Just how different IS the weather?

You're probably right there, I guess 'bedt of the weather' to me means not snowing and raining all the time, like parts of the north. I wouldn't want to live in the southeast though - house prices and all that! Our sleepy little part of Taunton (which the only time it's ever been in the news is because of the crash on the M5 last november) is fine for me

Yeah, having lived in the southwest almost my whole life I'm also used to not having much in the way of snow (not sure if there's any snow in Taunton at the moment, but here in Lincolnshire we've got a good couple of inches on the ground outside).

Surprisingly, parts of the north don't actually get as much rain as you'd think, especially when we get the frontal systems from the west - most of the rain falls in the west and southwest and then gets filtered out by the Welsh mountains, the Pennines and the Peak District before it reaches the rest of the country. Taunton gets on average 5 inches more rainfall per year than Lincoln, 3 inches more than York and 2 inches more than Newcastle.
[Apologies for the geeky weather facts... I'm a weather forecaster ]

I'm always cold 

Same!

Yeah, having lived in the southwest almost my whole life I'm also used to not having much in the way of snow (not sure if there's any snow in Taunton at the moment, but here in Lincolnshire we've got a good couple of inches on the ground outside).

Surprisingly, parts of the north don't actually get as much rain as you'd think, especially when we get the frontal systems from the west - most of the rain falls in the west and southwest and then gets filtered out by the Welsh mountains, the Pennines and the Peak District before it reaches the rest of the country. Taunton gets on average 5 inches more rainfall per year than Lincoln, 3 inches more than York and 2 inches more than Newcastle.
[Apologies for the geeky weather facts... I'm a weather forecaster ]

We havent had so much as a flake of snow this year, its been cold but weve had little rain. Thats interesting, I would never have guessed that! Dont worry, for my job im in frewuent contact with the Met Office :p

Dont worry, for my job im in frewuent contact with the Met Office :p

Lol - I work for the Met Office (civil servant here too) .

UKHO emplyee here :p

Coming from the heat and humidity (and horrid storms and tornadoes) of the midwest, I either love summer here or freeze. When we get a really HORRIBLY HOT day of 74 f, I am the happiest little girl in the world while the locals are melting around me. I'm not looking forward to going back to Indiana summers. Hubby never cared much for the humidity and tornadoes when he was there. When his mum came to visit, she hated the storms but loved the heat and humidiy. The hotter it is the happier she is, and she can't seem to understand why the locals don't love it as much as she does. When you have it all summer, and it can start getting really warm in March and sometimes people are still wearing shorts in October, heat isn't as joyous as it is for two weeks a year.

Winter here seems to be about the same, other than a bit damper so it feels a bit more bitter at times. We don't get as much snow as I'd like either.

Not from the south, but this is what I think about the British (London) weather, at least compared to the (varied) climates in the north east US.  It might not seem as helpful to a southerner, but it may be.  Plus, it will give others an idea:

Rain: It rains more often but with less severity.  A  lot of it is slightly heavier than drizzle.  It rains more days but for shorter periods, IMO.  You will get stretches where the whole day is rainy, but then you might go a while where it's sunny.  However, it could rain for a bit any day.

Cold: It's not as cold here as in the north of US.  Far warmer in the late autumn to mid-spring, but it is so much damper.  It always feels colder until that week or two where it starts to dip well below freezing.  The heating situation may not be what people in the US who experience very cold winters (north, midwest) are used to.  It might be more in line with what you get in the south where heating isn't vital, but more used for comfort on chilly days rather than to keep you from, you know, dying.  If you are used to putting on a jumper rather than putting on a jumper and switching on the heat, you might not notice that much difference if you live in the part of the south where there is a noticeable but relatively mild cold season.  Much of the winter, at least in London, seems to be in the mid-40s F with stretches in the 50s and dips around and below freezing.

Spring: Spring is brilliant and lovely.  I've never lived in a place where the coming of Spring is more welcome (and I've lived in Scandinavia). And British Springs, at least in the SE, really live up to the expectation.

Summer: Short but can be lovely.  Once in a while we will get really hot weather which no one is prepared to deal with.  Shops don't tend to be air-conditioned, which isn't really a bad thing, but they sometimes aren't equipped to naturally move hot air out.  Like, not having air-conditioning is great for the environment, but when a shop has a solid, glass faced front with no side ventilation, opening the front and the back (if you're lucky enough to have a back door) isn't really going to help.  Being encased in a layer of sweat is what I expect if I go out on hot days here.

But, if you are used to southern weather, it might not bother you.  When it is hot, it's not exceptionally humid like we get in the NE and the SE gets, at least in my experience.

