To leave UK due to weather and cost of living

[Blossompink]

We are absolutely fed up of this constant cold, wet and dreary weather and are seriously thinking it's time to leave the UK. It's not just the weather which is making us miserable but also the cost of living is just ridiculous simply trying to keep the house warm and do simple tasks like drying clothes outside.

We are late 50's, no mortgage, have some savings, but would probably need to have an holiday let type set up to bring some money in or a small business.

AIBU to have had enough of life in the UK and want to move elsewhere?

I think it's unreasonable for the UK to have been turned into such a bag of shit especially as there's no escape for many of us.
I know it has its good points but they are proving ever more harder to pinpoint.
No one expects good weather in the UK but the way it's been for at least the last six months, probably longer, is badly impacting people's mental health.
Then there's everything else that's going on with no hope of any real change.

Even though I have an EU passport I don't think I'd move anywhere in Europe full time. I like where I live, and even though things are far from ideal at least we kind of know how to navigate around the rules to get help/benefits etc. if needed - in our own language for starters.

Maybe I am just a scaredy cat though. I love France, Italy and parts of Spain a lot. I do decamp to Spain around Caceres/Estepona a week before Christmas and return in late January. Then off again in March and May. Rinse and repeat September late October and back off again for 6 weeks at Christmas. I know I am fortunate, am retired and have a decent pension and savings. Buying a holiday home abroad was never on my radar - too much worry and responsibility, so I let others take that risk and rent as I go, often from the same owners in different countries where the location has proven to be suitable for my needs and enjoyment.

The way I look at it is I might aswell pay for a stint in a better climate with a nice change of scenery and way of life, and at the same time save on heating bills during the coldest parts of the year at home.

Moving abroad is not that easy anymore as others have said, unless you have a decent income and maybe don't need to work. Don't forget that since Brexit the number of UK retirees and emigrants to Europe has dwindled so the businesses that would largely have catered to that cohort are not needed as much. Established businesses are ok for the residents already there who are established though (largely).

I'd advise saving really hard, and if you can - apply for leave of absence from work then head off for the ninety days (or less) over the Winter. Just make sure that your travel insurance covers you for an extended stay and you're off.

I totally get wanting to get more sun and live somewhere cheaper. But moving wholesale is very challenging. You'd need a visa which takes a lot of qualifying elements, which vary by country but always have a financial component. You won't be able to access the national healthcare system, etc. Perhaps buying a property overseas and just spending more time there would be a good middle ground?

Also do be mindful of what happens in your very old age. I have a relative who is in the UK having emigrated here but who never learned the language etc. She is now in a care home where she can't communicate with the staff or any of the other residents and it's incredibly lonely for her, she can't understand doctors and nurses etc. Of course family visit most days but it's very isolating all the same.

Especially when the house is mortgage free any rental will help cover some of the cost of going away. I'd be doing more for flung places like Thailand and other Asian countries, even USA etc where it's cheaper to live and so much to see that you need all that time anyway to see it properly.

I'd decide which country and focus on learning the language. You can do this pretty quickly if you really put your mind to it.

Not that easy to get into USA!

go for it OP. There used to be plenty of people heading to Spain for the same reason a little older than you. Generally they came back when they needed the NHS on a regular basis. If you have the opportunity and the funds why not give it a try. You can always come home if it’s not what you thought. Personally I’d try to rent before you sold your main home unless you don’t mind the possibility of returning to a different one,

yanbu. But as others have said, Brexit...

Personally I wouldn't move to Spain or Portugal. Climate change is already causing significant issues in terms of water shortages and seriously damaging heatwaves.

If you voted remain, yanbu. If you voted for Brexit, yabvu... and need to face the shit show and lack of free movement.

Where do you live in the U.K.? We’ve had the worst weather for this time of year in something like 100 years so it’s not exactly the norm. Could you move further south?

I work as a community nurse in Ireland. Obviously moving here is not a better option weather wise so not suggesting it!
I have lost count of the many retired English people I have visited through the years. The reality of being widowed in a country you have retired to can be desperately lonely and sad and a huge worry to the adult children in the UK. Navigating beaurocracy in your own country is challenging enough but even harder in a new place. I'm fascinated that anyone would suggest France as a destination to escape cost of living increases!
Just spend your 90 day EU allowance in the winter to escape the worst of what these islands throw at us in jan feb march

That's true, but the best time to go away where circumstances allow is the Winter time. No excessive heat or drought then really.

