# Why is Britain infamous for its bad weather?



## Federicoft (Sep 26, 2005)

This is really beyond me.

Just think that London lies at the same latitude as Calgary or Warsaw.
Actually Britain has a very pleasant weather given its high latitude. Winter temperatures in London are higher than those of some Italian cities like Turin or Milan, and summers are not as hot.

Snow falls are scarce; winds are never too strong; sunshine hours are good in most parts of the country, especially on the south coast.

So why do you think this is?


----------



## Gareth (Apr 27, 2004)

You obviously weren't here this summer then.


----------



## Scozia9 (Jan 29, 2007)

Its not the temperature, which is mild considering how far North we are. But the high rainfall and lack of clear skies, (more often overcast).


----------



## Gareth (Apr 27, 2004)

Indeed. We're in line with Canada, which puts things into perspective. This summer's been the worst ever though.


----------



## DanielFigFoz (Mar 10, 2007)

federicoft said:


> This is really beyond me.
> 
> Just think that London lies at the same latitude as Calgary or Warsaw.
> Actually Britain has a very pleasant weather given its high latitude. Winter temperatures in London are higher than those of some Italian cities like Turin or Milan, and summers are not as hot.
> ...


When I come to Portugal I noticed that people think that it snows and rains all year round and that it is never sunny and always frezzing cold.


----------



## Scozia9 (Jan 29, 2007)

Lets be honest that is not a perception that is forced on us by the rest of the World, but it is one that we have cultivated for ourselves. I think we Brits have trouble distinguishing between depressing weather and extreme weather, we are of course the former but present ourselves as victims of the later.


----------



## Bluesence (Apr 29, 2006)

federicoft said:


> Just think that London lies at the same latitude as Calgary or Warsaw.


Yes, but the UK is an island so it's strongly influenced by the ocean.


----------



## schmidt (Dec 5, 2002)

^^ Europe is a big peninsula, and it's also strongly influenced by the Ocean. The winter in Tromsö is warmer than in the Andes! But overcast skies really suck, maybe that's the main feature of Britain's bad weather!


----------



## Blok (Jul 10, 2006)

I like rainy weather so for me it's not bad at all...


----------



## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

federicoft said:


> This is really beyond me.
> 
> Just think that London lies at the same latitude as Calgary or Warsaw.
> Actually Britain has a very pleasant weather given its high latitude. Winter temperatures in London are higher than those of some Italian cities like Turin or Milan, and summers are not as hot.
> ...


Its the unpredictability I think. Continental climates are generally much stabler and more predictable.

A lot of Western Britain is extremely wet, and not only does it rain a lot volume wise, it rains a lot in terms of rainy days. The South-eastern corner (i.e. London & the home counties) however has a great climate in my opinion, obviously it would be nice if it was perpetually sunny and 24C, but nowhere is like that. Compared to other world cities I think its got one of the best climates going: mild, snow-free winters and shorts weather sometimes as early as March and as late as November. Rarely excessively hot in Summer, and enough rain year-round usually to keep everything green but far drier than Western areas.

Its an outdated stereotype like bad teeth and crap food.


----------



## Delirium (Oct 8, 2005)

^^i think its also because Brits exaggerate things to due to their pessimistic nature :yes:


----------



## MoreOrLess (Feb 17, 2005)

Tubeman said:


> Its the unpredictability I think. Continental climates are generally much stabler and more predictable.


In terms of tourists I'd guess thats the main factor, you can't really plan to visit the UK at any one time and know your going to get good weather.

I'v always found the idea of brits going away for the summer a bit dumb though as (with the acception of this year) the climates better here than almost anywhere else at that time of year.


----------



## Delirium (Oct 8, 2005)

^^the problem is is that many brits DO stay behind, an well... you can see the results! :doh:


----------



## Pallo_3 (Aug 6, 2007)

I wonder instead why people keep refering to rain, snow and clouds as the "bad weather" In my opinion sunny sky and 40 degrees is the bad weather

it's all in perspective, but there is this bias and almost discrimination towards those like me who love the cold hno:


----------



## samsonyuen (Sep 23, 2003)

I agree, I was pleasantly surprised by not having snow or sweltering heat. THe only thing I'd change is the lack of sunshine.


----------



## garriochio (Nov 12, 2006)

Because it has terrible weather.


