How do you cope with winter?

Move to the sea- the light is so much better and gives th.e illusion of less darkness generally. Appreciate you probably can't do this.

I hate winter, always have but I live in Cornwall now and it's a bit better as it's not as cold ( we rarely get frost) and walking along the beach or swimming in the sea year round improves winter a bit.

I think forcing yourself to go out for a walk really helps with motivation. It wakes you up, releases endorphins and just generally gives you energy to get stuff done. I wouldn't survive winter if I didn't have a long walk each day.

Weekend trips to south Spain, personally. Obviously not every weekend, but gives you something to look forward to.

I absolutely love Winter so I can't help but as a PP said I think the trick is to lean into it and see it as a friend rather than an enemy. The thing I hate is rain, and that can happen at any point in the year! That really does make me miserable, no matter how much I try and reframe it as necessary.

Every season is beautiful in its own way - as a Pagan I love the slow turn of the wheel of the year with the animals hibernating and the seeds in the earth waiting for the call of spring.

Using and eating foods that have been bottled or preserved during the times of summer plenty reminds me that this will pass. I take the time to rest, recuperate, do crafts, mend things about the house, plan Christmas, spend more time with family and friends, write, listen to music, podcasts, go to the theatre and cinema...

Winter is hard to get through, but there is much to love about it - frosty mornings, feeding the birds who can't reach the worms as easily in the hard ground, a hazy light sun in a cold blue sky, long walks wrapped up with the promise of a hot drink at the end of it. I live by the sea, and the colours of the water in Winter, endless shades of greys and blues and greens, heal my soul.

As Yule approaches I give thanks for the lengthening days and look forward to Nature reawakening again after her sleep.

I love the myth of the Cailleach, the old woman of winter. I find it a way to be able to romanticise an otherwise dismal time of the year. She's linked to Corn Dollies and the belief that the last person to reap their crops would be responsible for feeding the Cailleach all winter as a house guest. There's so much mythology and many tales that make Winter seem more appealing than the reality!

I used to hate UK winters and feel really down at the prospect of it being months until Spring. Then I decided I didn't want to waste my life feeling miserable for a quarter to a third of the year! So much of it is about mindset and leaning into Winter since you can't change the seasons.

So now I do all of the hygge things that Mumsnet seems to hate. Candles, lamps for low lighting, fairy lights indoors, blankets, warm bedding, hot chocolate. The whole cliche of getting cosy. But it helps if my house feels comfortable and somewhere to relax in.

Spend some money to get the right stuff. A really warm winter coat, a hat and gloves that you love. Knitwear that you enjoy wearing. I agree with a PP about bright colours....my Winter coat is hot pink and makes me smile.

I wrap up warm and go on walks during the daytime. I go to the gym or do yoga at home when it's dark.

I focus on comfort food. Casseroles with lots of vegetables, spicy soups, food that feels hearty. I also take my vitamins.

I find really good books, TV series and podcasts. I go to bed earlier and rest more. I view it a bit like I'm hibernating like the rest of nature does.

Find things to look forward to. Book a holiday, plan things for Christmas, plant bulbs for the spring, go to a bonfire night display. Go out and socialise with friends.

In Spring and Summer I focus on the garden and making that nice, we have BBQs and I sit outside with a gin and tonic. In the colder months I focus on the house and making that feel lovely. Get decluttering, we go for pub lunches, go to the cinema with friends, I drink red wine and treat myself to trying a different bottle with DH each weekend.

Well I do a lot of moaning about it; it’s shit isn’t it op.
Do you have any relatives overseas you could visit?

Lights on as soon as you wake up in the morning, if you have a woodburner lighting it in the evening makes it feel cosier. Morning coffee or tea as a pick me up and maybe some snacks.
I basically look forward to Christmas to get through but it is very dark and gloomy.
If you can afford a holiday in January I recommend it after the Christmas season has ended.. Probably the worst month.
You just live with it, I definitely noticed I feel a lot perkier in the spring.
Also frosty but sunny winter mornings can be nice for activities and walks if you wrap up warm.

Oh yes, can definitely empathise with this. Winter is clear up time, put in Spring Bulbs, forget where they are, and have a lovely surprise in the Spring😁

Leaf raking is good exercise, lots of other things like this. So long as I can get outside at some point, get my joints working, my heart pumping, I feel so much better. We made a sort of workout area in our (big) attic during lockdown. It has three windows up there, and is great for using a bike on training rollers. Connect to cycling app, and we pedal all over the World. And I lost three stone!

Just came on to express solidarity, OP. I was born here and I bloody hate it, especially since we don’t seem to have seasons anymore, just endless grey skies, damp and darkness from October to March.

Lots of good advice here - I definitely think getting out in the daylight helps (plus D3 with K2 as a supplement), wearing bright cheerful colours lifts your spirits a bit, and a holiday somewhere sunny in the winter breaks up the gloom if you can afford it.

I also think lighting makes a massive difference, particularly if you’re north facing. Lots of small, low sources of light (lamps, candles, fairy lights) creates a much more cosy, uplifting atmosphere than having bright lights everywhere or (shock horror!) putting The Big Light on. Heavier curtains in a fabric like velvet can help block out that horrible dank twilight which gets earlier and earlier, and always makes me feel instantly sad and anxious. As soon as it starts I batten down the hatches and get all the twinkly stuff on, which stops me getting that horrible feeling.

If I need to travel/commute at that time I always have headphones with a good audiobook or music, plus make sure I dress so my hands and feet stay really warm. But after a lifetime of this I’m moving to a sunny country just as soon as I bloody can!

