Shall we go camping in the Lakes in two weeks time, or will it be a wash out?

[AnitaBush]

We are in the NW and it's done nowt but blummin rain for weeks now.

Surely it has to get better? Can it really rain for half a summer?

We are novice campers so would be likely to struggle in adverse conditions!

Any thoughts?

well, for the previous 2 summers it has rained for half (and more...) of the summer

I live in the NW too, and visit the Lakes area most weekends

I despair...as soon as the school hols start...the summer ends

It is actually cold today...I am contemplating putting my heating on !

Re. the camping

Take a risk...gwan, we would never do anything if we didn't give it a go

yeah but I'll the kids will be cold and whingey!

which site are you going to? We also live in the NW and my parents are in one of the more tourist-y bits of cumbria, so we are up there a lot. Got back two days ago and going again tomorrow, lol! My dad stands on the porch looking at the mountains, saying "now if you can see that mountain, it's going to rain" and sweeping his arm across he says "but if you can't see it, it is raining"

Yep, it's rained up there for most of the last fortnight. (wonders why there's still a hosepipe ban?)

ah, give over

where is your Dunkirk spirit !!

< says me, who hates camping >

Not sure where exactly, just going to see where we can get in.

And yes, my dad always says I would've been rubbish in the war

I can tell you about better kinds of spirit than Dunkirk. Ones that come out of a bottle, mainly

Right, a word of advice for you. Beautiful areas to visit, but honestly not ones to camp in as they're even wetter than the rest, are Conniston and Penrith. I absolutely adore both, but Very Very Wet.

am in cumbria and my kids have been happily playing outside all week- we had heavy rain last night/early this morning(before breakfast) but nothing through the day except the odd light/quick shower yesterday but then the kids still didn't come in!

if you want a bit drier, and not bothered about camping precisely in The Lake District National Park, try here

it is fab, and in a very unspoilt area about 20 mins drive from Windermere

We've been there too AF, it's bloody lovely. Fantastic suggestion! I'm looking for some good suggestions, failing miserably atm

Hi got back from 4 nights at Park Cliffe at Boness on Windemere yesterday. Fab site lovely staff, stream that kids played in (take wellies) super clean facilities and loads of lovely scenery and villages nearby.
Camped with just me and kids and felt totally safe, kids angling for another trip before summers over.

emmcar, come here!!

marking so I remember to come back in the morning (long day out today - shattered!)

Mmm, we were in the Lakes, based around Keswick, last week and while the weather wasn't wonderful, I wouldn't describe it as a washout.

Admittedly we were staying with a relative who was well equipped with spare waterproof trousers and a tumble dryer, which definitely made things easier. We went out in the drizzle anyway and on the two occasions it really rained we went to Ambleside cinema one time and Keswick Museum the other (very bizarrely entertaining way to spend an hour). But we've survived (and even enjoyed) camping in other places with worse weather than we experienced last week.

We rang Weatherline each day and decided where to go based on that. The forecast is incredibly localised, much better than the BBC. So on one day the BBC said rain in the Lakes all day, but from Weatherline we knew that the rain would only come in slowly from the south, and were able to nip up Catbells in lovely weather in the morning.

On the other hand my aunt, who lives in Keswick, advised us against coming in August because the rain record is so bad. One of these days the government will cop on and will plan the school holidays in June instead, when the weather seems to be drier in most of the UK.

OOooohh I'm going to Fisherground campsite a week today in Eskdale. There is a heatwave going to start, so my optimisitc self hopes!

We went to the site on Derwentwater in August 2 years ago.

All I'm saying is the ducks were wading up to the door of our tent. People just went home, abandoning their sodden tents.

It was really unbelievable, but so very bad it was funny.

I'm reeeally not feeling it.

It looked like fun from the June heatwave, but I'm losing my camping my enthusiasm by the (increasingly wet) day.

Reckon I'll keep an eye on the long range forecasts as the date approaches but not hopeful. pffff

But I'm bookmarking the sites here for next 'summer'!