----------



## garriochio (Nov 12, 2006)

federicoft said:


> This is really beyond me.
> 
> *Just think that London lies at the same latitude as Calgary or Warsaw*.
> Actually Britain has a very pleasant weather given its high latitude. Winter temperatures in London are higher than those of some Italian cities like Turin or Milan, and summers are not as hot.
> ...


London is by the sea and has drizzle all the time - you won't meet such annoying little rains in Warsaw - besides London as whole of UK is in differend climate (sea one) :cheers:


----------



## Tubeman (Sep 12, 2002)

garriochio said:


> London is by the sea and has drizzle all the time - you won't meet such annoying little rains in Warsaw - besides London as whole of UK is in differend climate (sea one) :cheers:


London is nowhere near the sea

I take it from your responses you've never actually been here?


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

London gets 145 days of trace precipitation per year, less than Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Sydney, Melbourne, Seattle, Vancouver, many US mid-west cities, and many more. 

It has more sun than Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels etc, and higher temperatures, yet you never hear anything bad about those cities. 

London only gets about 3 foggy days per year, and even fewer snowy days.

Average temperatures in London in the warmest months (jul/aug) are 23C/14C (74F/58F), and in the coldest months (jan/feb) they are 8C/3C (46F/37F). In the winter, London is one of the warmest cities in Europe with the exception of the Mediterranean. The lowest temperature ever recorded in London was -11C (12F) , and the highest 38C (101F). Average rainfall is 588 mm (23 inches).

London gets about 1600 hours of sunshine per year but just 40 miles south, many locations get over 2000 hours.


----------



## TohrAlkimista (Dec 18, 2006)

The problem of England are not the cold temperatures, the real problem is the unstable weather.


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

The South-East does have stable weather though, it's the west and the north of the country that have unstable weather.


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

garriochio said:


> London is by the sea and has drizzle all the time - you won't meet such annoying little rains in Warsaw - besides London as whole of UK is in differend climate (sea one) :cheers:


London is drier and warmer than Warsaw.


----------



## asif iqbal (Sep 3, 2006)

We had a terrible summer this year in East Coast of Scotland but the last 2 weeks have been really good and feels like summer is now here!

Because of the Gulf Stream we get very mild weather in Scotland when compared to other cities at the same latitude. However the problem is that its very unpredictbale and changes very fast.


----------



## Dan1987 (Mar 28, 2004)

its not all that bad really, its not like we got F5 tornados or Hurricanes/Typhoons ravaging the place!


----------



## asif iqbal (Sep 3, 2006)

^^ no but we get plenty of floods well in england


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

asif iqbal said:


> ^^ no but we get plenty of floods well in england


We don't get 'plenty'. This summer was the wettest on record, and an extreme event. I don't think I've ever seen an actual flood here.


----------



## Saigoneseguy (Mar 6, 2005)

It's not just a stereotype, I love Brit food but also notice something different in term of level of cloud and amount of cloudy days over a long period of time than the rest of continental Europe. But that of course doesn't mean England lacks of endlessly sunny days, they just occur less often than other regions I've been living in.


----------



## TohrAlkimista (Dec 18, 2006)

London_2006 said:


> The South-East does have stable weather though, it's the west and the north of the country that have unstable weather.


So most of the country.


----------



## garriochio (Nov 12, 2006)

Tubeman said:


> London is nowhere near the sea
> 
> I take it from your responses you've never actually been here?


I've lived there and I know that London is not by the sea literally but it is very close and its metro area is bery close to sea - besides water in the tap is salty :cheers:


----------



## garriochio (Nov 12, 2006)

London_2006 said:


> London is drier and warmer than Warsaw.


On the contrary  :cheers:


----------



## garriochio (Nov 12, 2006)

London_2006 said:


> London is drier and warmer than Warsaw.


Oh and let's not use here meteorogicall statistics demagogy - the fact is that in Warsaw I can get every summer 30 C degrees easily and tough winters - in London winter is with no snow and summers are often with sun but a lot of drizzels all the time - that's why we all find English weather dull - no need to get defensive :cheers::nuts:


----------



## poshbakerloo (Jan 16, 2007)

i think you have to live in country to see what the weather is all about...it changes all the time...some times 30.c+ hot sun and sometimes 15.c rain and cloud...most summer times it get up to about 25.c which ok its not very hot but its at least comfortable...this summer has just been very bad much worse than normal...


