East Lancs Rain

Surely winter is even more tedious though... It’s just mostly overcast, rain and 6-10°C here these days, with about 2 snowy days a year, lol.. It’s by far the most tedious and uninspiring season, away from snowy places such as Aviemore for example. Spring, summer and even autumn have much more variety and much more interesting weather. I have tended to be quite lucky with holidaying in the UK. Here are the holidays I’ve been on in recent years and what the weather was generally like: August 2010 - Oban, West Scotland - Dry, don’t remember any rain, some sunny days, some cloudy days August 2011 - Cromer, East Anglia - Dry, don’t remember any rain, remember lots of warm, sunny days August 2012 - Isle of Man - Rain at times, remember lots of cloud, not much sun August 2013 - Skegness, East Anglia - Dry, don’t remember any rain, lots of warm, sunny weather August 2013 - Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear - Very cool and cloudy, don’t remember any rain though. August 2014 - Minehead, Somerset - Mostly dry I think, some sunny days, some cloudier days August 2015 - St Ives, Cornwall - Rain on the first day, but dry after that, with lots of sunshine August 2017 - Paignton, Devon - Dry, no rain at all, mix of sun and clouds first three days, quite warm, very sunny and very warm last three days May/June 2018 - Whitley Bay, Tyne and Wear - Very chilly with sea mist and only 12-14°C first few days, but quite pleasant and sunny the last two days. No rain whatsoever. July 2018 - Bridgend, South Wales - Not really a holiday but stayed there overnight for a family wedding, very hot and sunny. August 2019 - Barmouth, West Wales - Very cool with temps in the mid to high teens and chilly sea breezes, plenty of sunshine though, not much rain, warm and sunny on the last day. Early September 2022 - Scarborough, East Yorkshire - Lots of pleasant days with temps in the high teens and low 20’s. Plenty of sunshine and very little rain apart from a thunderstorm one afternoon. Early September 2023 - Tewkesbury, Cotswolds - Very hot and sunny almost the whole time. Temps in the high 20’s and low 30’s. No rain apart from the day I arrived (31st August). Overall, I’ve been quite lucky with the weather. I’ve encountered very little rain and it’s usually been fairly sunny or very sunny and fairly warm or very warm. A couple of chilly holidays but that can happen at the coast if the wind is blowing from off the sea. No washout holidays apart from in 2012, but that was an atrocious summer anyway. All these holidays were pre-booked weeks in advance as well. The weather was usually worse back at home during most of those years.

Summer Sun Oh please… this naming of every single weather event is getting ridiculous now, what’s next, naming areas of high pressure?

Not sure how accurate this is, but a local weather station near me has recorded just 16 hours of sunshine and 122 mm of rain this January… Yet another wet and dull month here! Currently dry, overcast (what a surprise) and 6.8°C.

He lives in West Yorkshire though, which if he lives closer to the Pennines eg Skipton, it will be much wetter. Sometimes the rain shadow does work the other way around though, if the wind is coming from the east. I remember during the beast from the east in 2018, some areas of NW England didn’t get any snow at all, so they acted as a snow shadow then. So not only do the Pennines make NW England much wetter (as well as duller) as the rain clouds get stuck, they also make it even less snowy! A double whammy. NE England definitely the better and more interesting climate than NW England. The only time the Pennines work in favour of NW England is during a sunny Easterly in May or June. The (still cold) North Sea often brings a lot of mist and murk to NE England and Yorkshire, but the Pennines help to block a lot of that out, leaving NW England much warmer and sunnier in this setup. In this setup, it can only be 12°C, misty and overcast on the east coast with a cold sea breeze making it feel even colder (I know first hand since I experienced it when I was on holiday in Tyne and Wear in late May/early June 2018) while on the west coast it can be sunny and 22°C. The closest station to me (Rochdale) gets 1197 mm of rain per year (so practically double what you get) and 170 rainy days a year! 603 + 1197/2 = 900 So if the Pennines did not exist, me and you would probably both get around 900 mm of rain a year. There is also a huge difference in rainfall between Edinburgh and Glasgow, despite both cities only being 40 miles away from each other. Glasgow gets 1262 mm per year while Edinburgh only gets 727 mm a year.

