To wonder if those who love winter have very robust mental health or very happy lives?

[Comedycook]

So I was thinking about this after reading a thread about weather. Lots of posters saying how they loved winter...some even said they love the dark evenings and what really surprised me was the poster who said they loved dark, cold mornings. I assumed everyone hated these!

Now I'm not in a terrible place mentally and I'm not depressed but I do find the dark, rainy, cold days do affect my mood. When the evenings are warm and light I feel so much happier.

I'm really interested in how others don't feel that the winter brings them down and actually enjoy it. Are they naturally happier, more positive type people?

I feel hot, uncomfortable in the heat. I also get incredibly faint and dizzy in the heat - no idea why, but whenever I'm on holiday with friends I get heat stroke before everyone else.

Even when it's not hot enough to make me ill (I start feeling ill around 27 degrees, so fairly low hot temperatures) I just hate the feeling of sun on my skin. I didn't actually realise that people liked it for ages - thought it was something people "put up with" in the summer.

I quite like lounging by the pool on holiday, but only under some shade, the hot sun genuinely feels horrible to me. It's hot, it's warm, it's sweaty, it's grim.

Have felt like this since I was a child 🤷‍♀️

Dressing for work in the winter can be a problem because offices are so overheated that you can’t actually wear jumpers.

Not true in my case. The aircon where I work is too fierce. I have no idea why it is on most of the time. We have windows that open. It's such a monumental waste of resources.

It's weird how many people keep coming back to the rain thing as though we don't live in a climate with rain all year round. There's a bit more of it in winter, but the UK is not a country with a consistently dry summer. Yet none of the summer lovers have been telling us how much they enjoy it when it's pissing it down but too warm to wear waterproofs without boiling.

I live in the South East and the hot summer days really do feel relentless. This year summer was slow to get going, but once it started here it didn't stop. Yes there were a few days of cloud where it was a few degrees cooler, but it still felt very hot and humid. As for the year before... well, I just hope I never have to endure a repeat of that.

I do think it helps if you have a garden or you're the sort of person who likes to be out and about wild swimming or whatever.

I don't have a garden to enjoy summer in. If I want to get out then I have to go to the park which will be full of people, big groups having BBQs or picnics and playing music. Nothing wrong with that of course, I just don't find it enjoyable to be around.

I could drive out to the countryside but a lot of other people have the same idea which creates big traffic jams. My car's aircon is broken so it's really unpleasant to be in (and gets v hot as my parking space is in full sun all day), especially when stuck in traffic.

My flat is modern and energy efficient so it traps heat. During the summer it can get up to 30 C and stays there. I have big floor fans running but it doesn't help much. I just end up useless, feeling sick and unable to sleep. I have to keep my blinds closed until the sun goes down which is depressing.

If I lived in the countryside, in a house that doesn't trap the heat so much, with a big garden then no doubt I'd enjoy summer. I'd be out there all the time, under a parasol or canopy with a G&T and a book.

Yet none of the summer lovers have been telling us how much they enjoy it when it's pissing it down but too warm to wear waterproofs without boiling.

I can answer that one @TrashedSofa. When it rains in Yorkshire where I live it is never warm rain. I have a very light Seasalt raincoat that I bought this summer. It is as light as a cagoule, but lined and isn't sweaty. Basically I don't get hot and sweaty in Yorkshire rain because it isn't warm enough to generate sweat.

You have demonstrated very clearly that it depends very much on where you live @IDriveMySupernova. Here in South Yorkshire we had two weeks of nice weather in June, the wettest July for 40 years, a few warm days in August and a hot week in September. Our reservoirs are overflowing. No relentless hot days for weeks on end this year.

And yes, I live in a house with a garden on a hill in a village on the edge of the Pennines, so where you live will be considerably warmer.

I like it cold rather than hot so prefer winter. But I always welcome the lighter brighter days come spring, and do find it gives me a happiness lift.

I can answer that one @TrashedSofa. When it rains in Yorkshire where I live it is never warm rain. I have a very light Seasalt raincoat that I bought this summer. It is as light as a cagoule, but lined and isn't sweaty. Basically I don't get hot and sweaty in Yorkshire rain because it isn't warm enough to generate sweat.

It's not really warm rain where I am either- also north. But the rain itself isn't cool enough to make it not warm when the temperature is high.

Might have a look at the Seasalt raincoats though...

@RampantIvy I'm from North Yorkshire and I remember feeling lucky if we had a few days above 20C. Although even my family (still there) suffered last year. I've always preferred the 'dark nights' for the cocooned/safe feeling it brings for me but didn't mind summer so much in the north. In the SE, especially in my touristy location, summer has well and truly become something I dread now.