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

garriochio said:


> Oh and let's not use here meteorogicall statistics demagogy - the fact is that in Warsaw I can get every summer 30 C degrees easily and tough winters - in London winter is with no snow and summers are often with sun but a lot of drizzels all the time - that's why we all find English weather dull - no need to get defensive :cheers::nuts:


Warsaw is about 0.5C warmer than London in the summer, and about 5-10C cooler in winter.


----------



## Republica (Jun 30, 2005)

we just suffer from an image problem. the weather isnt that bad at all.

the only thing is we have a little bit too many cloudy days. ie. 15-18C and overcast, not raining, not sunny.


----------



## Intoxication (Jul 24, 2005)

Its because its people keep on complaining about the weather.


----------



## Pobbie (Jul 16, 2005)

It's not necessarily rainy all the time here (well usually, discounting this year's incredibly shitty "summer") and lowland Britain isn't very rainy at all on a worldwide scale. But it's still incredibly boring with very few extremes. Give me a continental climate any day.



London_2006 said:


> The South-East does have stable weather though, it's the west and the north of the country that have unstable weather.


Where do you get that idea? Please not more "we're okay, it's the rest of Britain which is shit" from southerners. hno:


----------



## Xusein (Sep 27, 2005)

It's because of few extreme weather events, at least compared to other areas.

Personally, I don't see that as a disadvantage. Give me a stable London climate instead of the incredibly cold and dreary weather that we have to deal with half the year and the incredible heat and humidity for the other half that we have to deal with on the other side of the pond.


----------



## goschio (Dec 2, 2002)

Britain generally lacks these sunny winter days of -5C and snow cover which is not so uncommon for many parts of central europe. Instead it is raining at 8C and windy.


----------



## Pobbie (Jul 16, 2005)

^^exactly. A shitty, miserable experience.


----------



## chicagogeorge (Nov 30, 2004)

federicoft said:


> Snow falls are scarce; winds are never too strong; *sunshine hours are good in most parts of the country, especially on the south coast.*


^^

The city with highest annual hours of sunshine in the UK does not exceed 2000. London averages under 1500 hours. That's very poor imo.

In comparison, Chicago averages over 2600 hours of sunshine annually, most cities in the US see even greater amounts........As for the snow fall, I myself like snow, but I have to deal with very cold winters which I don't like, not for long periods anyways....:bash: What's impressive about London is that they are so far north and their winters are so mild! However, their summers are not that impressive, and would consider a London summer more like late spring or early autumn. At least we have real summers in Chicago that make up for our winters. 

Annual average max temps are actually similar between Chicago and London (both at about 15C) do to Chicago's cold winter months.




Tubeman said:


> Its the unpredictability I think. Continental climates are generally much stabler and more predictable.
> .


I disagree. A continental climate (at least here in the US) is very unpredictable. Greater temperature swings, more rain, more drought, more snow...... As a matter of fact, we have a saying here in Chicago......_"If you don't like the weather, just wait a minute"_ :yes:


----------



## eklips (Mar 29, 2005)

I think it is also maybe because historicaly Britain has compared itself to it's southern neighbors in Europe, who generally have more interesting weathers.


----------



## jorgen (Nov 28, 2005)

This thread seems to be more about London than Britain, so I'll add my experience regarding London.

Before I moved to London in 2002 (from Norway!) I used to think there was a lot of rain in London. I don't know where this comes from, but it's common to think so. My family and friends are the same (or WERE, before they started visiting).

For me, London has the perfect weather as its got no extremes. No snow and no over 40 celsius (exept for that 2003 summer, or was it 2004). The best in my opinion however is the very small amount of rain. Was it not 4-5 months on row without a single shower during last years draught? That's too little, but in general it's again perfect. When I want heat I go to the Caribbean or Dubai etc.

PS: In Norway (middle Norway) I was used to max 5 days over 25 celsius in the summer, around 10 days below -30 in the winter (+ 1 meter of snow) and A LOT more rain.


----------



## Jonesy55 (Jul 30, 2004)

I don't mind the climate around here in the summer, we don't usually get much rain and the temperatures are warm but not too hot, no forest fires here, this summer was cooler and wetter than normal though.

I don't really like the winter though, not much sun, too much light rain, rarely any snow, generally cool with grey skies rather than cold crisp and sunny which is how I like my winters.


----------



## Delirium (Oct 8, 2005)

In the depth of winter here where i live, they tend to be very sunny but very windy, with greyer weather being around late autumn and early springish although give me that as opposed to those freezing eastern European/Canadian Winters! and Humid summers, but then even that might be fun for a while :shifty: :yes:


----------



## PedroGabriel (Feb 5, 2007)

For the region where it is located it has pretty good weather, thanks to the golf stream, but it also brings many clouds and light rain. 