Autumn: This is the saddest season here.  I love Autumn, and having grown up in a place where people drive hundreds of miles to get to to see "peak" leaves during the Autumn, I am usually disappointed by it here.  I don't know if there is better views in other areas of the UK.  That said, I actually find it milder for much of the Autumn here.

Length of days: You are going to have to get used to it getting darker a lot earlier/staying dark later in the winter, and it being light earlier/longer in the summer.  The latter actually bothers me more.

When people would ask me about the rain when I first moved here, I tried explaining that it doesn't rain ALL the time like the stereotype seems to be. I did a bit of searching, and the yearly average rainfall in Indiana is several more inches than in England.

That can also be said about Seattle.  

It doesn't rain buckets here, but I would say it is more cloudy, drizzley and damp.

I like the late summer nights, sort of.  I mean I really liked them when I was a student and could stay out late.  Now that I have a job it is sort of pointless.  I need to be in bed so being light out so late only means I need to find some blackout curtains.

I'd rather have a more balanced winter summer in terms of light.  

Yeah here in The south when it rains, it pours. We do wt those all day drizzles but it's rare. It's more sunny at 10 am, torrential down pour at noon, sunny at 2 kind of thing.

When people would ask me about the rain when I first moved here, I tried explaining that it doesn't rain ALL the time like the stereotype seems to be. I did a bit of searching, and the yearly average rainfall in Indiana is several more inches than in England.

So right, we have days and days of raining. Because of UK positioned where it is and being an island, this explains precisely why it is the way it is including daylight hours. You know there is a true northern European psychology due to position on the planet much like for the people living in other climates. People are greatly affected by the climate.

I am a Southern girl and I HATED the weather in the UK.

I really like hot weather. I like to sweat!  Given that the hottest days in the UK are generally in the 78 degree range, I always missed the sweaty heat. 

I found it really difficult to get used to the long winters. I appreciate that northerns think that UK weather is fairly temperate but, as a Southern girl, I was not used to turning on the heat in late September and still having it on in April/May.  I had many, many, many days were I just could not get warm at all.  One thing about the US South, is that if you have the odd 30s or 40s, you know it will only last a couple of days and you are mostly going from house-car-work.  I don't even bother wearing a heavy jacket in the US.  But in the UK, the cold is relentless and even with many layers, walking everywhere and getting on trains with no heat - well I was just always really cold.

I really struggled with the dark winters as well.  At its darkness in the US South, you still have nearly 12 hours of light but in the UK you have nearer to 7. 

And even outside of the winter, the lack of sunshine really depressed me.  There is a lot of gray, even in the summer.

And my last one is that awful drizzle.  It contributes to that bone cold feeling and the gray depression.  I just cannot stand the drizzle that is too weak for a brolly but just coats you in a fine wet mist - for the wind to then whip up on you.

If my husband ever heard me complain about the Uk weather it will be too soon!  Even worse I feel like I only started to manage it well right as I moved.  I loved being back at Christmas this year and felt really prepared for the weather.  As my husband likes to say, apparently all this time I just needed a wooly hat.

Good to hear from someone from my neck of the woods Sara Smile. I def. do NOT like sweating, lol. Since I've never lived anywere else (born and raised in the South) the summers I've just always dealt with. I HATE it being so hot that even a pair of shorts and tank top is too much clothing (you pretty much just want to walk around in a bikini all day!) and how it's just so muggy and hot... my favorite time of year is spring and early winter. I think in that I won't find it that hard to adjust. Some adjustment of course but over all, I don't think I'll ever complain about being in 70 F as a high! lol

I remember a scene from Stephen Fry in America where he had to pull his cab over because it was raining too hard for him to drive.  From what I could see it was just raining.  Nothing like the pelting rain where it hits the ground so hard it seems to be raining upwards as well that we used to get in the northeast in the summer and autumn.  He said that people would say to him that he must be used to the rain because it "rains all the time in England".  He admitted that it doesn't rain anything like that there.

I think that is why places get more rainfall than say London, but it rains a lot less often.

I think that is why places get more rainfall than say London, but it rains a lot less often.

Yes to this!  Mere total rainfall amounts aren't really indicative (IMO) of the type of rain.  Another thread on here about Miami/south Florida - someone pointed out that it rains loads there in the summer...  Yes, very hard & all at once, then suddenly - it's all gone as quickly as it turned up (unless it's hurricane related rains hanging around for a bit)!  And pretty much every day of the year is sunny.

It feels like it rains more here because of the misty/drizzly stuff that hangs around or is on/off all day, even though the total measured rainfall may be less.  And less sunshine...

Saw this on the Beeb today - DH & I had a chuckle...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16963717

Take note - the best UK weather is in Scotland, 'cause you get three seasons for the price of one each day up there!  Lucky PB and others...