AIBU to consider moving to Scotland because I cannot cope with heat?

The east coast is much drier than the west coast. It’s not all the same.

Didn’t take long did it.

And free bus travel, over the whole country, for everyone under 22 or over 60.

We are quite civilised ourselves, thank you! If you do come, OP, do it because you want to embrace ALL that Scotland is, not just to address one dissatisfaction with England. Remember we are not the same country and don't have the same mindsets, so please come prepared to be a Scot, and to work for the betterment of Scotland.

I wouldn’t live anywhere else. But just bear in mind it’s incredibly humid in Scotland, even though we don’t have as high temperatures. Even in winter we have really high humidity.

NE Scotland. We've had a decent summer - couple of days nearer 30, but mostly middling between 18-25. We do seem to have our own special brand of 'muggy' days though that give me a headache. This winter past, we had (officially recorded) no sunlight for over 21 days...might be perfect for you 😂

Was literally just saying this....i was chatting to a South African gent recently and he said the heat here is worse than there due to the humidity

Yeah a few friends from hot countries have said that. I have brittle asthma and I’m currently awake trying to breathe in 86% humidity at 1am! 😩 But I Love it here, I’ve lived on the west coast for almost 20 years now, almost as long as I lived in England and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.

Really? Is that not a bit of an old fashioned stereotype these days?

Last winter wasn't reasonable in S Wales. It rained practically non stop from November to April.

Moved to the Highlands of Scotland 10 years ago, from SE England and haven't regretted it for a second 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 I'd say have a winter experience up here first before you put the house on the market just to be sure it's going to be for you. I know a few couples who only stayed for 5 or 6 years as they struggled with the longer darker days in winter. Good luck 🤞🏼

I am like you - I can’t stand hot weather but I had AC fitted and it made all the difference. I used to live in Scotland up by Fochabers and while I don’t like the heat and I don’t mind the rain and didn’t think I had a probably with the Scottish weather at all )dress for it), one of the biggest surprises to me was how much dry weather puts you in a better mood.

This summer the AC has meant a good night’s sleep whatever happens, somewhere to retreat to if necessary, but also I’ve been happier to sit outside to have breakfast or eat in the evenings in the garden as those are the coolest bits of the day. I won’t deny I did look at Peak District houses on the day it was 37C. But Scotland is too much the other way. And wow the SNP have fucked it.

Get AC so you have a retreat. Cheaper than stamp duty!

I've thought about moving, never done it. My children are settled and happy where we live. My idea is to move when they've left home and my parents have died, if I ever did so.

I bet the Scots love the idea of being invaded by potentially tens of 1000's more English over the next few years due the threat of heat.😆

Sounds like an extreme overreaction to me. The heat was difficult this summer but it’s likely over now for another 10 months minimum. We only get a few weeks of insufferable heat in England then it dies down. You’re moving for the sake of a few weeks of suffering a year basically and it sounds like your life is pretty happy and settled otherwise. I’ve heard bad things about Scotland’s schools.

Depending on where you live any equity you have built up in England is likely to take you quite far in Scotland in terms of housing. Not a hard and fast rule, but eg South East house prices are very different from majority of Scotland , aside from Edinburgh perhaps, and even then.

There is an income tax difference but it's unlikely to make the sort of impact that this issue has, and also lower mortgages.

I decided to move to Scotland from South East after university (but went to St Andrews and had friends and relatives in Scotland already) and never looked back. Money went so much further housing wise and I can't imagine I would have anywhere near the disposable income going back to the South East. I guess this depends on jobs and I'm certain that there won't be the same number of very high salary positions that you'd find in London. But plenty positions are fairly comparable income-wise and certainly when you consider reduced housing costs. Potential to WFH is likely to be a factor too.

I'm now Glasgow way and the weather isn't amazing, I'd rather more bright sunny days, but visiting my family in the South East over the summer was tortuous and my poor dog was trapped inside a lot of the time. So if it's going to be like that for the foreseeable I wouldn't be surprised if more people considered a move.

Uprooting from friends and family is a big one, but most people are very friendly and talk to you spontaneously when you're out and about, in shops, just in general - it was very different from the SE I recall growing up in where people mostly kept themselves to themselves if they didn't already know you. There's not much serious anti -English sentiment that I'm aware of (although in sport 'anyone but England' seems to be a longstanding approach ) I only had the odd Billy Connolly jokes in taxis some twenty years ago!

I wondered about renting somewhere in a cooler area for a few months next summer. Issue is rents tend to. E 6 months.
im the same can’t cope with this heat.

Second home will be pricey in council tax.

And "even a 2 bed flat in a city" is a needed home.

IMO better to either properly move up, or visit for long summer holidays.

My advice would be to try it but rent up there for a year and rent out your house down here.
All much easier then if you find you don’t like it and want to return.

Realistically that wouldn't normally be necessary, would it?

And bear in mind that you can't necessarily sit outside in Scotland either due to the midges.

I think generally Scotland is more left wing / community, possibly due to strong trade unions in the past, shipbuilding, mining etc

I live in Scotland. Can honestly say I have never heard any of my friends complain about paying higher taxes here. They're content to pay higher taxes to fund university tuition, prescriptions, personal care etc

I love the heat and it’s the one thing I missed when I left SE England to move north. My in laws are still there and have told us how much they’ve struggled this year in particular and it’s wiped any energy my FIL had. We keep asking them to move near us but they’ve been resistant (for lots of good reasons), but starting to consider it now.

I think it would be a mistake to leave friends and kid’s school (assuming you are both happy and your daughter is) and everything you know, assuming you’re happy with all other aspects of your life except for the summer heat.

People and emotional happiness are much more important to me than weather. I am the opposite of you, I like the heat and hate the cold, but I would 100% rather live in my current location turned snowy with all my friends and job etc and roots, than uproot myself for the sake of a couple of months a year of weather I hate.

I think you need to seriously contemplate whether you’d be happier in the weather you like, but lonely and in a random place you don’t know. What if your parents and daughter are unhappy and resent having moved for your weather preference?

personally I’d get air con and accept that my outings might be a bit curtailed in July and August. Plus it may not be every year. So you’re very much thinking worst case scenario on the weather front.

Not sure which part of Edinburgh you live in, but I’ve not seen a midge within a mile of my flat and the recorded temperature has never exceeded 31 since records began.

No, OP you’re not being unreasonable to consider moving to Scotland. Most of us lived here way before the temperatures started to rise!

We pay £680 a month more in income tax here. We paid stamp duty of £62k. In England it would have been £32k. And for what? The SNP are absolutely sure. Health, Eduvation, Transport. All totally and utterly run into the ground.