But I think you're nuts preferring Continental clime with its freezing winters and hot summers to London's. In here, the region with the worse climate (hot summers and cold winters, one of the few areas in the country with continental weather) is loosing a lot of population, today almost no one lives there.

But I honestly prefer our climate to London's, obviously, we have mild-to-hot summer and mild winters, with some good hot days that you can use to go to the beach or an esplanade and stuff and using Bermudas instead of trousers cava shirts instead of sweaters, drink lots of water and it is all fine, but it depends on the apartment, a friend of mine complain that she is using her fan a lot this year (September has been a bit hot), I didn't need it a single night, she said her apartment is naturally too hot. Portuguese apartments because of the weather often don't have pre-installed heating or cooling devices, so people just buy a fan for those hot days. Anyway, a guy is just moving from London to here, because of the weather there, and nationals that live in the British isles for some time, they complain a lot of the overcast skies and can pass days and days without seeing the sun, which is insane to people used with the Portuguese climate. So I understand why they complain so much, in fact, I've often ear them doing so. Anyway, there are many places in Europe with much worse weather than they have, but not much in Western Europe.


----------



## northern italian (Sep 12, 2002)

Quite easy to explain

1)
3/4 of UK has got usually cloudy, cool and quite rainy weather; just the SE region (London) has less of these features, but the "stereotype-machine" does the rest.
Anyway even London is not a land of heat, endless sun, now wind, never rain etc ..


It's the same thing of Italy: just because half of the country is the "land of sun", all the european or americans think that in Turin, Milan, Bologna, Venice etc doesn't snow, it never frozes, there is always the sun etc


2) all know that UK is mild and has not cold winters or hot summer, the "problem" is the amount of cloudiness and the variable/windy/showery weather bring by the maritime climate.


Personal note: long life to the continental climate ! I would never change my -8°C/0°C sunny days with snow with those 
3°/6° drizzly days ...


----------



## jmancuso (Jan 9, 2003)

london does have a miserable climate...


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

But you could post a picture of any city on a rainy day and say it has a miserable climate.


----------



## falchoon (Sep 13, 2002)

London_2006 said:


> London gets 145 days of trace precipitation per year, less than Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels, Sydney, Melbourne, Seattle, Vancouver, many US mid-west cities, and many more.
> 
> It has more sun than Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels etc, and higher temperatures, yet you never hear anything bad about those cities.


Melbourne is quite often referred to as bleak city over here.

Another thing to consider, especially compared to those of us closer to the equator is the twilight, look at somewhere like Brisbane, one minute it's light the next it's dark. You don't get the dullness of twilight.

Last time I went to Britain, I was there for 5 weeks in April-ish. It rained once, in fact I was only in 2 traffic jams, going through Birmingham one way, and through Birmingham coming back the other way, it took under an hour to drive from Cambridge to Hyde Park in the afternoon.

So from my experience, England, lovely weather with no traffic jams, beautiful. 

Just don't park your car near Anfield. In fact best skip Liverpool altogether.


----------



## Brendan (Feb 24, 2006)

Can someone please post a photo of London skyscrapers with a blue sky? Because most of the ones I have seen have a grey sky.


----------



## Paddington (Mar 30, 2006)

jorgen said:


> This thread seems to be more about London than Britain, so I'll add my experience regarding London.
> 
> Before I moved to London in 2002 (from Norway!) I used to think there was a lot of rain in London. I don't know where this comes from, but it's common to think so. My family and friends are the same (or WERE, before they started visiting).
> 
> ...


Obviously English weather would be an improvement if you're coming in from a place like Norway. But if you're coming in from San Diego, English weather is like crap.


----------



## jmancuso (Jan 9, 2003)

London_2006 said:


> But you could post a picture of any city on a rainy day and say it has a miserable climate.


i was there for two weeks and the weather was like that every day except for the last day i was there. i was there again this year and there were maybe one or two days out of about 10 that had sun.


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

jmancuso said:


> i was there for two weeks and the weather was like that every day except for the last day i was there. i was there again this year and there were maybe one or two days out of about 10 that had sun.


When were you here? This summer was the wettest on record and abnormally dreary.

In the winter it's usually cloudy and rains about 1 day in 3 though.


