Is the weather really that dreadful?

London. I see you are in Cornwall which I am DYING to go to! Is it beautiful there during the summer? I've seen pictures and it looks perfect.

June and September are heavenly, but July and August are often a bit drizzly. That's because it's generally so hot in London.

HOT in London? no way!! It's 75-80 degrees max! (haven't gotten a handle on Celsius yet!) I want my hot east coast summer weather!  It is lovely when it's 75ish here over the summer but it's more like April/May weather.

I've only experienced 2 summers though. So I'm not talking from a lot of experience.

This past summer was really variable I think.  It was great in Cambridge, but it seemed like the rest of the country really suffered, or whined. 

That's me!

I'm worried that the longer I'm here the more used to it all I'll get. Is that a good thing or bad?

HOT in London? no way!! It's 75-80 degrees max! (haven't gotten a handle on Celsius yet!) I want my hot east coast summer weather!  It is lovely when it's 75ish here over the summer but it's more like April/May weather.

Oh man, I find anything warmer than 75 in central London to be verging on torture.  The tube and buses are gross and stores are miserable to go in and, to me, it feels much, much warmer to me than it really is. 

But then I loathed the hot DC summers.  I was usually good until the 4th of July and then...not so much.   

Oh man, I find anything warmer than 75 in central London to be verging on torture.  The tube and buses are gross and stores are miserable to go in and, to me, it feels much, much warmer to me than it really is. 

I agree. 75-80 in a city feels much hotter than 75-80 somewhere else.

Oh man, I find anything warmer than 75 in central London to be verging on torture.  The tube and buses are gross and stores are miserable to go in and, to me, it feels much, much warmer to me than it really is. 

Agreed! And everything seems so so sticky; the air is near impossible to breathe! I used to travel to work in really skimpy shorts and a tank top in order to not die on the tube, and then change once I got to work. Of course, it didn't look so good coming out of Elephant & Castle tube station on a Saturday evening wearing next to nothing... 

I want my hot east coast summer weather! 

Oh I don't miss those at all!  Well, not August anyway.  Too humid!  I can't stand it when you can feel the air because it's so thick.  I do tend to miss May and June though, especially right now when I'm sitting on my couch with a thermal, 2 hoodies, and 2 scarves on.  Those were my favorite summery months when I was in NJ.

It was alright up here last summer, I think.  I spent practically the whole thing inside writing my dissertation, though, so I don't really remember!    I know I spent a couple of days having pints outside with my friends and in the Botanics reading, so there were at least a few good warm sunny days in there.

People do have different definitions of "hot" though, and I notice a big difference here.  It will be 60-65F and sunny here, and people are walking around saying "It's absolutely boiling!  It's absolutely boiling!".  Guys are walking around with no shirts on, girls are in sundresses and sandals...and there I am with jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a light jacket on, looking like it's mid-winter compared to everyone else.    65F is "warm" to me, but certainly not "hot" or "boiling"!

HOT in London? no way!! It's 75-80 degrees max! (haven't gotten a handle on Celsius yet!) I want my hot east coast summer weather!   It is lovely when it's 75ish here over the summer but it's more like April/May weather.

I've only experienced 2 summers though. So I'm not talking from a lot of experience.

Yes, but there's no air conditioning!

It did hit 100 about 4 years ago, I think. It may not be hot in numbers, but people die from the heat here.



I'm came from LA 23 years ago, and I think 70 is hot now  Give it time, you'll get used to it 

HOT in London? no way!! It's 75-80 degrees max! (haven't gotten a handle on Celsius yet!) I want my hot east coast summer weather!  It is lovely when it's 75ish here over the summer but it's more like April/May weather.

I've only experienced 2 summers though. So I'm not talking from a lot of experience.

Ah, then you missed the gorgeous hot summers of 2003, 2005 and 2006 . In 2003, it reached 101 degrees in Kent and we had temperatures up in the 90s for almost 2 weeks straight . I graduated from university in July 2005 and on my graduation day, the temperature was 82 degrees (I was so hot in my heavy black robes that I almost fainted during the ceremony - no air conditioning in the buildings).

In July 2006 we had a 2-week heatwave with temperatures up in the 90s - it reached 97.7 degrees in Surrey on one of the days. I remember getting in my car after work and not being able to touch the steering wheel because it was too hot... and by the time I arrived home 20 minutes later, I had sweat pouring down my back (no air con in the car... or at work, for that matter).

Even the end of June 2009 had a gorgeous week of temperatures in the high 80s/low 90s (however, the hot month of June was then followed by the wettest July on record ). We also had great weather for Wimbledon last summer... two straight weeks of sunshine, high temperatures and no rain at all (normally it seems to rain most of the time during the tournament).

In an average summer, London actually gets 28 days of temperatures above 77 degrees and 4 days of temperatures above 86 degrees.

So, sure, the UK doesn't have the best weather... it is grey and drizzly a lot of the time, but when it's nice, it's absolutely wonderful. When I lived in New Mexico, I really missed the English summer days... it might have been 100 degrees outside in the desert heat, but all I wanted to do was spend a lovely summer's evening sitting outside a pub in England with my friends .

The thing is, we know our weather isn't that great and that we won't get a long, hot summer like other countries do, but we make up for it by holidaying abroad... there's a reason why us Brits make about 60 million trips abroad every year (45 million of them are between June and August, and 30 million of them are to only 3 countries: Spain, France and the US).

The reason the summers haven't been so great the last couple of years is because the polar front jet stream has been situated further south than normal in the summer months, so instead of all the Atlantic weather systems being deflected north of the US and us getting the hot, dry weather from Europe, the jet has moved further south and so all the Atlantic systems have hit us straight on. Now, whether this has been due to climate change or not, I'm not sure, so I don't know if the recent wet summers are temporary or if they will become the norm.

When asked about the weather here I always like to quote Billy Connolly 

"I hate all those weathermen, too, who tell you that rain is bad weather. There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little."

I moved from Cleveland, Ohio, which was once ranked the most miserable place in the US in winter due to its weather. So, needless to say, I love UK weather! I think I'm one of the few people who can say I actually moved here for an improvement in weather! The only negative for me is how this country can't handle a few inches of snow. 

Same here! My weather situation has definitely improved.

Can you imagine if they had to deal with the wollop that most of the US (esp Chicago) had recently? And they managed to be operational again within about 36 hours of a very significant snowfall.

When asked about the weather here I always like to quote Billy Connolly 

"I hate all those weathermen, too, who tell you that rain is bad weather. There's no such thing as bad weather, just the wrong clothing, so get yourself a sexy raincoat and live a little."

New favourite quote!

Billy also says about weathermen (from An Audience With):


"now here is the weather. this is the country, where you live. and this is a wee cloud.

I really feel brassed off when they do that. They stick clouds and lightning on the board. You don't need to do that!! I know what a cloud looks like!! Just tell me, I'll understand!!"

Gotta love the Billy!

Same here! My weather situation has definitely improved.

Can you imagine if they had to deal with the wollop that most of the US (esp Chicago) had recently? And they managed to be operational again within about 36 hours of a very significant snowfall.

The UK can't handle of few inches of snow because the cost of the infrastructure to deal with it is far more expensive than the 3 or 4 days of disruption it actually causes.

Snowploughs/insurance/maintenance/training/H&S aren't free. Though, I'd LOVE to drive a snowplough. Hell, I'd do it for free!!

Then there are all the speed bumps every where. Can you imagine hitting one of those bad boys with a plow at 20 miles an hour? Would a plow actually FIT down most UK roads?


What does drive me round the twist is how people can't even be bothered to shovel the pavement in front of their houses.