I realise that many are tied to Summer and school hols for getting away, but for those who aren't any time outside the school hols is great. High Summer is torture in the Med, but I suppose some people love the intense heat!

I would do it. You only live once! I want to retire in france or spain

Having done so myself I'd say go for it. There's always going to be difficulties, I'm sure you know that. But life is for living, give it a go.

How interesting, OP.

Only a few hours ago, my husband and I were complaining about the weather. We were lamenting the fact that on May 2nd, we are already having 90F/22C temperatures. It was also pouring with rain and the temperature has risen, not dropped, due to the humidity and there's localized flooding. Summer is already upon us and will only get hotter and will remain hot until early November. We do have a beach 70 miles away but it's not quite like other beaches along the Gulf Coast. We live in Texas.

Additionally, it's election year and it's going to get crazy. We are so dissatisfied with rising costs on everything and just general malaise about life. Both my parents are deceased and our adult children are moving on with their lives. We are also in our 50's.

We agreed that we have had enough and are seriously considering moving to England. My husband is English. The weather isn't as drastic as it is here, my in-laws are there, it's a change of pace. I'd also love to be closer to Europe for holidays.

But there's so much to consider. Unlike you, I don't need to learn a new language but I certainly have to have a lot of money, Firstly, we have to apply for a spousal visa for me. The qualifications for the visa are truly absurd! My husband and I own our own business so he would have to leave for a minimum of a year to rebuild it in England and apply for my visa once he has one full year of accounts. He also has to have enough profit to meet the minimum income requirement of £38,700. If we decide to simply use only savings and leave together, we must have £112,750 in an account for six months. Plus the visa costs over the next five years are currently over £14,000. I also have to be prepared for leaving my children behind and like others have said, growing old in a foreign country.

I know I could just move from my current city and move to another one in my country but it strangely doesn't appeal. Politics will be the same, the cost of living in temperate weather places are higher than where I am now and I'll be apart from my children anyhow. I suppose I either take the chance and go to England or make the best of my current place.

Good luck with what you decide, @Blossompink

Hopefully Labour will win the election and scrap the £38k idea!

Strongly suggest you go on a long holiday to wherever you look at.

I lived in Portugal near the coast for two months for work, July was unbearable, it was around 40 for two weeks running. The only thing you can do in that heat is hide.

Costs are up everywhere, blame the Russians and global warming. Honestly the grass isn't greener, you are better off considering renting your home and going travelling where it's considerably cheaper and allow the relevant visas.

Do either of you have Irish ancestry? If so you can apply for Irish passports and consider an EU country.

Just throwing a spanner in the works OP, but would nipping back and forwards in a Motorhome be an option?
I don't blame you for feeling this way, the weather has been abysmal for about a year where I am. Apart from June 2023, it's rained at some point nearly every day where I am. I know this as I'm out in it twice a day, every day with the dog.
I often fantasise about moving a repair bit in reality I probably never will. I can't speak a foreign language and the summer fires in Europe would bother me. Also I'd miss my kids too much although we don't live in each others pockets. Good luck, whatever you decide.

My nephew, half French, moved out to France in 2014, started a holiday accommodation business. He’s doing really well but he struggled and he speaks fluent French. Brexit made it even harder.

personally I’d look at my finances, think about renting my property, or down sizing, then go on holidays throughout the colder weather.

Finland or any other Northern European country.

So you don’t speak any languages, what about passports? Dual nationals or just U.K. ?

Summers are becoming intolerable (I live in Australia). It is not fun only being able to go outdoors early morning or late at night and then huddling under the air conditioning the rest of the day

Not where I live, for at least three years the summers have been indifferent - Melbourne. There's no such thing as Australian summers as you describe them, but summers in regions.

You're not the OP. OP, I don't blame you at all and I have been considering the same thing. While the people on here are correct that you should be cautious and consider your options carefully, I think you should at least make a provisional plan. Start by booking a long vacation in one of the places you might consider: at least six weeks, preferably eight, so you can get a real feel for the place. While it is true that the COL is higher everywhere than it used to be, we in the UK are getting especially ripped off because of Brexit. Plus the weather is far warmer in Southern France and Spain, people who are saying 'it's weird everywhere' aren't really being accurate. While what you have in mind is harder than it was pre-Brexit, it is still not impossible (plus I think we will at the very least rejoin the Single Market in the next twenty years or so, or possibly even fully rejoin the EU)

That's also a great plan and a good compromise. I just get annoyed by people stupidly saying 'well the cold doesn't bother me'. Bully for you, but it does bother a lot of people!