How do you stay resilient with this weather?

Hi

I have been living here for almost 2.5 years.
While there are positive things such as great produce and NHS, I can't help getting emotionally beaten down by this weather. It is May and I am still wearing a down jacket from Feb.
I remember wearing leather jacket in August last year...

Of course there are some other countries that are even colder than here but this year around chilly weather can take a toll on a lot of people.
It is never super cold or super warm. It is like living in a refrig. There were about 15 days in total since I moved here that I wore summer clothes.

Would it help if I put on 10 pounds?

Honestly, I struggle so much with this windy and cloudy weather.

How do you beat this weather?   I am not even into drinking

Sucks, doesn’t it?  We were supposed to do family photos tonight but had torrential weather bands including hail.  Sorry, I can’t be of help tonight!  I’m grumpy too.   

I packed a bunch of summer clothes when I first came over in 2012, and then had to buy suitable things to actually wear.  I was staying huddled up under blankets so much at first (in summer!) that I gave myself a rule: if the sun is shining and the temperature is at least double digits (10+ celsius), then I had to go outside.

My second summer here was amazing, though.  So many sunny and warm days, and that was really  reassuring.  But then I didn't experience another summer as good as that until last year.

Anyway, all of that to say it took me about five years here before I noticed that I was acclimated to the weather here.  I came from Arkansas, where 40C in the summer is normal and you welcome storms and rain just for the temporary relief from the oppressive heat.  Over here, I still scoff when they call a few days of 30C a "heat wave"... but at the same time, on warm days in the garden, I sometimes pull my chair under the shade of Tree Tunnel, rather than bask in the full power of the sun *.  And I have been known to barbecue in the rain in the last few years.

* Is the sun hotter here?  Ithe don't mean the air.  I mean the rays from the sun... has anybody else noticed that they more intense (when it's sunny enough to judge)?  Or maybe it isn't and I just didn't spend much time outdoors in the US (because Arkansas... it was 40C and humid out there.  Ugh!) so I don't have a baseline memory to compare this to.  It's a weird feeling... there could be a cold breeze blowing and I'm on the verge of cold, but I can feel the sun penetrating my skin.

I grew up in Southern California. Summers as a teenager we’re like: ‘ugh. Should go to the beach... again??’

Here, I actually just have to really appreciate every peak the sun makes between clouds. I appreciate my childhood so much more and try to actually take advantage of those ‘nice’ days. But this spring has been terrible - great excuse for staying inside with a newborn and toddler when I cba getting us all dressed.

I guess we deal with it by rolling with it and taking advantage of the sun we do get (and of course those holidays to the sun we used to get??).


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I'm so sorry you guys are having a "cold-and-damp" this year. 

I think that the advice to bundle up and go out whenever the sun is shining is a really good idea.  I remember thinking the first summer we were there was cold, but the next one wasn't so bad, as was the next, and the last one - when we were allowed to go out - was quite nice.

I don't think the sun is stronger there - in fact, I found it to be quite the opposite. When I was living in California I had to wear glasses with transitions lenses on a daily basis, to screen out the sun. They actually went quite dark. I didn't need them in Scotland. That was one of the nice things about being there - the light didn't give me headaches.

It's foul this year, isn't it?  My 2nd summer here wasn't really a summer.  I have a photo of a friend visiting and we're both wearing wool coats at Greenwich in July.

There's a reason that BBC broadcasts Death in Paradise in Jan / Feb each year.  I highly suggest closing the blinds, making a spicy pizza, and just binging on the endless summer scenes and cold beer.

We had our first child in 1981 and decided that we were not going to be seeking out the sun traveling abroad with crowds of tourists. 6 years later we surrendered and had a couple of weeks in Spain, then we moved to SE Texas so no more cold weather for 29 years, just brutally hot summers.

British weather can be pretty tough.

Oh, so on top of the utterly appalling weather, this year is particularly dreadful because it's still pandemic times so you can't easily plan a holiday or easily while away the hours in a cozy pub not caring. 

HAHAH, JFKimberly, 30C in the Scottish Highlands would be horrifying. We have a mega heatwave when it hits 22C!
 I lived in South Florida for many years after growing up in Massachusetts. And in South Florida, if it was 22C, we'd have our winter coats on.  In Massachusetts, when it hit 22C, we'd enjoy the early spring days knowing it would soon be mega hot. In the Scottish Highlands, when it hits 22C and the sun is shining, you bask in the glory of the most beautiful day of the year.

I take the bad and the good. If the sun is out, I want to go out. Wrapped up in whatever layers of warmth are necessary.  If it's raining, I try and go out too. Waterproofs are your friend.

And a SAD lamp. Even in May! 

We had our first child in 1981 and decided that we were not going to be seeking out the sun traveling abroad with crowds of tourists. 6 years later we surrendered and had a couple of weeks in Spain, then we moved to SE Texas so no more cold weather for 29 years, just brutally hot summers.

British weather can be pretty tough.

Thanks for the perspective. Out of 2.5 years I wore my proper summer clothes for less than 14 days here.
I get that UK employees get 4 weeks vacation days but I feel that what if they didn't ?
They have to persevere this climate and suck it up ??

In my view, British weather is like an unpredictable and abusive husband who can be nice time to time
He is abusive 70 percent of the time but nice 30 % ....

I am currently dividing 7months in UK and the rest in US but even 7months is taking a toll on my mental health

At the risk of sounding belittling (I'm sorry, it's really not my intention)... You get used to it.

