Anyone on here actually prefer mild winters over cold winters?

[baddie]

Mild and Dry, with Cold and Snowy at a close second

Edited December 3, 2023 by baddie

[East Lancs Rain]

On 02/12/2023 at 08:32, stainesbloke said:

Anything but extended periods of grey, wet and windy, which the UK gets in abundance. Cold and snow is fun, I quite like mild and sunny at times. Cold and sunny is nice, too. The more winter sunshine, the better

I agree with this. I do like walking in deep snow in winter, and it looks pretty, although I wouldn’t want it for weeks on end, like many European countries do, then the novelty would wear off. I bet a lot of people on here wouldn’t be as excited or enjoy the snow as much if we didn’t get it as often. I enjoy mild and sunny weather and wish we got more of that in winter.

 

Personally, I would really like a winter with lots of dry, sunny weather, but not severely cold, but not really mild either, just lots of sunshine and highs of 3 to 8°C, dropping to around freezing at night, would be ideal for me. Like the recent cold spell in the UK, but a few degrees warmer.

 

I think my ideal winter would be a very mild and stormy December, a dry and sunny January with average temps, and a very mild and sunny February, with lots of sunny days around 8-13°C.

On 02/12/2023 at 07:02, ManiaMuse said:

Personally I would prefer mild, dry and sunny. However that combination is about as rare as the winters that many in the model thread dream of.

It gets less rare the later in winter you go. By February, it’s quite common to get calm, sunny days in the high single digits or maybe low double digits, due to the increasing strength of the sun. Areas to the east of high ground (not us unfortunately) can occasionally get very mild/warm and sunny conditions with a very mild southwesterly wind, known as the foehn effect. Unfortunately, for those of us living to the west of high ground, such setups tend to just give us thick cloud, gloom, drizzle and temps in low double digits.

On 01/12/2023 at 21:40, MP-R said:

In order of preference for me:

1) cold and snowy

2) cold or mild and dry

3) mild and wet

4) cold and wet

 

1) if it’s cold, it may as well snow imo 

2) I don’t mind whether it’s cold or mild, emphasis is on dryness and whichever outcome is sunniest

3) literally no point in mild and wet

4) I rank this worse only because it often comes from wasted or ‘close but no cigar’ synoptics; does sometimes turn out sunnier though

 

On 01/12/2023 at 21:26, reef said:

Mild and wet has to be the worst type of winter weather. It's the same rubbish we can get at any time of the year. I prefer colder winters but can live with mild if its also dry and sunny. The same with snow, I can live without it if its cold and sunny.

My ideal winter is cold or average but dry with plenty of sunshine. It doesn't have to be a snowfest but a decent event in each winter month like 2003/04 would do me fine.

Basically anything but mild, wet and windy. We've just had weeks of that. It doesn't even save on the heating bills as its so damp. It just makes the dark part of the year even more grim.

I’d say cold and wet is the worst for me, when it’s 3 or 4 degrees and raining. It feels so pointless, it might as well be a couple of degrees colder and then it would be snowing, or at least be milder so it wouldn’t feel as cold and miserable.

 

Mild and sunny or average temps and sunny would be ideal winter conditions for me. Pleasant conditions without feeling too cold, and the bright days help to make the dark part of the year feel a bit less grim.

 

I don’t agree with milder weather not saving on heating bills though, I notice the heating is on a lot more and the house gets a lot colder when it’s cold. I bet if you were to look at your heating bill for winter 2019/20 it would be quite a bit less than winter 2017/18.

[cheeky_monkey]

Snow is massively over rated IMO ..im torn as to which i dislike more rain or snow..rain obviously is a pain as once you are wet it takes while to get dry and everything is just damp and dreary..snow on the other hand is pain due to it being a massive inconvenience to drive around in..shoveling snow is back breaking and time consuming work esp if you have to do it before going to work..dont get me started on walking in snow ..is like walking in sand on the beach after a heavy fall ..and when it get compacted it becomes icy and very slippery.

[Guest]

Mild and dry all the way please. Cold and snow are just hard work. Same as heat and sunshine.

[Methuselah]

1 minute ago, Tidal Wave said:

Mild and dry all the way please. Cold and snow are just hard work. Same as heat and sunshine.

My problem is simple: as much as I love the snow, I hate the cold; even to the daft extent that (at age 10!) I'd wish it snowed above 10C and not below! 

[Premiere Neige]

No.

[Weatherman_93]

100%. I'm probably slightly obsessed with seeing milder temps and i'm not a huge fan of snow or very cold temps. But the weather will do what ever it will do, but trying telling that to the 'mad' thread 

[Weather Enthusiast91]

1 hour ago, cheeky_monkey said:

Snow is massively over rated IMO ..im torn as to which i dislike more rain or snow..rain obviously is a pain as once you are wet it takes while to get dry and everything is just damp and dreary..snow on the other hand is pain due to it being a massive inconvenience to drive around in..shoveling snow is back breaking and time consuming work esp if you have to do it before going to work..dont get me started on walking in snow ..is like walking in sand on the beach after a heavy fall ..and when it get compacted it becomes icy and very slippery.

If the UK had a more continental climate then I think a lot of us over here would feel exactly the same way in regards to snow as it wouldn't be a novelty. Snow is like gold in today's UK climate. I have a friend in Mexico who isn't a fan of the heat and he tells me that he would love to experience our generally mild summers. As for snow, he'd be in heaven.

[Catbrainz]

Generally I like cold and snowy winters most of all although I can live with mild winters if its a Bartlett high type mildness rather than cyclonic SWles. Bartlett's are lovely especially in the latter half of winter it can bring early spring warmth and sunshine. Feb 2019 and 2023 come to mind here. 

