to be spiralling into actual depression, because of the rain? Is that pathetic?

[sadpapercourtesan]

It's just been unrelenting, filthy grey skies and pelting rain, for days

It doesn't seem to have got light properly since at least last Thursday. I realised this morning (when I woke up and was assailed by black thoughts, always a warning sign) that I'm on the brink of a proper depressive episode. My tried and tested strategies for pulling myself out of it (going for a long walk in nature, meeting a friend for a chat, gardening) are all off the table. I can't settle to anything and am feeling tearful, short-tempered and panicky. I'd made an early start on gardening this year which I was feeling really positive about - now my trays of little plants and cuttings etc are drowning in the rain, and my garden is a mass of weeds.

It's a bit pathetic isn't it, to be falling into depression because it's raining? Is anyone else feeling this bad?

The weather is making me very depressed. I have been struggling since January when I lost both my parent to covid but I am now feeling worse and worse.

Even before this week and all the rain it has been pretty cold where I am in the East Midlands. Like others, quite a few of my plants have been killed by frost or torrential rain. I just can't be bothered to do anything in the garden when it is so cold and, most days, windy. Now I can add rain to that.

We still have the heating on and I am still in winter clothes. Just so sick of it.

I have just looked at the 14 day forecast for my area and rain is forecast for 12 of the days! Not that warm either

I feel the same. However my birthday is in May so I tend to remember the various AWFUL trips and treats attempted to celebrate it over the years and it almost always rains. 3 years ago it was sunny. That was an anomaly

I have literally just googled "why is the weather so bad?"

Apparently all the nice weather is over Russia and is meaning that low pressure is unable to move away from the uk so we are stuck with it.

www.bbc.co.uk/weather/outlook

I haven't read the whole thread, but I think the weather can definitely contribute to feelings of sadness, just as sunshine can lift our spirits. The weather has been so awful recently, it isn't surprising that some people are affected by it.
It isn't just the weather, either. There is all the relentless Covid coverage also bringing us down.
I hope you will feel better soon.

Last year it was boiling most of May and June where I live,,So many happy people about!
Mind you, op starting this thread means it'll be hot by the end of next week I'm sure!
It seems to go in extremes these days ; no build up.

I left the UK a few years ago because of this. I was constantly depressed in winter, it honestly had such a huge effect on me and I thought I can't live like this for the rest of my life. And I can now say being in a place that is sunny 360 days of the year has indeed been life changing.

My friend gets depressed in the winter time etc.
we are opposites regarding the weather likes and dislikes but I do understand how people feel , mostly because of my own hot weather hatred. I'm very fair skinned though , so that doesn't help matters either and just go red which isn't a good look on a menopausal woman!

Where have you moved to @Hurr8cane84 if it’s not too outing of course!

@FizzyPink I moved to the Cayman Islands. It's nice and sunny and hot (a bit too hot July-August) all year round. It's very developed so I didn't feel like I was taking a huge risk in terms of moving to a dangerous country and there's so many Brits and Aussies, I feel right at home. And we've been Covid free since June last year so emigrating in 2019 proved to be a great idea!!

The weather in the UK was genuinely bringing me down and I couldn't take it anymore. Between the weather and the more relaxed pace of life here, it has meant my mood swings/depressive tendencies are gone.

I think if weather does affect you, and there have been studies that show certain people are more sensitive to it, seriously consider moving.

[quote Hurr8cane84]@FizzyPink I moved to the Cayman Islands. It's nice and sunny and hot (a bit too hot July-August) all year round. It's very developed so I didn't feel like I was taking a huge risk in terms of moving to a dangerous country and there's so many Brits and Aussies, I feel right at home. And we've been Covid free since June last year so emigrating in 2019 proved to be a great idea!!

The weather in the UK was genuinely bringing me down and I couldn't take it anymore. Between the weather and the more relaxed pace of life here, it has meant my mood swings/depressive tendencies are gone.

I think if weather does affect you, and there have been studies that show certain people are more sensitive to it, seriously consider moving.[/quote]
God I’m so jealous! I’m desperate to move to a warmer climate but no one will have us due to DH’s health issues 😭. Life is too short for this shit but I can’t change it.

@Hurr8cane84 that sounds amazing! If you’re ever up for doing an AMA thread I have lots of questions

@LadyCatStark are you both retired? Because in some places, like Cayman, health insurance is mandatory and employers HAVE to get you insurance which covers pre-existing conditions. And I think this covers dependents as well i.e. spouses and children. So if you got jobs, you'd be covered.

That being said, health is one of those things that will impact something like this massively and I'm sorry to hear he's had a hard time.

@FizzyPink ask away. I think I spotted two other MNers mentioning Cayman the other day so it's a popular place for Brits to move to. The place is as beautiful as it looks in photos and now that we don't get cruise tourists anymore, it is like living in Paradise. A very very modern Anglo-American version of paradise. The only downside is summer, especially September, is VERY stormy. I haven't gone through a hurricane yet, last one was 2004.

