UK weather has changed in recent years?

[NaturalScone]

I know it's going to be region dependent, but I am in the far north of England and so we are no strangers to wind and rain and heavy clouds.

Over the past 3 years I have seen barely any rain, even though the years were punctuated by a few mad storms. I used to need waterproofs and umbrellas etc, but not so much these days.
Spring comes early and this last few yrs the summer has only given up close to October. Last summer was perpetually humid and hot, barely any grey sky or rain for over 5 months. It never used to be like that!!!!!!

Winter's seem much milder too, apart from the odd frost.

Most people I know simply never mention it, and you'd think Brits would be going nuts with joy at so little rain here. I just feel that our traditional seasons are becoming a thing of the past.

It has changed hasn't it? A three year mild/sunny trend for northern UK is generally unheard of. Anyone else recall the endless lockdown weather (hot!)?
We have had no April or spring showers here yet, bar one slight mist of rain last weekend for an hour in the middle of the night.

What I've notices is that I think the seasons are moving.

As a child in the 80s we gave up on the idea of snow at the start of March and I remember snow before Christmas a few times. Now latterly we've had snow in March a number of times and even snow in April.

Again as a child I remember May being fairly cold and miserable, yet we've had a few May heatwaves recently.

We seem to still get all the weather, just at different times of the year!

Yeah I agree with PP that seasons are changing. We used to go and watch fireworks on bonfire night every year and as a child I remember it used to be bitterly cold, we used to bundle on so many layers and I used to love seeing the ground all shiny with frost that time of year. Nowadays October/November is usually quite mild and the cold snap is January/February time.

Yep.
April always used to be rainy but warming up.

Hardly any rain here ( very south east) and our heavy clay soil is almost unworkable already.

Yep, we have a south facing garden and I've started thinking about mediterranean style plants for my pots as we don't get enough rain for normal plants to thrive in pots and when I got on holiday it's always an issue. Same with hanging baskets (that's the north facing part of the house, but even then I would have to water twice a day for them to look decent).

As for our south facing lawn.......most summers now it dries to a golden crisp......

Definitely
leaves still on far later than they used to be, hardly any rain since early march
roses still flowering on Christmas day!!

Agree with the shift in seasons.

I grew up in the North but have lived in the SE for 20+ years. In the last 10, but more noticeably the last 5 years the temperatures have been getting hotter and hotter. Regularly high 20's and 30+ in the summer. We're going to get solar panels. We will no longer holiday in Europe during UK summers as a) temperatures are regularly hot/sunny and whilst less predictable feel there is no need and b) it's too hot in Europe now during July/August. If we go away for sun it tends to be during UK winters.

What I've notices is that I think the seasons are moving.

Agree I was born in the 80s, September was always a bit chilly going back to school & defo needed the coat by October. April lots of rain & summers generally warm from the start. Now it's freezing in March & hot in October!

I agree op I've noticed the same and I'm in the south west.

Both my water buts are completely dry already.

I suspect our calendar is off rather than the seasons changing. The Earths orbit isnt exactly 365.25 days long and in the last time we updated the calendar was in 1752…..

Also this from NASA. The Earths tilt has a cycle as well
”Earth’s axis is currently tilted 23.4 degrees, or about half way between its extremes, and this angle is very slowly decreasing in a cycle that spans about 41,000 years. It was last at its maximum tilt about 10,700 years ago and will reach its minimum tilt about 9,800 years from now. As obliquity decreases, it gradually helps make our seasons milder, resulting in increasingly warmer winters, and cooler summers that gradually, over time, allow snow and ice at high latitudes to build up into large ice sheets. As ice cover increases, it reflects more of the Sun’s energy back into space, promoting even further cooling.”
climate.nasa.gov/news/2948/milankovitch-orbital-cycles-and-their-role-in-earths-climate/

I'm in Norfolk and we've had enough rain that our water butts aren't empty but I agree with others that the seasons have shifted and they change very quickly. We genuinely had snow and frost one week before Easter and temps of 18 degrees the next week.

I now ignore advice when buying plants and seeds as they're rarely appropriate for our climate.

This is why we have leap years.

I'm Bournemouth and it's been mild winters since beast from the east. We seem to dodge much of the rain too.

