Anyone else dread the clocks going back

[hobnobsaremyfavourite]

I hate the long dark nights
Go in to work in the dark
Come home in the dark
I find myself getting quite anxious and low as the weeks go on
Try and embrace the cosy element but I miss daylight
I am the grinch I know

Have just had to put my light on before 1630!! Wtf!

Blew the cobwebs away with a lovely walk in the woods
Home and the log burner is lit
But it’s already getting dark

I hate it too, OP. We're in Scotland so feel it more acutely than those in the south. The time of year from today through to 21st december is just the worst.

It gets darker, and darker and colder and shittier by the day. After the shortest day at least you can look forward to things getting lighter by 15 minutes a week until the glorious, light nights of May and June roll around again. High dose Vit D helps, A bit.

Then you get all the "oooh it's lovely and cosy, hot chocolate and blankets" brigade who I could quite cheerfully strangle.

Plus at the end of all the dark shittiness is the tat-fest known as Christmas. Yuk.

Please can we fast forward to about 6th January when all the shite is over for another year, we've turned the darkness corner and things are on the up again?

Also the difference between hating the dark winter and hating the light summer is that every fecking year we get dark cold winters. It's the norm. Ice, snow, fog, rain, dark.

A summer like the one we've just had is not normal.

That's nonsense. We don't get much snow and ice down here in Surrey so our winters can be pretty mild. But you can be damn sure it'll be hot every summer. Maybe not as hot as this year but hot all the time. And that horrible bright light for months on bloody end.

Newsflash, Rockstar. Not everyone lives in Surrey.

It's also a problem cos the hot summer like we just had we're really not geared up for. We don't have air con as standard, our buildings are designed to insulate not to cool.

As a typical celt bodied Scot I found it very uncomfortable even to the point it made me feel ill.

However I also hate the winters here. Cold I'm fine with its all the bloody rain does my head in!!

"Then you get all the "oooh it's lovely and cosy, hot chocolate and blankets" brigade who I could quite cheerfully strangle."

I'll help you. An awful lot of hot chocolate is consumed on mumsnet. I prefer tea
I'm not a massive Christmas fan either. We have a tiny family, and DD is 18 and the magic disappeared years ago.

Me too

Blimey you summer lovers are a miserable bunch !

Things I have found which help:

Remember it's only 54 days to the shortest day then it's onwards to the light.

Large doses of Vit D are said to fend off the winter blues. I take one tablet in the morning and one in the evening of cheapie Home Bargains high dose tablets.

Morning light - it's not always practical when you're working but on bright sunny mornings getting out and getting your face in direct sunlight for even 15 minutes really helps. I had a really rough time first week of November last year with the darkness and managed to grab 15 minutes on a bench in Kelvingrove Park. Just sat still, eyes closed, drinking in the sunlight. And it made me feel SO much better. Getting out for a walk in the morning makes me feel better too.

Download some podcasts to your phone so you can listen to those rather than being subjected to "festive" shitty music on the radio. (Can recommend Finding Cleo, Serial and Death on Ice Mountain). I also play these through the car radio.

Get a flu jab.

Perfect your death stare for anyone who utters the words "cosy", "snuggle", "hygge" or anything about "making memories with the famalam watching movies with hot chocolate".

People do realise that the clocks changing isn’t what makes it cold right?

I don’t understand why we bother. We don’t get any more daylight hours do we, they just happens at a different time.

I love it! Love the dark evenings. Prefer going out running in the dark after work (less dickheads beep at you when it's dark and I feel less exposed!) As PPs have said, love getting snuggled up in the evenings with lamps on and candles lit. We've just snuggled down to watch a film after a lovely Sunday roast and it's just perfect! I adore this time of year, I spend spring and summer counting down to cold days and dark evenings. The only good thing about summer is having plenty of daylight to be able to take my horse out hacking after work. Otherwise I hate it.

I used to really hate it - where we lived wasn't safe once dark - and hated the rain and cold but now we've moved somewhere safe and I'm working from home I don't mind it. Trick is hibernating.

No, I think we all understand that the changing of the clocks doesn't make it cold or reduce the daylight.

But it's a very strong, visible reminder of the shorter days. You can kind of ignore the shortening days in July and August when it's warm, ignore the equinox in September, then around rolls October. All weekend it's been "don't forget the clocks go back" like a slap in the face.

I could quite cheerfully strangle the "isn't it lovely brigade" when it's 30°C in the summer so it works both ways I suppose.

PiperPublickOccurrences cracking advice

Just means it’s dark and miserable when we get up and leave the house and dark and miserable when we get home too. Waking up when it’s still dark makes me just want to stay in bed. It’s always cold and wet now too. Ages till it’s acceptable to put Christmas decorations up then once Christmas is done it’s ages until it’s finally light again. Welcome to the grey cold uk.

I’m with the PP who wants to fast forward to 6th Jan / past Christmas.

But I’d ff to the end of February.

Bring on the Spring, flowers shooting up, lighter days and the prospect of Summer.

I quite like getting all cosy with the fire lit after the school run. Hate going out again though for endless car ferrying now the kids are getting older!

Foxyloxy1plus1 try putting a cover over your windscreen and also I never scrape - I just check a big bowl of hottish tap water over it. Instantly defrosted!

Take your snuggly blankie and stuff it up your hygge.

ElectricMonkey, I reckon you should go into business making these, you'd make a bloody fortune.

Back at you Piper. Not everyone lives in Scotland.

Why is the whole UK held at a ransom to any changes in in this by a few Scottish farmers?