Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to think about moving near the sea for cooler Summers?

92 replies

Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 19:06

With the climate changing and this incredibly hot, unbearable weather becoming the new normal is it time to move to the sea? We live in SW England but very inland aged 60 and finding the heat so much harder to cope with than when we were younger. I'm just desperate to get in some cold water daily. Or am I just feeling overheated (and menopausal) and realistically it's actually grey and rainy most of the year. If you could would you move to the sea? or do you live by the sea and think it's not that great for most of the year?

OP posts:
daysfilledwithdappledlight · 09/07/2026 22:40

Comments about the sewage are devastating. How have we gone so backwards 😢

Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 22:32

raspberryrisotto · 09/07/2026 22:17

I’m currently in North Devon and it’s super hot! But there are beeezes… beaches aren’t too packed yet…

absolutely perfect!!

OP posts:
Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 22:27

ElvesDoNotWalkintheDarkEarth · 09/07/2026 19:52

We live in Devon and with this weather I have no desire to be anywhere else! I went into London recently and couldn't wait to get back home. It's way too hot inland.

After school the kids go to the beach and go body boarding. Perfect antidote to a hot day in the classroom. The breeze is amazing and we either go sea swimming with them or paddle. Absolute bliss.

I love it all year round to be honest, even with stormy seas.

This sounds absolutely perfect!! What a wonderful way to spend time after school. I agree I think I'm after stormy seas too and wild, windy walks on the beach all year round.

OP posts:
Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 22:23

Lordofmyflies · 09/07/2026 19:47

We live 20 mins walk from the beach in Cornwall. It is lovely to go for a dip in weather like this but it's still hot at work and weekends / summer holidays are usually so busy that we either have to go at 8am or 7pm.
The best time in September / October when the sea is warm and the crowds have thinned.

Wow that sounds incredible living that close to the beach. I know Cornwall does get very crowded but there are a lot of beaches so I'm guessing that if we walked further away from the usual car parks/ toilets to quiet spots and had a more tricky descent to them they'd be quieter or is that just wishful thinking?

OP posts:
Carryitjoyfully · 09/07/2026 22:20

Heronwatcher · 09/07/2026 19:23

For example- this is Lunan Bay, where the forecast for tomorrow is 21 degrees with a gentle breeze. And the sea will be freezing, and so far as I am aware not a sewage discharge recently.

One of the best beaches I have ever been on. We will be visiting there in two months time and I can't wait!

raspberryrisotto · 09/07/2026 22:17

I’m currently in North Devon and it’s super hot! But there are beeezes… beaches aren’t too packed yet…

cherrypopsicle · 09/07/2026 22:17

I'm coastal North East, less than 1/2 mile inland, gorgeous 24°c today with a lovely breeze. Had to go into central Newcastle today for training and it was horrible! So hot & clammy! Love living next to the coast, 10 mins from the beach, 10 mins from fields and a cycle route, 20 mins to a city centre. Couldn't persuade me to move anywhere else

Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 22:16

fuckeditupbadly · 09/07/2026 19:44

Id say move north rather than just coast. It rarely goes above mid 20s here..beautiful day today. Hot but not unbearable, humid or oppressive

sounds lovely, how far north are you? and do you have a lot of rain? I know, I know I can't have it all but trying to figure out a balance.

OP posts:
Gengha · 09/07/2026 22:15

I was on the N Devon coast a couple of weeks ago and it was bloody boiling!

Cel77 · 09/07/2026 22:15

Sea levels are rising steadily with climate change. Oh, and that creates a lot faster cliff erosion.
Do your checklist before you piint your finger at a map...

Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 22:12

Heronwatcher · 09/07/2026 19:23

For example- this is Lunan Bay, where the forecast for tomorrow is 21 degrees with a gentle breeze. And the sea will be freezing, and so far as I am aware not a sewage discharge recently.

This is beautiful and perfect, where is it?

OP posts:
Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 22:11

80smonster · 09/07/2026 19:32

We’re thinking the same! I reckon it’s an easier decision when you don’t have to factor in schools. Whereabouts you thinking OP?

Well I would love to move to Cornwall because of all the fantastic beaches or Devon or maybe Dorset but prefer sandy beaches so I think Dorset has less sand.

OP posts:
roshi42 · 09/07/2026 21:26

My parents retired to a coastal village (south east) and there is indeed a lovely breeze in this heat - we escape there at the weekends! But that does translate to a howling gale for most of the year…

SqueakyFromme · 09/07/2026 21:20

@Heronwatcher that is stunning

Lexy2345 · 09/07/2026 20:11

Pearandavocado · 09/07/2026 19:26

Sounds lovely! I have never been to North Wales, what's it like in Winter?

Very scenic. You’ve got the mountains and the forests to explore when you’re tired of the beach.

Someonenewagain · 09/07/2026 19:59

I live 9 miles from the coast in Wales. It rains about 5 months solid every winter. Cooler summers and always a breeze, but you’ll need to be ok with putting wellies on in October and not taking them off until March

HaroldMeaker · 09/07/2026 19:56

I live by the sea (south coast though) and it is really hot right now. But, there is a breeze and it’s not cauldron hot. So I say yes , good idea. I do think Scotland should prepare for an exodus from England in the next few years, soz.

Hamela · 09/07/2026 19:54

Ten mins as the crow flies from the coast here, it's unbearably humid 💦

I do love the empty winter beaches though.

ElvesDoNotWalkintheDarkEarth · 09/07/2026 19:52

We live in Devon and with this weather I have no desire to be anywhere else! I went into London recently and couldn't wait to get back home. It's way too hot inland.

After school the kids go to the beach and go body boarding. Perfect antidote to a hot day in the classroom. The breeze is amazing and we either go sea swimming with them or paddle. Absolute bliss.

I love it all year round to be honest, even with stormy seas.

IngridBurger · 09/07/2026 19:49

West coast Scotland. Cool enough but my, the midgies! Wouldn't want to live anywhere else though.

Lordofmyflies · 09/07/2026 19:47

We live 20 mins walk from the beach in Cornwall. It is lovely to go for a dip in weather like this but it's still hot at work and weekends / summer holidays are usually so busy that we either have to go at 8am or 7pm.
The best time in September / October when the sea is warm and the crowds have thinned.

Ablondiebutagoody · 09/07/2026 19:46

80smonster · 09/07/2026 19:32

We’re thinking the same! I reckon it’s an easier decision when you don’t have to factor in schools. Whereabouts you thinking OP?

Seaside folk go to school too

fuckeditupbadly · 09/07/2026 19:44

Id say move north rather than just coast. It rarely goes above mid 20s here..beautiful day today. Hot but not unbearable, humid or oppressive

OurLadyOfLeisure · 09/07/2026 19:42

I’d love to live near the sea.

But you’re probably better off in a heatwave in the countryside surrounded by woodland.
We live in a town but close to woods - it’s amazing the temperature drop when you just get close to it, not even under the shade of the trees.

Imuptoolate · 09/07/2026 19:38

I live near the sea and I do love it, but unless you are actually on the seafront with the breeze blowing in your face it is still hot in a heatwave! Plus it’s humid (sooo sweaty and sticky) because you’re surrounded by water.

But it is beautiful and I would never live anywhere that’s more than 10 mins away from a beach as that’s what I’ve grown up with!