Definitely change in the seasons - more like Jan/Feb /March is winter, April/May and June is spring, Summer is July/August and September and Autumn is Oct/Nov and December. It's rare we need winter coats before Christmas, even in southern Scotland.

Was out for a walk this afternoon and the river is low for the time of year too.

I feel like we only have 2 seasons now instead of 4: Winter and Summer. There just doesn't seem to be much in between which would pass as Autumn or Spring.

Daffodils were out in January this year. February last year. Blossom on trees is earlier and earlier too.

I just wish, instead if swinging from one extreme to another, we had a steady 15-25 degrees all year round with NO or very little rain 😊

one thing that you can guarantee is a bad winter now we have had to cut down on utilities

i really hope not but that would be our lucki m already dreading winter CH wise etc

Yes I agree seasons are probably moving …

Our daffodils started flowing (south facing sun trap in the SE) in late January. The north facing ones took an extra few weeks but they were certainly all done way before St David’s Day and Mothering Sunday.

So I think there is definitely a change but also we have selective memories. Sometimes I think “this is the hottest / coldest x month I ever remember” and then I’ll look through photos from 4 or 5 years a go and I’m in the same clothes and I remember the weather on those days too.
Obviously snow on Christmas Day is something we all remember happening as children far more than it ever did, but when I try to think back I only remember one Christmas Day with deep enough snow for snowballs and I remember one year 25 years a go or so travelling on the motorway and there being a brief flurry and us all getting so excited and taking a photo (we would have had a proper camera with us, it being Christmas Day) of the motorway sign which warned of snow.

I think January is as I ever remember it though really - a bit grim, if not raining everything still feels permanently damp etc..

I’ve noticed it all changed in 2006 when Dd was born.

in March/April of 2007 l have a picture of her sat outside in the warm sun. And it’s been sunny every spring since then. Akways followed by a shit cloudy summer, especially in August.

Summer school holidays generally suit weather. Then warmish September. May used to be lovely but us now rainy and cold.

Thats my experience in the North.

The climate has definitely changed. I've lived in this same house over 35 years, and the rosemary in my back garden starts flowering a whole month earlier than it used to.

We also had to water the front grass for several weeks every midsummer because it was so dry and had gone brown. Haven't had to do that for at least 15 years now.

All I've noticed is the wind. I've never known it to be as windy as it has been the last few years.

Rainfall is more extreme - there seems to be fewer days of 'medium' rain or period when there would be rain most days.
These days there are weeks without rain - particularly in winter and getting a month's rain in three days is more of a thing. That and it is windy.
Summers can still be patchy but generally warmer.
Biggest thing I have notices is that nights are warmer - if it was clear and dry in winter it would generally be frosty, but frosty nights are rare even in winter.

I've noticed more rain. Especially in summer. We had torrential rain last summer and the one before, we had to abandon our tent (temporarily!) last year while camping due to the water flowing in. We were near enough to home to go back for the night. Summer temperatures are mediocre (barely out of the teens for a lot of last year) and lots of cloud most days with a few random super hot days thrown in, then the weather often improves in September when the kids go back to school. It's warmed up a bit this week (after back to school - typical)and it's nice to finally dig out the hoodie instead of my winter coat. Hoping it lasts and improves. I'd love a prolonged period of warmth and sun this summer. When DS1 was small we got proper summers and it was great.

Yanbu. This is why all that money is being spent on renewable energy and electic cars. They aren't doing it for fun - climate change is happening and we are just beginning to see the effects. Sadly its probably already too late to do anything about it!

I agree OP and I bang on about this all the time.
The UK has always seen regular rain showers. They produce that gorgeous damp, fresh smell that we're all so used to.
Not anymore.
It barely rains. We have a sedum roof on our shed and it's "drought proof" because it can go a month without any rain. I have to water it. I never need an umbrella for my walk to the train for work. The soil in our garden is rock hard- in April!

This is the strangest thread I’ve seen in while.. does everyone realise that climate change is an observable documented reality globally? So yes the weather patterns are changing.

the 10 warmest years since 1884 have all been in the last 20 years.

extreme weather events are becoming more frequent leading to more flooding in the uk