To think it is mercilessly cold and damp in Cumbria?!

[Pheasantlysurprised]

I lived there for 4 years, had moved further north from Cheshire, and the climate came as a shock to me.
Yeh yeh, im a bit of a soft touch and do feel the cold easily, but wtf that was a steep learning curve. Even in dry, sunny spring weather (not including midsummer) I still felt damp and freezing, and within a fortnight of moving there had packed up most of my everyday clothes (wool, winter skirt, tights, cashmere, etc) and had to swap them for tightly sealed puffer coats and thermal waterproof leggings .
Became a walking ad for mountain warehouse and Fjallraven.

I spent 4 years trussed up like a sausage, swaddled in hiking gear, tog obsessed and running up a disaster of an annual fuel bill.

The place is so, so beautiful, I love the people and miss it very much, but am hesitant to ever move back because of the weather. I like rain and my favourite season is winter, but christ that was something else.

Im now a bit further south since the pandemic and looking to move again, and not sure what to do.
Can the climate really put you off a place?
I am self employed wfh so location is flexible, but currently don't drive. I really liked it up there but honestly feel depressed about returning due to this.

@StoneofDestiny

Yorkshire is one of the coldest, dampest and rain filled places I've ever lived and I've lived all over the UK

Yorkshire is four counties and an absolutely huge geographical area with different climates. You'll have to be a bit more specific

ITS THE HUMIDITY!!!

It's wet, but it's not particularly cold. We moved here from Oxfordshire 7 years ago. At the time I looked up annual weather statistics for the area I lived in and where we were moving to. There was a very negligible difference in temperature across the year, but rainfall in Cumbria was more than double where we lived before! I'm about 15 minutes from Kendal.

We went across for a short break in Northumberland a couple of years after we moved here. Absolutely bloody freezing! It felt positively tropical coming back to Cumbria after those icy east coast winds.

I see someone beat me to it by mentioning the west of Scotland already.

Moved from South Yorkshire to Lancaster for 3 years. Spent a lot of time in the lakes while I was there too. One of the happiest times in my life but the weather was brutal. So much wetter than I was used to growing up. Moved down south to Essex coast 20 years ago and it’s practically tropical in comparison!

Try a winter in Aberdeenshire. There snowsuits are for everyone not just toddlers!

It's so cold it'll feel like your nipples will crack and fall off.

I love near Kendal and now feel really Hardy as I've never felt this way about the climate here. I'm not saying its dry and tropical cos that'd be a lie 😆 but I guess some find it bothers them more than others. I moved here from Manchester which is also grey and damp a lot. So maybe I was pre-adjusted, I have also lived in Australia and the alps though. Loved the alps climate, rarely even a breeze never mind wind.

South coast here and I’m cold in the winter, I wouldn’t survive if I moved north 😆

@Pheasantlysurprised

I spent many years of my childhood on a farm near Burscough in the north west. Nothing, literally nothing prepared me for the south lakes! There's a special sort of cold, my DP puts it down tot he damp, that I personally find really uncomfortable. I do love it there, in every other way - I adore low light and dark gloomy weather. It's a shame. I am now considering Shropshire ;)

Aw, not often you see Burscough mentioned - I grew up on a boat at Top Locks!

I can't say I find Cumbria significantly colder or wetter than any of the other parts of NW England I've lived in, and "merciless" sounds like it never stops raining. It's not quite that bad! Though obviously the lakes come from somewhere - you can't have lakes and lush green scenery and wall to wall sunshine!
Actually it's been remarkably dry this year, which is why Haweswater has been attracting huge numbers of visitors as so much of the village that was flooded when it was formed has been visible this summer. I was in the Thirlmere area last weekend and I have never seen it so low at this time of year, so a bit more rain would be useful just now. It's been strangely mild this week too. It was 16c at 18.00 when I took my son to his sports practice last night.
I do agree that wet vs dry weather makes a different to temperature perceptio though. I find heat a lot harder to tolerate in humid countries. I used to have a colleague who moaned continually about being cold which amused me greatly as he was from Siberia. He put it down to the damp, so maybe you're right!

I mean. It's a bit damp and drizzly but I don't find it much colder than other places.

However, there is a reason Kendal is called the auld grey town and it's not just the colour of the houses. I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and guess you were in one of the old stone terraces (Romney Road, Castle St, Lound Rd, Milnthorpe Rd type areas) which are notoriously hard to keep warm.

I've lived in Cumbria (for a couple of years) and you're right, is it always raining. I'm a miserable weather kind of person so it mostly suited me, but there is something a bit soul destroying about being permanently damp. But now I live in Manchester and it rains all the time here too, so clearly I'm not that bothered!

merciless" sounds like it never stops raining.