The other downside was cruise tourism but that's gone now and the government said that they will drastically limit that when things go back to norm. No one was making that much money out of it anyway and it pollutes so much.

Funny isn’t it because I get a bit depressed when it’s sunny. I feel everyone is having fun and I should be too. I quite like dank grey days - it makes me feel cozy - and I’m so glad of some rain for the garden!

If you have depression, I can see it really not helping, so not pathetic at all.

I've just turned the heating back on having sworn to myself I wasn't going to now the mornings and evenings didn't seem quite so cold, but, nope!

And yes, it is extra miserable right now, given doing things outdoors is our only option and even after next Monday will still be preferable for most of us - I'm going to some indoor situations thereafter but I will be keeping them occasional. It is all very samey right now with the weather and sadly looks like being that way at least another week now.

Honestly, OP, I felt not dissimilarly when living in the UAE, from the lack of variety in the weather. It was depressing not having seasons and varied weather, it rained precisely twice in my first year and a half, and summers were dreadful — hot, glary, dusty.

[quote Hurr8cane84]@LadyCatStark are you both retired? Because in some places, like Cayman, health insurance is mandatory and employers HAVE to get you insurance which covers pre-existing conditions. And I think this covers dependents as well i.e. spouses and children. So if you got jobs, you'd be covered.

That being said, health is one of those things that will impact something like this massively and I'm sorry to hear he's had a hard time.[/quote]
@Hurr8cane84 I wish! I have another 33 years til retirement if the retirement age doesn’t go up again! DH has 25. Perhaps I should look into if any other countries would take us but there’s quite a few that won’t purely due to the potential cost of his condition in the future not his actual current health 🙄.

I hear you. I actually quite like a walk in the rain if I’m wrapped up, but I can’t bear never seeing the sun, never being able to wear a summer dress, or go outside comfortably without a coat etc. I rely on knowing that have a holiday in the sun or weekend away when I will get to enjoy that to keep me going. If travel abroad looks like a non starter beyond this year, then we’ll be moving southwards in the U.K. I don’t want to live somewhere year round which is for the majority of the year under a grey umbrella.

I understand it is lovely when it's a glorious sunny day. I have to say though that I love rain, I just like weather really, all kinds. When people say they go for a walk everyday, where on earth do they walk? I live on a shitty estate, to get anywhere scenic would require a car. Even if I wanted to go for a walk it would be depressing, I don't understand the walk people.

@the80sweregreat

Last year it was boiling most of May and June where I live,,So many happy people about! Mind you, op starting this thread means it'll be hot by the end of next week I'm sure! It seems to go in extremes these days ; no build up.

It certainly wasn't boiling most of May and June last year where I live. In fact I had the heating on some of May and definitely at the beginning of June,

Mid June is my birthday and we went to a wildlife park last year. It was freezing and absolutely pouring with rain non stop. We got so soaked in 2 hours that we gave up and left

Sad light!! I live up north, not on mainland and sad light is the thing that keeps me from being constantly depressed at the dark feeling of the weather with rain and clouds.

The VE Day celebrations last May was really hot ! All i recall of the first lockdown last year was sun!

It’s not just you! Yesterday morning was sunny here and I got outside. Today it’s been incessant grey skies and downpours and I just feel so blah.
Add in period hormones and I’m just going to sack off today, go to bed with a hot water bottle and a tea. This is not spring weather!!

This isn’t helpful right now, but it’s worth investing either in good rain gear or camping gear (the wind proof, light weight stuff).

Years ago, in my impoverished youth, my flat mate loaned me hers for an evening and it made such a difference to get out for a good stomp. Then home to a hot shower and a cup-a-soup.

I need nature and long walks too much to let the weather stop me. I really do understand how it can tip you over the edge.

My top tip is to wear a peaked cap in the rain as it keeps it off your face and out of your eyes.

Not just you @sadpapercourtesan

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4244139-The-f-king-weather?msgid=107326444

This is my take on it. This is what I said on that thread...

The weather IS miserable. And cool. Everything is so far behind too. The VERY dry April, coupled with the coldness (of April, and May so far,) have made the bluebells a month late, and also the blossoms on the trees, and some other Spring flowers.

In addition, the hedgehogs came out of hibernation in mid March (as they usually do,) and then went back after 3 weeks or so, as it got so chilly. And I haven't seen them since! And the cockchafers (May bugs) that always appear late April, and stay for the whole of May, and the first week in June have not yet appeared, there are hardly any bees, and many of my bushes have not started to bloom much yet.

It chilly now, (9 degrees C, but with a wind chill of 6,) and it was thundering about an hour ago. At 6.30pm it started tipping it down with rain.

I think it's something to do with the UK being above the jet stream. If we were below it, it would be like, 22-24 C, and feel like late June/early July!

But yeah, it feels like early March. I am not enjoying it.

We did have a big thunderstorm yesterday too. I do enjoy a good thunderstorm, but I do prefer it when it follows a good heatwave in the summer! Also, that was very sad about that young boy dying, after getting struck by lightning in Blackpool yesterday.