Sounds like you’re from Sg or Malaysia. Personally I hate the tropical weather (I live in SE Asia) and I can’t wait to get back to four seasons including winter.

Honestly just get into nature as much as possible with some good gear- fresh air nice walks, I find the more I’m inside the more I ‘feel’ it all

I've lived here all my life and I'll never be used to it. I hate how it gets dark early. It's affects mental health hugely. I use a SAD lamp and take vitamin d. Once my kids are older I'd love to move somewhere warm and sunny or at least have more holidays!

I also don't really mind it being grey and dark - I just mind it being dark at 4pm specifically. It's the cold and the wet I can't stand. I'll take grey skies if the temperature's 16 degrees.

Hibernating as much as I can mostly. I don't agree that fresh air is good for you whatever the temperature. Unfortunately being a runner I get regular fresh winter air anyway but God I'm always tempted to splash out on a treadmill every year.

Mulling over trying to ignore the clock change. I don't need it to be light when I wake up but I'd sure like to get further than mid-afternoon before I can't see outside.

Remembering that I sleep a thousand times better in the winter than in the summer, even if everything else about summer is more pleasant.

Interestingly my husband grew up in a hot country with no seasons but he loves the seasons in the UK.
Though we met and lived in a country with far more extreme seasons for a few years before we moved to the UK. So he got used to it there as well.
I think a lot of people feel a bit deflated at times during winter, I know I do, but I'm also very used to it and used to getting out and about in all weathers.
I dislike the rain far more than the cold, because that does make me feel a bit more trapped indoors.
I think the only way to cope is to work through the mindset, try and find good things about winter and enjoy those. Try and get into the festive spirit. Book holidays over the cold months. I think we're going to try and go away in January.
(Personally I find January/February the worst because I enjoy the Christmas period)
I hate driving home in the dark etc. It's definitely a bit less enjoyable than summer overall but there's pros and cons to all the seasons.
My friends and I try to do a girls weekend away each winter, just cosy up at an air bnb, have refreshing walks and pub lunches. But if not just hunker down and plan games, catch up.
Trying to have things to look forward to might help with the humdrum of daily life?
But you're not alone, winter definitely does bring other people down a little bit.

I hate winter with a passion and as soon as I can afford to semi-retire I'm off to warmer climes!

For now much like others, focus on Christmas, added an extra evening yoga class, go to bed early and get up early, make the house as cosy as possible, get away for a weekend in the sun - very last minute to catch the good weather, 2 nights in a modest AirBnB southern Europe/nAfrica somewhere vaguely warm. I'm not fussed about sunbathing or sea swimming, I just to feel the sun on my face and not be rained on!

It sounds like I may be alone, but I actually quite like winter in the UK😮. But I do think it makes a difference where you live - I grew up in the North West where it is much greyer than here in the East of England. I also agree with PP that it makes a big difference to get outside on the middle of the day and go for a walk or run.

But I like that there is less going on and less pressure to do stuff. I really appreciate that I haven't had to do any gardening for the past few weeks. I like curling up inside and watching TV or reading a book. However, there are times when I feel quite cooped up with the DC around

I feel you OP.
I could more than cope with late Autumn/Winter if there were far more dry, crispy cold/ freezing dry aired days with blue skied low Winter sun.

No waiting for the radiator heat to push through the cold humidity before heating the room. No weird sensation of it seeming colder inside than out due to it being below a certain temp, but heavy aired...then going outside in the cold only to get too warm due to moving about.

But the long dark hours and damp grey can be soul sucking.
I keep my living room hygge like semi dark, rarely switching on the ceiling light and making use of table and floor lamps instead.

On the rare ground and low roof London frost days with bright sunshine, I layer and Sorel boot up and forgoe post night shift day sleep and get out there until near dusk. There is no better quality London light than crisp, blue skied, low Winter sun.

December 21st, the Winter Solstice and the sunrise is one minute earlier each morning and the sunset one minute later each sunset. I also look out for the odd purple light that can occur on a Winter sunset.

Post christmas, I look for the green moss on the tree barks and leaf buds on trees especially as February has beem warmer than usual for the last few years. And of course, the sunset is getting later with March and its Equinox approaching, signifying the clocks going forward and the arrival of Spring. And March can be either freezing or balmy, whilst it shakes itself out into true Spring. That's why I love it.

Look for the little things in time and nature and take it one day at a time.

I am one of those people that mn hates!
I don't like winter much as I have a condition that means I am virtually always cold but I find* *making the house as comfortable and cosy as possible really helps. Yes this involves candles, blankets & cushions etc. I always feel like the pressure is off at this time of year, people like to stay at home more and there are fewer invites to do things after work.
Basically I make my home as toasty as possible and hibernate until spring 🤣

Get some really good knitwear. in whatever lovely bright colour or pattern takes your fancy. I tend to default to black./grey/navy/grey for everything but it makes a difference to how I feel to think about it and wear something brighter.

I dislike winter. I feel much happier, lighter and more energetic in the Spring and Summer.
However, I kind of feel in tune with the seasons. I see winter as a time of rest. Nature is sleeping, animals hibernate, plants stop growing. I think humans should follow suit and take it as a time to slow down, be cosy and rest.
Although I long for Spring, there are many things I can enjoy in winter. Wrapping up warm and going on a brisk walk, sitting by the fire with a book or watching a good film, making comfort food like roasts, shepherd's pie and apple crumble.

Btw there is a lovely thread on the Christmas board based around Nigel Slater's The Christmas Chronicles. Full of things to love about Winter.