What time of the year do you find most difficult?

[OliveCrab]

Christmas is always a stress.

November is the pits

I hate the start of September when my kids go back to school, college, uni. I always feel a bit sad that the freedom and time we've had together is over.

The feeling doesn't last long though, I like autumn as a season and once everyone is settled back into routines I'm fine.

I can't stand most of autumn through to late spring nowadays. The last two years are probably adding to that feeling - it's never been more wet and cold than it has in the last two years in my living memory. And by cold I don't mean winter-iciness (I don't actually mind that) but the damp kind of cold that gets you all the way to your bones. It doesn't help that it's been raining almost continuously from October 2022 - June 2024, and, while drier, this summer has been exceptionally overcast. We've also not had an Indian summer this year, just straight to cold and wet. Now we're back to the wonderful sounds of squelch-squelch-squelch every time I have to go through the garden.

I suffer badly from SAD, though, but cannot afford a holiday, and my little SAD lamp has been in almost continuous use.

Yeah, it was really good. A few days where it got to 30 and was awful but otherwise very nice where we are. Warm enough to swim in the sea a few times but not so hot I couldn't sleep.

Had the classic Indian summer week before last and a last hurrah on Satirday when I got caught unawares and mildly burnt embarrassingly.

I hate January and February. It just feels so dark and depressing. I also hate October because I really dislike Halloween but I adore Christmas so once that's out of the way I enjoy November and December. I really like Spring/Summer

February. I often feel a nervous wreck then.

Jan-April. I have SAD but love Christmas. Christmas at least gets me through to December but then it’s just months of cold, rain, dark and misery 😭.

As this is mumsnet it's not surprising that many posters are saying summer.

As I don't live in the warmer part of the UK, but in the foothills of the Pennines my least favourite time of year is November through to March.

It rains a lot where I live and summers very rarely get blisteringly hot.

Our cold damp winters mean having to dry washing indoors and using the tumble dryer, having the heating on and the lights on because the light levels are too low.

I don't mind the cold if it is bright. It's just the relentless grey skies and dampness that is depressing. We also generate more electricity from our solar panels in bright weather.

I begin to get wary of the winter blues anywhere from mid August as the nights start to close in but mentally I find late September to mid December the most difficult. The weather is getting crapper and daylight hours are reducing as each day passes. The cold in itself does not phase me but cold and rain makes the damp air feeling linger on. Halloween and fireworks only serve to piss me off some more.

From the middle of December there is a proper feeling of Christmas to act as a distraction from the weather and dark days. From January onwards the days are slowly getting longer and I an remind myself that there will be long sunny days again this year. The early months of the year do drag and can be the coldest but I much prefer them to September to December where I cannot see any light at the end of the tunnel.

I totally understand this. I grew up in the Colne Valley and summer is a lovely respite (especially as it always snows in winter and that means no leaving the house!)

I live in the SW now which means better winters but the tradeoff is summers are sticky and busy.

Between now and around end of February. It's not the cold, it's the endless days of waking up to grey, overcast skies often followed by rain. It's the most depressing time of the year for me.

I like sunny, cold and frosty mornings and we seem to have hardly any of those any more.

Once the clocks go forward it all changes. I love the light mornings and that it doesn't get dark until late.

Roll on next spring!

Hate Christmas. Stupid music in shops. Constant adverts pushing people to buy. People rushing around like lunatics. Pressure! Colds. Moaning. Rows. Stress.

After Christmas, January and February, when it's just cold and depressing.

I think there’s something to like about all of the seasons personally tbh. But I don’t love when it’s chucking it down first thing in the morning because I can’t get a good long dog walk in then.

Late January.

Early January is not too bad as I'm just relieved Christmas is done with and I can relax a bit. Once I've chilled out I get bored with the dark nights/bad weather etc so I try and go away as much as possible January/feb, just to break it up (even in this country is fine, it's a change of scenery/new pubs to visit)

Same here. Royally pissed off if we get a sniff of an Indian summer

February and August. End of winter and end summer just seem to drag on forever and I get a frantic, desperate feeing of longing for change. If I could afford to then I would leave the UK for those months, heading south for Feb and north for August.

I don't mind temperatures in the UK, any temp is fine really as its always fluctuating. I don't mind rain, mist, sun, wind, storms.. its all welcome and I like variety.
But as people have said above, I too loathe the endless days of grey skies when it feels like its been weeks since we've seen any blue. Frosty, blue sky winter days are so beguiling and beautiful but they seem so far and few between nowadays. We don't even get snow in this area of the UK anymore really, our weather feels so 'blah' year round. I'm reading a victorian diary from the local area and it's fascinating to see how the weather seemed more diverse here back then with much more defined seasons. Also read 'A country diary of an Edwardian lady' a few years back and again I felt the weather was much more in keeping with proper seasons back there and far less grey and dreary.

I think I have too much riding on March. As though it should be a hard stop to winter and be right into spring. And now and again we get that but it's often just winter working overtime.

Mid may-mid April. My mam was diagnosed with lung cancer 14th April, died 15th may. Find it hard every year.

Agree with all this. Fog, mist and rain - yes!👍

This is me!
I used to love summer when I was younger, running around in the warm weather but now I am a 30 something mum it's just a headache.
Also it irritates me that my neighbours spend the entire summer with their doors wide open and music playing, loud conversations etc. it only has to get to 17 degrees and their doors get opened up. It's like they literally think oooo it's the right temp to open the doors again!
Winds me up.

Also it just makes it harder dealing with babies and toddlers in the summer.

Xmas is stressful because you have tk spend loads of money and see family that you otherwise wouldn't choose to see, but I prefer it to summer!

Why do some of you detest your birthday so much?
im really curious about this

January to end of March. The dark and the rain begin to get me down. When the kids are through uni and we have more income we plan on a sunny holiday in Feb - to tide us over!

I just cannot bear the attention and presents. Being bought things makes me want to cringe myself inside out. It's just utterly mortifying for me.

I don't generally have any kind of social anxiety or confidence issues or anything and I'm more than happy to celebrate anyone else's birthday any way they want. But the idea of anyone wishing me a happy birthday or making any fuss in the least makes me want to run far far away.

Christmas is far more enjoyable for me now we don't get presents as well. I enjoy all the rest of it, and much more so now I don't have to open anything and can relax.