----------



## jmancuso (Jan 9, 2003)

London_2006 said:


> When were you here? This summer was the wettest on record and abnormally dreary.
> 
> In the winter it's usually cloudy and rains about 1 day in 3 though.


may/ june and january/ february.

anyway, for those who live in london, this is what the sun looks like:










:crazy:


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

Well May was one of the wettest on record and June was the wettest on record. February had about 250% of normal rainfall, but winters are usually dreary anyway.

And I know what the sun looks like, thankyou.


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

Anyway, why does London get a bad name for its weather, when cities with lower temps, more wet days and less sun don't even get a mention (places like Dublin, Amsterdam, Paris, Brussels etc.) The last time I can remember it being foggy was last December just before Xmas, and that made the headlines! I can't remember the last time before that, yet the city which averages 3 foggy days per year is supposed to be the world capital of fog?


----------



## chicagogeorge (Nov 30, 2004)

London_2006 said:


> Anyway, why does London get a bad name for its weather, when cities with lower temps, more wet days and less sun don't even get a mention (places like Dublin, Amsterdam,* Paris,* Brussels etc.) The


Paris is warmer than London for most of the year, but slightly more precipitation, but less number of days with precipitation.


London's stats on top, Paris's on the bottom.....











I'm still trying to figure out where the term_ London Fog_ came from. I know you've explained it once London_2006, but was it from the Coal fired factories back in the late 19th century?




jmancuso said:


> may/ june and january/ february.
> 
> anyway, for those who live in london, this is what the sun looks like:



London sees only about 1500 hours a year of sunshine. Compare that to Houston that sees about 2900 hours (BTW, Chicago average about 2650 hours of sunshine). I can see why you would feel that London is dreary, but those cities are in two *VERY* different parts of the world. Interestingly Houston gets a ton more rain than London, but it comes in deluges thus allowing for many hours of sunshine.

In the states Seattle is thought of as been rainy or cloudy and dreary, and it's annual sunshine hours are about 2000. So I really the only comparison London has with a US city is basically the Pacific Northwest such as Seattle or Portland, and Vancouver in Canada.


----------



## London_2006 (Feb 9, 2003)

chicagogeorge said:


> Paris is warmer than London for most of the year, but slightly more precipitation, but less number of days with precipitation.
> 
> 
> 
> I'm still trying to figure out where the term_ London Fog_ came from. I know you've explained it once London_2006, but was it from the Coal fired factories back in the late 19th century?


Paris actually has more precipitation and more wet days than London, with average annual temperatures about the same. London is warmer in winter and Paris in summer. 


London has never been a naturally foggy city. The 'fog' was infact smog which was common when coal fires were the main source of heating in winter. With the clean air act, these disappeared along with the smog.

Seattle is slightly warmer than London apart from in mid-winter, while London is warmer than Vancouver in every month of the year. Both Seattle and Vancouver have about double London's precipitation.


----------



## Paddington (Mar 30, 2006)

chicagogeorge said:


> Paris is warmer than London for most of the year, but slightly more precipitation, but less number of days with precipitation.
> 
> 
> London's stats on top, Paris's on the bottom.....
> ...


You might find it interesting that in the UK the weather gets wetter and greyer as you go further to the west and to the north, and obviously colder as you go further to the north. London is at the south eastern end of the country, and is has dryer and warmer weather than the rest of the UK.

Places like Manchester are even more depressing. Glasgow would be unbearable for most Americans.


----------



## chicagogeorge (Nov 30, 2004)

London_2006 said:


> Paris actually has more precipitation and more wet days than London, with average annual temperatures about the same. London is warmer in winter and Paris in summer.



^^

Well according to World Met, London has 145 days a year where at least some precipitation falls, and Paris has 112 days a year, and Paris has 650mm of precip yearly compared to London's 611mm. Not a huge difference in amount of precip but London sees more than 30 days where some precip falls than Paris.



London_2006 said:


> London has never been a naturally foggy city. The 'fog' was infact smog which was common when coal fires were the main source of heating in winter. With the clean air act, these disappeared along with the smog.



That's what I thought.




London_2006 said:


> Seattle is slightly warmer than London apart from in mid-winter, while London is warmer than Vancouver in every month of the year. * Both Seattle and Vancouver have about double London's precipitation.*


But for some reason they all see more sunshine than London.

Vancouver also sees 2000 hours of sunshine, 500 hours more than London.


----------