[lassie23]

if it is mild and sunny and you can whip the bbq out then mild will do, unfortunately in the UK mild winters usually mean non-stop wind and rain.

[Summer8906]

I like cold early/mid-winters, i.e. Dec and Jan.

Quite happy for the second half of Feb, in particular, to be spring-like though.

Hence I rate Feb 2009 and 2012 very highly. The cold and the mild both came at the right time.

I don't actually mind mild and dry too much at any point in the winter. However, too much mild in Jan and early Feb can bring spring flowering forward too much, threatening to negatively impact on spring proper. So I much prefer Jan and the start of Feb to be cold followed by a transition to mild by mid-Feb.

If a winter was:

Dec - mild, dry, Sc cover

Jan - cold, frosty, sunnier than average, high precipitation, mix of rain and snow, at least one period of prolonged snowcover

Feb - mild and sunny

that would not be bad at all even though it would be probably mild overall.

Worst type of winter weather by far is dull, cyclonic southwesterlies bringing either endless drizzle (Dec 2015) or frequent heavy rain (winters 13-14 and 19-20). I don't mind Atlantic setups with a NW-SE low track, a la Nov 1996 or Jan 2015, though*, they bring plenty of sun and the chance of snow.

(*except if it rains at the weekend!)

Edited December 5, 2023 by Summer8906

[78/79]

Cold and sunny for me , I just completely detest the rain , we get more than our fair share of the rubbish down here in Somerset. 

[Summer8906]

I also wonder whether we should add a further category:

- Wet, but colder than average

As I said above, such setups are often sunnier between the fronts and thus more bearable than cyclonic SW-lies.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Just now, Summer8906 said:

I also wonder whether we should add a further category:

- Wet, but colder than average

As I said above, such setups are often sunnier between the fronts and thus more bearable than cyclonic SW-lies.

that one least favourite for me then! members at high elevations though may be great

[Summer8906]

A related question might be:

If two months are to be mild, and one cold, which one should be the cold one?

For me, January without a doubt. It's the coldest month on average, so Jan cold is more likely to be notable than Dec or Feb cold. It's more likely to snow than Dec (lower SSTs) and less likely for the snow to melt in the sun than Feb. Jan cold prevents over-early spring flowering, while Jan cold followed by Feb mild and sunny prevents an excessively late spring.

Edited December 5, 2023 by Summer8906

[I remember Atlantic 252]

find Dec best month for cold, should it arrive, prone period for cold seems to be Nov 25th to Dec 10th, then the PV really develops and we are dominated by the Atlantic, period mid Dec to mid Jan nearly always mild

[Redwood]

I’ve been a daily follower of this site for many years. Cold and snowy is the preferred weather. Winters of old, none of this mild muck 

[matt111]

Definitely cold and snowy  

Not that it happens that often but I guess that's what makes it extra special when it does. 

  

[damianslaw]

Mild weather in winter at least in the Lake District normally means the atlantic ruling the roost, which means rain, low cloud. Not a fan of endless grey wet dull days, but what we tend to experience early part of winter i.e. December.

I hold out for colder weather in January, but it is often Feb and March that brings fine cold dry weather.

A snowy late December / early- mid Jan can be quite special and banish the post christmas blues. 2008-09 and more so 2009-10 was great in this respect, also 2020-21, the sunny cold weather at that time of year is a real tonic. 

The period we are in now until christmas is a frenzied one, and I notice the weather less, as there is lots of focus on other things but once christmas arrives I tend to feel its affects more. 

Edited December 5, 2023 by damianslaw

[Weather Enthusiast91]

My winter preferences in order:

- Cold and snowy

- Cold and dry (and sunny)

- Mild and stormy (a named storm though, not just the usual rain)

- Mild and dry

- Mild and wet (no storm, just rain or drizzle)

Edited December 6, 2023 by Weather Enthusiast91

[cheese]

4 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

I also wonder whether we should add a further category:

- Wet, but colder than average

As I said above, such setups are often sunnier between the fronts and thus more bearable than cyclonic SW-lies.

Cold & wet is the nightmare scenario. 

[Wynn D Woo]

My preference would be;

1. Cold and Snowy

2. Cold and Sunny

3. Mild and Sunny

4. Mild and Wet

5. Cold and Wet

6. Stormy

 

I find cold and sunny feels less cold than mild and wet, which is the annoying default around here, then everything is just damp, it gets into the bones as well, its depressing and it doesnt save on the heating because its damp so still has to go on...

[cheeky_monkey]

22 hours ago, Weather Enthusiast91 said:

If the UK had a more continental climate then I think a lot of us over here would feel exactly the same way in regards to snow as it wouldn't be a novelty. Snow is like gold in today's UK climate. I have a friend in Mexico who isn't a fan of the heat and he tells me that he would love to experience our generally mild summers. As for snow, he'd be in heaven.

when i came back to live in the UK briefly from 2014-16 those two winters 14/15 & 15/16 were total bliss for me had one brief snow shower in Dec 2014 and that was it..i was almost dancing in the streets 

[raz.org.rain]

23 hours ago, Weather Enthusiast91 said:

If the UK had a more continental climate then I think a lot of us over here would feel exactly the same way in regards to snow as it wouldn't be a novelty. Snow is like gold in today's UK climate. I have a friend in Mexico who isn't a fan of the heat and he tells me that he would love to experience our generally mild summers. As for snow, he'd be in heaven.

Depending on whereabouts in Mexico they're from, they might actually get cooler summers than here.

 

As for winters, I'd be much happier if they were reliably dry and considerably milder.

[Alderc 2.0]

Yep - hate the cold so the less cold it is the better. 
 

Can’t wait to flinalise on my house in Spain to take away the majority of the winter gloom and grimness. 
 

Snow is pretty for about 10mins until you realise you have a life and trying to get anywhere is a nightmare.