The first year we lived here it rained for at least part of every single day except 2 or 3 between the beginning of October and the end of February. We were wondering what the hell we had done! It's not often quite that relentless, but it really is very very wet.

I moved here 10 years ago. It’s wet and cold, much more so than other places I’ve lived (Yorkshire/Cotswolds/London/Manchester/Hull) I thought I would drown the first year I moved here, seemed like it rained for 6 months solid but kept telling myself it wouldn’t be the lakes without so much rain or as green and lush.

I used to know someone from Odessa and she said the -20 winter temperatures there don’t bother you because it is dry, not damp.

Yeah, definitely miserable and damp. It’s always raining! Every time I’ve been on holiday to The Lake District, I came back early because the only time it stopped raining was when it started snowing (which in fairness was quite nice).

Yorkshire is grey and damp a lot of the time but not in the same pervasive way that Cumbria is.

Cornwall is damp in a whole other way too, mizzly.

I find heat a lot harder to tolerate in humid countries. that makes sense - if the humidity is high enough that sweat does not evaporate, apparently a temperature of only 35 deg will kill you.

it rained for at least part of every single day except 2 or 3 between the beginning of October and the end of February, you mean it was dry for at least part of the day every day between October and February? It's all a matter of perception.

@lazylinguist

merciless" sounds like it never stops raining.

The first year we lived here it rained for at least part of every single day except 2 or 3 between the beginning of October and the end of February. We were wondering what the hell we had done! It's not often quite that relentless, but it really is very very wet.

It's a big county of course, and weather can very hugely even within relatively small distances but I can't recall a year that has been that bad in my neck of the woods. Not that I'm denying that it's a bit on the damp side here, but having lived about half my life in Manchester or Lancashire and the other half in Cumbria I can't say I've noticed a great deal of difference. I've never lived anywhere dry for comparison though, so my rainometer is perhaps wrongly calibrated!

Yorkshire is four counties and an absolutely huge geographical area with different climates. You'll have to be a bit more specific

It is, I agree - specifically West Yorkshire. However, travelling across Yorkshire in winter was always a problem in winter - snow being the biggest challenge with roads into certain areas blocked. Umbrella needed more days than I care to think and could never travel without a snow shovel and padded coat in winter

I'm a displaced marra Cumbrian and realised years back that rain makes me happy at a deep, comforted level. That, and rum butter.

Former East Yorkshire resident, now living in Canada. Agree entirely with @immersivereader. It might be -40 with the wind chill but you will warm up as soon as you get inside.
It doesn’t rain much in this bit of Canada either. I was pleasantly surprised by that. Although forest fires are the major downside.

I live in the Midwest USA now having lived in Yorkshire and the west of Scotland.
The west coast of Scotland was the wettest place.
Yorkshire was cold but not too wet.
The Midwest may have polar vortex conditions but the air is dry and there is enough snow to ski if you can ever find a hill.

@Pheasantlysurprised

I spent many years of my childhood on a farm near Burscough in the north west. Nothing, literally nothing prepared me for the south lakes! There's a special sort of cold, my DP puts it down tot he damp, that I personally find really uncomfortable. I do love it there, in every other way - I adore low light and dark gloomy weather. It's a shame. I am now considering Shropshire ;)

I grew up very close to Burscough, and don't live far from there now. The whole geography and climate is different here, compared with Cumbria. The West Lancashire Plain means that there are big skies above Burscough, running into the sea. Even on cold, wet days, West Lancs feels open and spacious. I find the Lakes claustrophobic and depressing in comparison.

I do drive, but rarely use my car as I don't much enjoy it (plus the environmental reasons). Again, the transport infrastructure around Ormskirk is pretty good for a town of its size. Compare that to the Lakes, where the public transport is much worse.

Honestly, in your shoes I'd much prefer to live round here than in the Lakes.

*I grew up very close to Burscough, and don't live far from there now. The whole geography and climate is different here, compared with Cumbria. The West Lancashire Plain means that there are big skies above Burscough, running into the sea. Even on cold, wet days, West Lancs feels open and spacious. I find the Lakes claustrophobic and depressing in comparison.

I do drive, but rarely use my car as I don't much enjoy it (plus the environmental reasons). Again, the transport infrastructure around Ormskirk is pretty good for a town of its size. Compare that to the Lakes, where the public transport is much worse.

Honestly, in your shoes I'd much prefer to live round here than in the Lakes.*

I hear you, and I still feel sad about it, but feel I have to give it up :(

oops sorry quote marks messed up!