Honest question from someone considering moving back to the UK!

[Rainbunny]

Despite Brexit Armageddon etc!! My DH and I are actually considering moving back to the UK after years overseas. After all the serious issues have been debated between us, the last remaining (surprisingly serious) issue is... the weather! So I'm throwing this out there to get an MN sense of the general weather in the UK since I haven't lived here for twenty years. How often does it actually rain in general do you think? Every other day? (for example) We would be relocating to a city about an hour's north of London for reference. This is somewhat of a thing since my DH really does get SAD (seasonal affective disorder) and we've struggled through a previous environment due to this. Appreciate all thoughts on the matter!

There is no way on god's green earth you'd get me moving back to the UK if I lived in Southern California or NZ! And that's not just based on the weather!

After weeks and weeks of gorgeous weather whilst stuck at work, I'm now on night 3 of 14 nights in a tent on holiday and we've not seen the sun since we arrived! But at least it has stopped raining for a moment...

Unless you've got an important reason why you want to return, I wouldn't!

tinysquirrel - hope your holiday weather gets better.
The same happens here too some years- we break up for the holidays and it just rains the whole time and you wish you’d gone .
abroad- but cost is a big barrier .
I’ve enjoyed if here but I think there’s more to life than weather and pretty scenery . I can’t imagine another 14 years of the same .

I think if your dh struggled with NW pacific he will definitely struggle here. We've had a great summer this year but it's the first one in years, hence the fuss. Plus our houses, infrastructure aren't set up for great summers, where as I expect they are in the US.

If the weather is already an issue then I think it is what you will focus on. You have to come back thinking that the weather isn't a big deal as there are so many great things about being here.

Well it is miserable in Feb, March, April but it is green everywhere all year (except this year) whereas SoCal is brown by March, April.
I think it is drier in the summer in south Uk whereas the north west is wet all year normally.

We're on holiday in California at the moment and I can't imagine wanting to swap that climate for the home counties (let alone anywhere wetter in the UK than that!). Seriously, unless you have to come back for whatever reason or don't mind the weather, don't do it! You won't have been back long before you remember the grinding awfulness of months on end of drizzle and dull days......

Scotland and Ireland are temperate rainforests. England isn't far off. The rain is the price you pay for the lush greenness. But if your DH couldn't cope in the PNW then Britain might be a step too far. For me (grew up in the far north), I can't cope with the heat in the SE of England and even more so with the short summer days, we had to move further north to get the long enough summer days for me.

The weather here is grim. Don't do it!

Have you googled where you used to live in PNW compared to London?
I did for Seattle as an example and it looks like there is more rain in Seattle in winter but more sun in summer.

Thing is in Seattle you really get a rainy season, November is particularly wet but it really rains, rather than just the grey drizzle in the UK where the weather can't make it's mind up. They also get a true summer in the PNW from June onwards it's beautiful right through September and October is usually dry with beautiful fall colors. It is definitely dark with short days though just like the UK in the winter.

The level of rain is not massive in my view. However, as we still make the stupid decision to put the clocks back in England in winter, I think this may be a real issue for you. Having some holidays in the winter (or even say going to France, Belgium or the Netherlands for a few weekend breaks) may minimise the impact, as will having a west facing view from your new home (another 15 minutes more of daylight in the evenings).

I struggle with SAD and I know a few others that do too. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t live in the UK.

I go away in the winter for a bit of sun and it helps immeasurably.

This summer hasn’t been typical - it’s been dry and sunny, or at least warm, for months. Usually it’s far more fleeting and we rarely get a “proper” summer.

I live in East Anglia & am from SoCal. your DH gets SAD in SoCal??! My cousin lives near Yelm. She gets SAD & moans about the weather every winter. She gets more sun living there than I do, near as I can tell.

The challenge in England for me is the cold & grey, not rain.

I think it's a ridiculous idea given your DH has S.A.D

Google how many days of sunshine your present and intended places of residence have had over past 5 years. That will show you all you need to know.

lljkk - no DH doesn't get SAD in SoCal of course, I mentioned upthread that we've spent some years in the Pacific Northwest where he did struggle with it (not a great distance away from Yelm actually).

Well, I'm dreading the weather but it's a good professional move at least for 3-4 years so we'll just have to make sure we get holidays in during the winter and get the most out of the experience before escaping back to SoCal.

Surely if its a move 'back' you know the UK weather already? Its generally grey and if your DH struggles with the Pacific Northwest then he has no chance here.

I get this badly and think Southern California must be ideal.

I've tried various stupid remedies but last year a techie friend suggested filming lights. The mega bright kind, not a crappy sad lamp or so called daylight lamp.

They are actually cheaper than the SAD lights I bought. I keep them on all day on grey days.

That said, if you can stay in California, do and invite me But if you come back, try to get a Wellbutrin RX because apparently that helps SAD but they won't give it to you here.

Do you have DC? One of the first things I thought when I went to California was that it must be an amazing place to grow up.

Have you been back to the uk? The south east has changed hugely. Mega mega overcrowding.

I’m in east anglia so relatively dry compared to a lot of England. However the dull greyness is murder. The nights at least feel to of started pulling in and we are not even in September I’m sure it wasn’t dark at not long after 9pm a few weeks back. It will just continue to get darker earlier and earlier now till spring when it starts to lighten again. Honestly it’s depressing leaving in the morning in winter/autumn in the dark to take the children to school and by 4pm it’s on the turn back to darkness.

On the other hand, this last winter when we had snow, I realised that I needed an actual winter coat for the first time in several years. I have managed most winters out of the last 10 without needing a big coat specifically for rain protection or the cold. Winters have generally been milder.

Shame though because British seasonal changes are wonderful and I love all 4.

I live in Cornwall. It rains. A lot!

Secondly I assume SAD is about daylight, not rain
But when it rains, BitOutOfPractice there ain't a lot of sun! And often much daylight either.

I live in the supposedly sunny south east and get SAD most winters. Luckily it responds well to St Johns Wort, which I take from October to March.

I live in Suffolk, so one of the mildest and driest counties. Our last few winters have been mild, last winter was the worst in a while. I hate winter and it getting dark early but it’s only occasional years that I feel it really drags on.

I don’t find here that the ‘greyness’ is such a problem. We’re rural and I find the countryside is still nice enough to compensate for dreary days if that makes sense - I think we get a good share of clear bright winter days and spring seems to come early. For me it makes a big difference being rural, somewhere urban would seem to grey and dismal to me and feel depressing.

My friend came back to Suffolk from California a few years ago and is really happy to be back, loves the seasons.

I would suggest you both come to England during the winter and then decide. Come over between November and February and experience the weather for a fortnight and then have a chat. With your dh's condition, I wouldn't relocate back to the UK as the constant greyness will affect affect him permanently.

I lived in and around London for well over a decade and did love it while it lasted. But the interminable autumn-into-winter-limping-into-spring was insufferable.

Summer - if it's a warm, sunny one, is divine. Unbeatable, even. But a good summer can in no way be guaranteed.

So you're basically looking at possibly 3-4 months of loveliness (if you're lucky), compared with 8-9 months of grey (pretty much guaranteed). Sometimes it can be 11-12 months of greyness.

Add in the desperately short days in December and January, and it's a disaster for a SAD sufferer.

It's not enough of a trade-off, IMO.

As an aside, do lamps really help?? Nothing comes close to actual sunlight, surely...

I agree a rural setting is better. Locals here walk, cycle regardless of dull or wet weather and is seldom too snowy or icy to go out so all year outdoor activities.