Took these this morning omw to work. Yeah I'm working today. Back to the weather, sure, it rains sometimes. But it's also bright and sunny a lot of the times too. I moved from Southeast Asia so I know what's it's like to have the sun all the time. I don't feel like I'm missing out though. Still get the sun without feeling like I'm being burnt.
by hotchopsticks
44 comments
Everything seems alright till you want to have a run on Saturday morning after the Met Office predicts a good enough amount of sunlight but all you get is heavy rain.
I moved here from Adelaide (very dry, multiple 40+ heatwaves every summer), partly because I liked the weather.
If anything, I think the raininess of London is a bit oversold. I could use a bit more, I really like the rain.
I think some of the hate, particularly from locals, is tongue in cheek, or deliberately self-aware. There are long stretches of fairly monotonous grey, and that can have a negative emotional impact if it goes on longer than usual, but we are all acutely aware that bright spring days on budding green landscapes are stunningly beautiful, or how electrifying the bright light and deep shadows of a low sun in a city can look.
The warmth of the start and end of summer is like a comfortable hug from the world.
Autumn is gorgeous as the country prepares for the long sleep of winter in a flair of reds, oranges, browns and yellows. Winter, some days, is still and cold and serene.
Even the rain can be refreshing. The wind can be boisterous and adventurous, calling out and telling of other places. It can be a very romantic country, when it comes to our weather.
And, best of all, none of our weather, if there’s any of it we don’t like, lasts all that long. Usually only a few weeks at most.
But if there is one that none of us are particularly amused by, it’s the cold, dreary mutter of the sullen wind and persistent drizzle that comes between the end of winter and the start of spring. The bit at the moment. It’s just a nuisance and we are ready and ready excited for the spring to come.
But it’s not actually properly bad. We don’t have (many) tornadoes. We don’t have monsoons. We don’t have (many) hurricanes. We don’t have golf ball sized hail. We don’t have months-long heat waves. I think most of us know that really, we have a pretty good range of weather and most of it is pretty in one way or other.
We’d just like it if it wasn’t quite so good at destroying multiple umbrellas each year. Or that compact umbrellas weren’t so good at wandering off and hiding when you thought it was still in your bag…
Most of London. Gives me walking dead vibes because it’s always so quiet
When it is warm and the sun shines in London it is the best city on earth. People are friendlier. Life seems good. Sadly this comprises of about four weeks of the year.
Grey, wet London is miserable.
Uploads a photo of the greyest sky in the world. Continues to ask “why do people not like UK weather?
It’s so true. French, lived there for two years. Okay it rains everyday but it’s also sunny everyday, so like, I always got my shot sunlight during the day. That was enough for me.
Where did you move from? Mordor?
Thought those light reflections in the second photo were asteroids for a minute!
I don’t mind it but at this time of the year I’ve had enough of the rain wind and cold
There are camels dying of thirst in africa, and we get about 100 days of rain a year.
I HATE the rain in this city–which is saying a lot, because I used to live in Seattle.
We Brits love to complain about the rain. Truth is, changeable seasons and weather are great.
Grass is greener in the other side situation I guess.
But comparing to dirty air and humidity in Bangkok here, I will choose London/UK weather anytime despite I had winter blue from time to time.
Ahh a good old day. Wish I still live there.
Do you work for Deloitte by any chance? Hahaha
London is lovely in summer. It’s miserable in winter.
Very early sunsets and lots of drizzle/cloud.
The weather isn’t that bad in London, people just stick to the “stereotype”
It could be worse. We could be in Manchester.
I’ve lived in a lot of places (including Seattle, a place that definitely gets its share of cloudy days) and London is far drearier than all of them. I’m a bit overwhelmed by it.
I love the rain and I quite like any kind of bad weather. I also like nice weather but I don’t notice it quite as much as other people because I find my emotions aren’t really affected by the weather, luckily for me. So most of the time I’m pretty oblivious to it. But what does bother me is people whingeing about the weather. I can’t help but feel that it’s a little bit petulant. And there’s so much to appreciate about bad weather. It’s wonderfully dramatic, and can evoke profound feelings, and feelings of awe. And rain can be so romantic, even cinematic. It’s so damned unimaginative to just be like “All I want is to be lying on the beach in the sun.” That’s kind of boring. Stop whingeing about getting a bit wet. As soon as you get to work or get home you’ll dry off in no time. Let go and enjoy the weather, there’s so much to take pleasure in.
Think about children happily splashing around in puddles. They get it.
Hahaha stay 4 more years and come back with a new post. Had the same feeling until you get fed of it after 8years
The older I get, the more I hate the cold. If I was rich, I’d spend my winters in New Zealand or Argentina or Chile or somewhere.
It never stops raining and there is like two weeks of summer per year.
It’s not that it’s always raining, but that it always can rain.
At this time of the year it has been cold and wet and grey for a long time. We will forget about it (momentarily) in the summer and not worry come autumn but it has gone on for far too long at this point. Also London is in the south where there is more sunshine. Us unlucky buggers in the North won’t see as much sun.
I don’t mind the weather in London normally (and I lived in Spain for a year) but this calendar year it’s been significantly wetter and greyer than normal. February had double the normal amount of rain for example
To me it’s the wind. I do occasionally mind the lack of sunshine but I don’t mind the cold / rain so much. But the wind is really difficult to get to terms with. I have a skin condition that every time my face is exposed to strong winds I flare up for weeks so the wind here has me constantly flared up.
It’s the cold + rain that makes me feel like I’d rather be dead, personally.
Like pic of st pauls by the way.
Hey. We don’t take kindly to people who move here and don’t take kindly to our weather hating
The only redeeming quality of weather in London is the mild summer temperature
My theory is that things in the UK aren’t that bad and that weather talk is the one thing that really unites us.
People who haven’t lived in the north of England. For me London is basically Spain coming from Lancashire.
We’ve had a lot more rain than usual the past few weeks.
did you come from Atlantis?
Clearly was out of town 2 weeks ago
Hard agree! I’m from SE Asia too and I prefer the weather here compared to Singapore. All-year round sun with that level of humidity just isn’t doing it for me – occassional sun, rain and gusts of wind beats out sweating my body out all the damn time.
Guess it’s somewhat comparative to your previous experiences with weather. The grass might somehow be greener on the other side.
Give it another five more years, and you’ll understand.
I think the climate in London/South East is pretty ideal to be honest – we don’t quite get the extremes of other parts in the world and it’s a lot drier than people care to admit (last few weeks notwithstanding!). Up north/west not so much of course
London gets way way less rain than people think. Pretty sure it’s drier than a lot of northern mainland Europe.
Everywhere I lived before the UK always had what I would call actual weather lol and here I am now in a country where there is almost no weather at all. It’s just hovering in the middle of everything. It’s BLISS! I will choose this over tyfoon season, 100% humidity and 45 degrees in Japan. I will choose this over bitter cold in Siberia. I will choose this over wet sloppy horrible sludge all December in Oslo. I will choose this over relentless month long storms in the north of Norway. These are all places I’ve lived, and the UK wonderful mild non-existing weather is better than all those other weathers.
First one is an amazing photo! Love it
Yesterday was very windy and wet which I cannot stand. I like being out and about but not in that shit.
Stay for a few more years living in this perpetual grey and observe the permanent shift in your mood.
Once you’ve done a 35 year sentence like I have then you’ll hate the weather