess many of you lizards out there work in a nice warm office!!!!!

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Dare I say an Autumal feel here this evening. The ground soaked and muddy after heavy rain, mist on the mountains, a clear fresh chill in the air. Lovely. All the seasons have their beauty - the gentle freshness of Spring, the warm rich bloom of summer. Autumn and Winter are my favourites though, there's a bleak, sometimes brutal magnificence, the storms, the gales, the darkness, the frost, the snow, the mists and fog. It's a different kind of atmosphere and beauty but I like it anyway.

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Posted
  • Location: Truro, Cornwall
  • Weather Preferences: Winter - Heavy Snow Summer - Hot with Night time Thunderstorms
  • Location: Truro, Cornwall

Yet that is exactly what you, Bottesford, Scorcher and many others are doing on this thread. Perhaps you should stop worrying about the long nights of winter and actually enjoy your 'social life' before it comes to an apparent end in winter and you start living life like a depressed hermit crab.

 

No disrespect (my social life is quite fine thank you)!

 

 

What utter trash. Im not worried about the daylight - im living my life normally, playing tennis for example the other day till it was dark. Im not one of the ones here studying timeanddate.com seeing what angle the sun is at and cherishing the 1min 28s or whatever lost today. And as Bottesford has said, the social life doesnt come to an end but it becomes more restrictive and more forced indoors. And as for a depressed hermit crab, how about those who do exactly the same in the summer.

 

For some, one ray of UV seems to be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb - instant death! Now that is living life like a hermit crab.

Edited by Blizzards
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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds

What utter trash. Im not worried about the daylight - im living my life normally, playing tennis for example the other day till it was dark. Im not one of the ones here studying timeanddate.com seeing what angle the sun is at and cherishing the 1min 28s or whatever lost today. And as Bottesford has said, the social life doesnt come to an end but it becomes more restrictive and more forced indoors. And as for a depressed hermit crab, how about those who do exactly the same in the summer.

 

For some, one ray of UV seems to be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb - instant death! Now that is living life like a hermit crab.

Okay - then why do you seem to be so bothered about other people wanting darker days? They're going to happen regardless - them wanting it isn't going to make it happen any quicker or last any longer. It's inevitable. Let them enjoy what is about to happen as much as people start getting giddy as soon as the clocks go forward in March, or start noticing the slightest increase in daylight in late February.

 

And yes, I will happily admit that social lives become restricted when the days are shorter, but having one is still possible. You can enjoy yourself without spending all day outdoors. Being indoors, in front of a cosy warm fire, can be just as enjoyable, and if you're after a good night out then a bit of dark weather isn't going to stop you - certainly doesn't stop the scantly-clad girls of Newcastle that's for sure, even if it's snowing.Posted Image

 

We all react to the weather or daylight in different ways - some people detest excessive sunlight, while others dread the onslaught of winter darkness, although I do not advocate avoiding going outdoors just because it's cloudy, sunny, dark or whatever - unless you have medical problems that mean you cannot go in the sun or suffer from SAD so extreme that you cannot even bring yourself to get out of bed on a morning. Certain situations are good for certain activities - hot and sunny is best for a BBQ, going to the beach or relaxing by the pool or in a lounge chair, while cloudy weather is great for gardening or vigorous exercise. I try to get outside regardless of the weather - although I am less likely to if it's raining as I hate getting wet while clothed, but I still took my dog for his morning walk this morning despite the rain.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: South Yorkshire
  • Location: South Yorkshire

Okay - then why do you seem to be so bothered about other people wanting darker days?

 

 

Yes, it does seem to be a fixation with some people, and trying to defend myself for a preference I have no control over, or shrugging off implications that I'm some kind of antisocial recluse who must wish the darkness so I can hide in the shadows while I plot bad things is very tedious - and completely wrong. There's nothing wrong,as far as I can tell,with looking forward to darker days and winter.

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Posted
  • Location: Coalpit Heath, South Gloucestershire
  • Location: Coalpit Heath, South Gloucestershire

.

 

For some, one ray of UV seems to be the equivalent of a nuclear bomb - instant death! Now that is living life like a hermit crab.

 

 

There are some people with certain medical conditions for whom the intense heat of a week or so ago can prove fatal and It's not a case of being able to stay indoors with curtains closed and the fan on, either, because you still  have to go out to earn a living .It ain't no fun wondering if you are going to make it through.

 

There is a serious side to the intense heat, just as there is to the extreme cold.

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