4.15pm and it's pitch dark - where has the light gone?

[PineappleDanish]

Hate this time of year. It started getting dark around 2.30pm. Pitch dark by 4.15pm.

Won't be daylight again until 8.30am tomorrow morning. It's lashing rain outside and is forecast to do similar for most of the week.

Winter can fuck off. Roll on the Solstice and at least the nights start getting shorter again.

I love this time of year - dark evenings are my favourite. BUT I would really like if I could somehow have summer-style mornings where it's light early so I could wake up naturally and have a nice bright commute to work - I don't mind it being dark on the way home knowing I'm going home to my apparently twee as fuck house full of lights and candles and a lit fire 👌🏼

The ‘snuggle under a blanket, drink ‘hot choc’ and gaze at the twinkly lights’ brigade can fuck off. I do not live in a fucking Catherine Kidson advert and nor do I want to.

There was a I Fucking Hate Summer thread in the summer. Rules were: don’t come on telling Summer Haters TWBU. Same rules should apply here.

I can just about tolerate December (because I’m half cut for most of it) but my god, Jan - March nearly kill me.

I work nights and so for 5 days in a row I barely see daylight in winter, and it does get to me. There's an upside of actually being able to sleep better in weather like this at this time of year, because it's darker and because there's less people outside in general and less noise. I can sleep through the wind and rain night or day. But I do start to feel like a vampire that only comes out after dark from when the clocks change to when they change back. And I've only got curtains/windows open for an hour or so each day.
I do love the Christmas lights and decorations up, and December is probably the biggest month where I work so it's constant adrenaline and lots of people around (though that brings its own problems too) so December isn't that bad for me, but January and February are my lowest months because it's just dark and miserable, with the occasional crisp, cold clear day with frost or ice. I can feel the difference in my mood with winter Vs summer.
I'm interested in the vit D supplements people are taking to help - are they available widely or expensive? Might be worth me looking at that if it does help.
Working nights in summer isn't really like working a night shift, I love end June and July, I work right on the North East Coast (beach front) and some clear nights you can see the pink across the horizon all night, it only gets dark properly about 11pm and then it starts to lighten about 3 and is broad daylight by 4, I've seen some amazing sunrises (helped by the fantastic scenery!) But the same scenery that's light and beautiful in summer becomes dark and foreboding in winter, the sea scary at some points and the wind frightening. I look forward to spring and summer for those in January and February because it's just so depressing!

I hate dark mornings but I love dark nights.

You don't understand why people would want to drink a hot, comforting drink when the weather is cold, rather than the rest of the year when it's not cold? Ok then...

I totally understand the hatred of the social media mania for twee cosiness, but lights, hot and comforting food and drink, and warm clothes are not exactly a new or baffling approach to winter weather and darkness.

I'm in the NW of England too. We've had pouring rain and hail on and off all day. We were out in it for a few hours. And it was pretty dark by 4pm. I can hear the wind howling around my house. I'm not snuggling or drinking hot chocolate. A mulled cider and returning to a nice warm, well-lit house were welcome though.

We've been on holiday abroad a couple of times in December and it really improves our mood.If you can do id definitely recommend.

@SinglePringle why does it do your head in so much?

YANBU, it’s rubbish. It’s dark here before 4pm, crap. I find it not so bad in November and December as there’s at least Christmas to look forward to but January and February are just shit. March at least it’s starting to get lighter, the end is in sight.

I'm not speaking on behalf of singlepringle but it does my head in too.

It fails to recognise the very real gloom and depression that lots of people feel around the dark nights. People trundle out their "snuggling under blankets, hot choc and cosy" as a panacea which cures everything. If only it were that simple. The underlying problem is the lack of daylight and no amount of hot chocolate is going to fix that. The lights and cosy and all that shite just reinforces the fact that it's DARK and miserable outside.

At least it's only 14 days to the Solstice, after that at least we're heading out of the darkness rather than further and further into it.

PrincessH relentless, driving rain. Cold, grey, wet, no daylight (and even that I do see is dreich. And that’s in London).

I hate ‘hot choccy’, woollen clothing (except cashmere), scarfs, being freezing waking to the station and being boiling on the train. Frizzy hair, smelling like a damp dog, and a distinct lack of Vit D.

Spring and summer feel a long long way away in January.

I like shorts, flip flops, all the windows open, light make up, long light nights, flowers, scent of summer, smiling faces and warmth.