I'm from GA. 32c sounds lovely but with the humidity it feels like 40c+ there and it just doesn't cool down at night. I tried to visit in July a couple years ago and it was horrific. The bugs never went away, it was too hot to sleep, I constantly had sweat running down my spine, and stepping out of the (necessary) aircon into the heat made me feel dizzy and sick. I wasn't able to exercise outside because it was never not bloody 30!

Saying that, I also completely reserve the right to moan about having to carry a coat in April, the inability to wear flip flop more than 6 days a year, the summer BBQs where you must take an entire winter wardrobe for when the sun sets, and the fact that rain here is for some godforsaken reason freezing cold even in July! How is that even possible? I miss dashing through warm rain... Now it's just hypothermia if you get caught out in it.

There's so much lovely and so much to miss. It really took me a few years to enjoy it here more than miss it there though the grass is often greener... My parents are sweating it out in 28c, unable to sleep in the heat already while I'd contemplate murder to just have a cup of coffee in the sun, with no coat on, while staying dry and not getting blown away this spring.

It's just a really really shite year for weather (and most other things really) so that's so not helping. You're very lucky to have a 7 month - 5 month split. Live it up if you can!!!

I must be more acclimated than I realized... We've had a lot of garden coffee days already this year.  Mind you, with the division of the house for the pandemic, we were incentivised to accept pretty low quality weather standards (days that didn't always meet the "two-digits and sunny" rule).  But we've had a few *amazing* days already this year.  Definitely a couple of ice-cream-cones-in-the-shade-of-tree-tunnel days.  And we've done cider and donuts, pizzas, grilled steaks... oh, wait, this isn't about food.  But my point is, we've had a lot of sunny garden noms on a bunch of really nice days.  March and April were pretty good for us.  May has been wet more often than not, and as Larissa pointed out, it's cold wet, not warm southern rain wet.  But we've had some good days... multiple days in a row so you can even start to take it for granted.

At the risk of sounding belittling (I'm sorry, it's really not my intention)... You get used to it.

I'm from GA. 32c sounds lovely but with the humidity it feels like 40c+ there and it just doesn't cool down at night. I tried to visit in July a couple years ago and it was horrific. The bugs never went away, it was too hot to sleep, I constantly had sweat running down my spine, and stepping out of the (necessary) aircon into the heat made me feel dizzy and sick. I wasn't able to exercise outside because it was never not bloody 30!

Saying that, I also completely reserve the right to moan about having to carry a coat in April, the inability to wear flip flop more than 6 days a year, the summer BBQs where you must take an entire winter wardrobe for when the sun sets, and the fact that rain here is for some godforsaken reason freezing cold even in July! How is that even possible? I miss dashing through warm rain... Now it's just hypothermia if you get caught out in it.

There's so much lovely and so much to miss. It really took me a few years to enjoy it here more than miss it there though the grass is often greener... My parents are sweating it out in 28c, unable to sleep in the heat already while I'd contemplate murder to just have a cup of coffee in the sun, with no coat on, while staying dry and not getting blown away this spring.

It's just a really really shite year for weather (and most other things really) so that's so not helping. You're very lucky to have a 7 month - 5 month split. Live it up if you can!!!

Thanks for giving it perspectives..
I am 48 and I had lived in different climate ( 4 differen countries prior to moving here) but never have I struggled this much.
because I totally get that winter and spring are SUPPOSED TO be cold for the most parts of the world
but it is like perpetually chilly...... Never ultra cold but never warm enough to feel liberated and summerly like we did in USA

My Scottish husband grew up in worse weather than London so he is tough. He wears his wool sweator in July AT HOME
but he is not bitter about it LOL

I read that  " British weather tend to me MILD " but I would like to know what is mild about it

Anyway, it was good to rant without being judged . Thank you

Absolutely no judgement from me.  Rant away.  Do you mind if I do as well?

I get strep pretty easily and every year for the first few years I got it more than once.  The GPs don't want to prescribe antibiotics (if you can even get a GP appt with less than 3 weeks notice), and I missed so much work I ended up getting written up to HR.

Then (insert heroic music here) I went to walk in clinic (no GP appointments for weeks) and had a Canadian doctor.  I love that woman.  My husband thought I was a wee bit loopy that I was always so sick, cold and down.  He looks at the weather and just goes by the temp, which is much milder here than in GA in the winters.  That wonderful Canadian doctor explained that winters here are wet and it's get in your bones, never get warm type of cold and she thought that's why I was getting ill with what I already seemed prone to get ill with.  It was the first time I really felt heard.  Like you said, it was affecting my mental health.

It's May and it's still like that this year.  The cold is damp and seeping and I'm done with it.  We better have both a hot and long summer to make up for it.  If I'm not sitting outside in a t-shirt at 8pm in mid-October I will complain to management.

I wonder if this has anything to do with it?

https://www.livescience.com/gulf-stream-slowing-climate-change.html

I have been here for 30+ years, and I *used to be* one of those annoying people who would say things like 'there is no such thing as bad weather; only inappropriate clothes'.  Seriously, it never bothered me because I was either in my car, at work, in a pub or in a taxi... so always sheltered from the elements.  I thought people who complained about the weather were moany and tiresome.

Until I adopted a retired racing greyhound.
In a top floor flat with no garden.
And now I am one of those moany and tiresome people, at least 4 times a day. 
I live in a pretty seaside town in the west of Scotland and yesterday was the first time this year I have been out without a jacket... and today it's back to pishing it down again.
I really hope we get a decent summer so my hound can feel the sun on his back occasionally.