tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post2472473118997107850..comments2024-03-28T21:32:26.550+00:00Comments on Bruce Charlton's Notions: Misconceptions about 'British Weather'Bruce Charltonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-64026249682751279682015-03-28T05:44:42.187+00:002015-03-28T05:44:42.187+00:00@Crosbie -Clouds also cut out light, So Glasgow on...@Crosbie -Clouds also cut out light, So Glasgow on the West gets less light than Edinburgh to the East. Bruce Charltonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09615189090601688535noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-70652794300700867872015-03-28T00:49:06.562+00:002015-03-28T00:49:06.562+00:00I am a foreigner currently living in the UK, famil...I am a foreigner currently living in the UK, familiar with subcontinental weather.<br /><br />There is a lot to love in the weather of these isles. As far as lighting and SAD is mentioned, that probably plays a role in some people, but even otherwise certain gripes about the weather may be expressed:<br /><br />-Unpredictable variability is in a sense sameness: Clouds, clouds, wind, bit of sun, clouds, light rain, suddenly cleared, etc. Eventually it all just blurs into each other. Back home I could expect longer stretches of very similar weather. The first monsoon rain of summer, an absolutely torrential downpour after oppressively hot (sometimes humid, sometimes dry) weeks is a real event. I dont really experience that in this country. No matter what the overall conditions, the general pattern of weather feels very samey.<br /><br />-Not enough sunshine: I always preferred overcast weather, being of a certain melancholic personality and while this probably resulted in me adjusting quite well, I now find myself missing the sun sometimes.<br /><br />-Mildness can be boring too: Sure we can get some massive snowfall or a heatwave every now and then, but relatively speaking these events arent nearly as extreme as you would experience in other parts of the world. Like the comment above about Canadian weather. Mostly the British weather is like you say, in a word, pleasant. Being caught out in the rain here likely means you end up a bit damp, back home I would be absolutely drenched. This complaint actually extends to other stuff, like the general topography (at least what I have seen across England and Wales). Rolling hills, fields, evenly planted and tended to trees. Nothing seems truly wild.<br /><br />I would say the bad reputation could be summed up as frequent cloud cover with unpredictable rain/shine and overall lack of sunshine. Add latitude concerns and that about covers it I imagine.Luqmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12144548172937229260noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-26639677879510523012015-03-27T20:48:49.525+00:002015-03-27T20:48:49.525+00:00Latitude explains a lot - including, I expect the ...Latitude explains a lot - including, I expect the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasgow_effect" rel="nofollow">Glasgow effect</a>. It is quite unusual to have a major industrial city at this latitude, other than in Russia. Russia may also experience the Glasgow effect.Crosbiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02005295490663931940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4683970826895755480.post-72243801786799206082015-03-27T18:56:03.357+00:002015-03-27T18:56:03.357+00:00This is funny, because I was remarking just the ot...This is funny, because I was remarking just the other day that a reason the English think their weather is bad seems to be that they are comparing it to south-western France. If, counterfactually, they were a part of Canada, they might be more likely to compare it to the rest of Canada. If you think rain is bad, try freezing rain, then hail that damages cars, then white-out blizzard conditions (all in one day!), or snowbanks taller than you are that last for 5 months, or sweltering humid summers, cloud of mosquitoes that devour you when you step outside, and so on.<br /><br />Enjoy the English weather!ajbnoreply@blogger.com