@Thestaffarealwayswrong I use a vit D spray from Holland and Barrett. I think about £5.99 but normally on offer for buy one full price one for a penny.
I used to take St Johns Wort to get through Winter but it can be toxic for the liver.
Vit D is helping with energy levels.
Sympathies with the night shifts. I do a set of 5 2-3 times a year, it kill me

I'm with you op - I hate the winter for the short hours of daylight. The best year was the one we flew out to NZ in early Jan - it was fantastic.

Roll on retirement!!

It didn't take long for people to start chirping about
Cosy
Snuggling
Hot chocolate
Blankets
Twinkly lights

Just. Stop. It.

I have a theory that the "hot chocolate, warm blankets" romantics are all living much further south than the "fuck this for a game of soldiers" crowd.

@OverByYer

Thank you I'll check it out.

I know what you mean OP, the lack of daylight makes me feel listless and tired and I struggle to get up in the morning when its so dark. In the summer I can be up like a lark really early, so I know its the lack of light thats the causes it.

Im going to sound weird now, but in the summer when its sunny and warm and Ive been out in for a while I almost buzz. Like I've been charged up by the light.

How the hell people in Scandinavia cope I'll never know.

I have been curled up in bed this afternoon
Thanks migraine
I feel neither cosy or content
It was just about light when I went to bed and pitch fucking dark when I got up
I get that this time of year is dark
But there has been nothing but relentless gloom for weeks
Having finally sussed the effect his has on me I am dreading January despite trying everything I can to minimise my SAD
And no amount of snuggling is going to solve my SAD

Shortest day is around the corner then it will start slowly becoming lighter, am with you OP and many others, the lack of light really affects me

I’m not sure people in Scandinavia cope that well. Really high suicide rates.

It’s just awful. I feel like it’s the middle of the night when I get up and I’m so tired and sleepy the minute it gets dark (about 3.30). I don’t want to snuggle (fester) under a bloody blanket for 6 months:

I want to be outside in the sunshine at 6pm in my shorts and flip flops.

2 weeks people. Then the descent in to darkness stops. Though I think it’s about February when it’s finally light at 5pm. That’s always a turning point for me.

Love it, well not the lashing rain but the early dark. Keeps all those screaming kids that parents don't hear, out of gardens and I can actually enjoy listening to music and not have the tv turned up to vibration point. Hate the summer evenings as can't even sit in garden on a good evening.

same place it went last year at this time!
HATE IT, HATE IT, HATE IT
Really do hate it.
6mths of life just totally wasted, holed up at home, with pure and utter drivel on the TV, going out costs a frigging fortune.
Don't Drink, so pubs are out, Cinema is very poor value, considering it is over and done with in 2hrs, what the fuck are we supposed to do.

Hibernate?

I truly detest dark nights.

I'm currently in NE Scotland and the since the clocks changed it's been shit. I live in Asia for half the year, normally Jan to June therefore I'm in Scotland July to Dec. This year I have been so down some days and really struggling to motivate myself that I have decided my Scotland months are now going to be May to October. I realise I am really lucky to be able to choose and the dark night haters have my sympathy.

All the jumping in puddles, snuggling up with hot cocoa and twinkling lights posters are really not having that experience They are screaming at the kids and the dog for dragging mud through the house again, bunging a pizza in the oven and collapsing on the settee with a cup of tea while shouting at DH to help bath the kids

Also, I am looking after a budgie and he is much quieter and reluctant to fly around on the grey miserable days. Today was sunny for a while and he was so happy 😁

They are screaming at the kids and the dog for dragging mud through the house again, bunging a pizza in the oven and collapsing on the settee with a cup of tea while shouting at DH to help bath the kids

but honestly, I can sort of do both, hygge and gloom. and then in between a sunny afternoon out of a walk makes it all feel better.

"I have a theory that the "hot chocolate, warm blankets" romantics are all living much further south than the "fuck this for a game of soldiers" crowd."

I'm in Scotland and love the dark 🤷‍♀️ can't stand the summer when the sun doesn't set till near midnight then comes up again at 4am! Different strokes innit.

I absolutely hate how early it gets pitch black too, but on the plus side there’s only around another 2 months of this, then we’ll have lighter evenings again!

I imagine that those of you that just stay in your house all the time are non-plussed about this, but it’s really annoying for those of us that work or have active social lives. When I leave for work in the morning it’s just before sunrise so still dark, and when I leave work it’s already dark lol. Driving isn’t that bad - but some people that take public transport or even just walk might feel vulnerable at even just 6pm as it’s that dark.