I feel hot, uncomfortable in the heat. I also get incredibly faint and dizzy in the heat - no idea why, but whenever I'm on holiday with friends I get heat stroke before everyone else.

For me, it’s my blood pressure being on the lower end of healthy. I was having fainting spells in childhood and it took me fainting at 30 after leaving the doctors for a check-up (everything was fine) less than 20 minutes earlier and an ambulance called to be told my blood pressure dropped too low.

I'm not offended...but irl I've never known anyone open the curtains, see it's raining and grey and found its boosted their mood.

I do. I actually prefer to work in the garden when it’s grey and there’s a bit of wetness and chill in the air otherwise I’m burning up in my coat and gloves.

@TrashedSofa the one I bought isn't available any more. I had got caught in a torrential downpour that even my "waterproof" jacket couldn't cope with. They will probably bring out something similar next year. I am pleased with it as it is properly waterproof (and non sweat making).

I don’t like the dark per de but I do like the change from one season to the other. I went backpacking around Asia many moons ago and the constant sunshine did start to annoy me.

For me winter is: hot chocolate, not feeling I have to be out and about because it’s still light at 21:00, Christmas being around the corner, stews and stodgy comfort food etc. Come February I’m over it and can’t wait for Spring.

Excessive sun and being so dam hot that I can barely function, now that makes me depressed.

I feel the pressure to be happy and cheery in the summer sometimes too much. I like the gloom as it feels appropriate. And like it can only get better from there.

They probably should. The way our climate is going, clothes that can deal well with rain in hot weather are going to be increasingly popular.

It was colder in April than Jan this year. It’s more likely to snow at Easter than at Christmas. March often does not resemble anything spring like… so yes the cold and damp goes on for a lot longer than 3 months..

My ds birthday is in march...it's a weird month. One year we had a bbq in the garden on his birthday and another year there was heavy snow. But I don't really mind the cold in march and April as the days are longer and I know summer is on its way.

Surely most of March is winter? Winter is 20 December to 20 March - astronomical seasons.

My point is - proportionally, according to the weather in the UK and not the calendar. ‘Winter’ ie cold and mainly murky/damp weather lasts a lot longer than ‘summer’ if we actually get a summer which is not a given.

We most certainly do not get 3 months of lovely warm weather guaranteed every year.

So if you like winter you’re doing a bit better than if you like summer and warm weather. In this country at least.

I do like summer, but for me summer comes with expectations. "Get out there and make the most of it" was constantly being thrown at me as a child. I still feel enormous guilt if I stay inside on a sunny day.

The long nights of winter come with no expectations. Stay in, watch shit TV, no one will judge that's how you spent your weekend when it's throwing it down outside and dark at 4pm.

I think the answer is to look for the joy in all seasons rather than wishing half the year away from October to March. Life is far too short for that.

I prefer the Autumn/ Winter, for some reason it feels like a reset and a fresh start. (Much more than the actual new year) it sounds daft but I feel myself come alive inside as the nights draw in.
I am an introvert and find summer draining with the expectations of doing something while the weather is nice. And I hate being hot.

Once summer got going? What you mean that week in September? July and August were a complete wash out. People do have short memories. I live in the S.E. I struggle to sleep in the heat. I have an air con unit. I didn’t turn it on for the whole of July or August…

Well, I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder at 16yo and like winter (although I also love when it starts getting warmer again).

Tbf, though, I'm pretty content with life atm. I struggled for years in office jobs, which I think was probs down to my ADHD but I'm now in the construction sector driving trucks and managing one of our big aggregate contracts. Well paid, low stress, and I enjoy it.

I like that crisp wintery feel that makes you feel sharp and alive. It's the exact opposite of the lethargic chilled feeling I get on warm balmy summer days.

Spending a lot of time outside I've probs got more reason than most to hate the rain (get bloody soaked!) but I also manage to get out in the sunlight a lot even in the winter. When I was in the office I hated driving to and from work in the dark and being inside all day long.

I also ensure I'm not deficient in Vit D which I think is a big factor. Also think it's not great for humans to spend all day every day inside, especially not stuck in the same room like many office workers are. I love being at multiple sites a day. It stops me feeling stagnant in a weird way.

I like wearing coats as they have pockets so don't always have to carry a bag. Also not having to think about suncream is a plus. I like being in a normal work/school routine whereas in the summer holidays everything gets a bit messy. The wet at the moment feels abit relentless but we have rainy patches all times of year in the UK. For people who now can't afford heating winter must be really miserable.

The south east is quite a big place.

Yeah I’d love to know where in the SE had a nice summer in July and August??!

Ime June was nice and really dry, July bad, August had one good week and September too

It wasn’t the best summer if you like heat