To ask if the weather is really nicer down south?

[moutonfou]

Lifelong northern pennine dweller here. It rains here on an average of 150 days a year.

I know the south is at least a little bit nicer and drier, but how much so? Is there anyone who's lived in both places and can give me a comparison?

I remember Geography A Level where mainland Britain was split into quarters: NW cold and wet; NE cold and dry; SW warm and wet; and SE warm and dry. There are regional variations, mainly round the coasts, but that was the rough rule. Having lived in the NW and SE, it is definitely hotter down here in London and far, far drier - you can go weeks without getting an umbrella out.

Changes can be quite localised. We're virtually on the. NE coast and our weather is often noticeably tidal. Ds1 goes to school about 45 miles south and inland and summer is noticeably hotter there. I alwY have to check both forecasts because it can be cold and foggy here and blazing sunshine there. We're quite high up so do get proper snow, while it can just be raining down there. A bit of a breeze down there can be bordering on a gale, here!

I live on Isle of Wight, it is pretty warm.here as a rule. We don't tend to get snow in winter though, which is a downside for me!

Much hotter yes, I moved to West London from North wales and found it much hotter.

I also found that colleagues wanted the office warmer etc and went to work in summer clothes in Winter. I have spotted people on the tube wearing jumpers when I am melting with the heat.

I saw a woman wearing a tank top over her shirt on Tuesday, it was 30c?!

I live in the South East, It doesn't rain that much here, is generally warm/mild most of the time, and winters are really not that cold. Today, I have read many posts saying that they have got the rain and storms etc after the heatwave, here there's is a cool breeze and a brief 2 minute shower of rain this morning, now it's blue sky and sun again, I just want it to thunderstorm, I have been slowly roasting in the heat, was 34 degrees here yesterday.

And the last time it properly snowed here was 2009-2010 I want snow in the winter.

I live in Brighton. It's not unlike the Bahamas most days

It has been incredibly warm and very dry here in my bit of Kent (I don't actually own it ) since this time last year tbh. We had hardly any rain over even the winter months and I think there was only one day where the temperature dropped below zero, we certainly didn't need anything warmer than a light anorak for normal daily activities (bit different when were walking along the beach though). The nearest Met Office weather station regularly posts hottest temps for the country, although I think where I am, a few miles away, probably gets hotter but there's no measurements taken here. Help we do indeed have flipping parakeets here. I'm currently in a war of attrition with a flock that are watching very carefully for our cherries to ripen, as soon as they do turn red they're stripped in a few hours unless we can get out there and up a ladder quicker than they can eat them all like they have done the last two years running!

One of the things that niggles me about Poldark is they never depict how much it rains in Cornwall, it's an absolute sponge of a county.

South east and south are warmer and drier, south west not so much.

I grew up near Glasgow and now live in the South East. The difference is marked. Not only in terms of temperature but also rainfall. I used to think the difference in temp was just a few degrees but actually it's more like 5-10 degrees most of the year. As for rain / clouds vs sun / blue sky it is just so so much better down here. You do usually get a proper summer. I do miss colder winter weather though!

I really had no idea about the west being wetter.

cold is also a confusing thing - friend moving to Durham said to me "it doesn't get cold up there" - she gave me a scientific explanation for why but I didn't get it tbh. She's moving from London and I thought she'd get much colder winters in Durham but she says not.

I grew up in Sheffield then moved to Manchester, so that's all I can tell you about, but there's a definite difference between the two. Sheffield is drier, but much colder. Without fail every winter there was/is snow on the ground for at least a few days. In Manchester, that has happened maybe five times in the 20-odd years I've lived here. It pisses it down loads (although not actually ALL the time, we do get nice weather too), but it rarely snows properly.

If you look at weather forecasts the difference is usually quite marked by several degrees; much warmer and drier in the south, generally cooler and much more rainfall in the north where I am. It does annoy me when the news headlines talk about 'Britain' basking in a heat wave when what they really mean is 'the south'. Yesterday was apparently the hottest June day on record for decades - in the south - but it was grey and drizzly where I am - so 'Britain' wasn't basking yesterday, the south was. Whenever there are events happening outdoors in the south, like maybe Wimbledon, 9 times out of 10 the weather is more pleasant than here, so yes I would say it's not your imagination and the weather is definitely better in the south

Average yearly rainfall for London is 602mm. For York it is 626mm. But move across to Manchester and you go up to 828mm.

It does vary dramatically even over very short distances. There isn't a weather station in Leeds, the closest being Bingley (about 12 miles west) or Church Fenton (12 miles east). Bingley has average annual rainfall of 1024mm, Church Fenton is 603mm.

The south east is typically relatively warm and dry. The south west is a bit colder (though not as cold as the north) and pretty wet.

I grew up in Sheffield then moved to Manchester, so that's all I can tell you about, but there's a definite difference between the two. Sheffield is drier, but much colder.

Rain shadow.

Prevailing wind from the west. Hits the pennines, rises, gets colder, dumps its rain over Manchester. continues on over the pennines and rains less in Sheffield cos its all been dumped on Manchester.

Yearly rain for Sheffield is 834mm. It's barely any different in Manchester. Yes, there is a sort of rain shadow, but Sheffield is still pretty close to the hills.

And Slimthistime, I don't really know what your friend is on about because it is a fair bit colder in Durham. Maybe not as cold as some other areas in the North, but definitely colder than London.

What Johnny said. The warmest and driest part of the UK is East Anglia - but on the coastline you can get hit by a cold NE wind. SW is warm and wet, as years of obsession over the Glastonbury Festival weather forecast will show you.

SE is like a different climate to the north (and I've lived all over the north, from Manchester to York to Northumberland). Moved to south coast 2 years ago and love it! Long hot dry-ish summers, mild winters, rain is occasional and doesn't blow at an angle. And everything grows better when it's sunny so it's much prettier here.

I'll never move north again. The constant dampness, wind and lack of sun made me depressed

I live in the Manchester Pennines and work at Heathrow. Nearly every week I drive home and the journey is in lovely weather until I hit the hills at home, then it starts raining!

I left home and went to the Notts/Lincs borders where the weather was so much sunnier. It didn't get the same winters - less snow but lots of freezing fog. I then went to university in Swansea, where it rained almost as much as at home, but the temperature was warmer. I later lived in Brighton, which I remember as sunny and hot in summer.

Trouble is, I love the hills and mountains from the areas with worse weather, I found the flat places I've lived (with the nicer weather) dull.

I live in London and am such soft southerner i couldn't deal with any colder or wetter weather!! My parents live in the north of the SW and it is always colder there although not really rainy.