I found June 2022 to be ok and remember it as just being a pretty average month. Some sunny days, some cloudy days. Cannot remember anything remarkable about it tbh. I’d rate Summer 2021 as one of the better summers in recent years. Certainly better than summer 2023, 2020 and 2019 in my area. I don’t know, but it’s one of those British weather stereotypes that we get “four seasons in one day”. However, I’ve noticed we don’t get days like that very often anymore. Instead we just seem to get days or blocks of days featuring one weather type, for example sun (June 2023), or rain (July 2023). The classic British weather conditions of sunshine and showers doesn’t seem to happen very often anymore. Unsettled days just tend to be completely overcast now. Very boring. Although I came across this video on YouTube today which basically sums up stereotypical British weather. Spring 2022 was a very benign spring here. There was very few cold days but few very warm days either. Temperatures were consistently around average or slightly above. I don’t think the temp reached 20°C here once, but I don’t remember any single digit days either.. I remember one Saturday afternoon in May it was 19°C and sunny which was very nice, but the Saturday after it was only around 15°C, mostly cloudy and breezy. I personally consider it a mild spring. Not warm, but mild. I think it was generally milder than average, drier than average and sunnier than average overall, but May was quite cloudy. And here it will also feel like early April, except not only will it be without the sun but it will also be damp! At least it will be dry and mild though, which is more than I can say for my area… As the old saying goes, 2 out of 3 ain’t bad!

At least it’s going to be dry where you are and also be very mild for the time of year. Here is my forecast…. Oh well, at least it will be mild… And as it has been so wet the last few months, I thought it would be a good time to post this. https://youtu.be/PEddNAMvCig?si=EWdb1g64bLGZvSH_

Yesterday was mostly sunny here, heavy rain and overcast the day before, and dry and overcast the day before that. Weather’s definitely worse up here… Today overcast and windy but dry up until now.. Just started raining and it’s currently 8.8°C. Not really, mild and wet winters are often followed by good springs. Winter 2019/20, winter 2016/17 and winter 2013/14 good example. Cold springs are usually preceded by cold winters. Winter 2017/18 and winter 2012/13 good examples. Probably better than what you think. Back on that record breaking hot day in July 2022, when most of the country was sweltering, Lerwick had rain and 14°C… However, the people didn’t seem too bothered by it, they were just like “meh, were used to it”. One woman even said she liked it lol. Felt a bit sorry when the woman said “it’s sad really because we haven’t really had a summer”. The heat was widespread across England on that day though. I didn’t have a weather station then but I put an anologue thermometer outside and at one point it was showing mid 30’s. It didn’t feel quite as hot as that though due to the very low humidity on that day. I remember I had a day in July last year where it was raining all day with a top temp of about 14°C.. Typical Lerwick summer day. Liquid sunshine lol. Shows how bad the climate is up in the Lake District! ️️️ Anyway, only a month and a day to go until the start of meteorological spring. Let’s hope it’s a warm, dry and sunny March this year.

Not really. The only summer months that have come out more than 2.5C above average is July 2018 with a CET of 19.0C and June 2023 with a CET of 17.0C, both around 3C above average. I agree we have had a lot of warm summer months in recent years though. Just looked up the forecast for Bergen. Rain or showers forecast every day, one 10C day but raining heavily all day, the rest all in mid single digits, with some days forecast to have sleet at times. Pretty much the worst climate you can get in winter, becuase if it was just a bit colder all that cold rain and sleet would be snow… So even though it would still be cold and overcast, at least the snow would look pretty and brighten things up a bit. A climate with winter highs of 4-7°C and lots of cold rain is the worst you can get in winter really - not quite cold enough for regular snow but nowhere near mild enough to feel remotely warm. What do you mean another sunny day….? Did you not get any rain yesterday? That makes sense to be honest… Most people don’t like rain.. And mountainess/hilly areas are more challenging to build on. But why oh why did people have to colonise such wet and gloomy places like Lancashire, The Shetland Islands, The Outer Hebrides, The west of Scotland, West and South Wales etc? We should have just used those places for farmland.

Not quite, but Lerwick isn’t much better with average high of 6.5°C, average low of 2.4°C, 150 mm of rain, 22 rainy days and 20 hours of sun in December. Ambleside is almost as wet though, with 247 mm of rain in December, although it has an average high of 7.4°C and average low of 1.8°C and is much sunnier at 48 hours. Malham Tarn in Yorkshire is also very poor with an average high of 5.3°C, average low of 0.4°C, 181 mm of rain, 18 rainy days and 34 hours of sun. Kinlochewe in North West Scotland is absolutely shocking though. Temperatures not bad with average high of 7.5°C and average low of 1.2°C, but it has 276 mm of rain, 22 rainy days and just 14 hours of sun! Average annual sunshine is just 926 hrs and annual rainfall is a whopping 2278 mm! And Loss Glascarnoch, also in the North West of Scotland is also shocking with an average high of 5.4°C, average low of -1.0°C, 200 mm of rain, 19 rainy days and just 14 hours of sun! These are the worst I could find. Not quite as bad as Bergen in Norway but not far off! It sure is grim up in North West Scotland. Generally the further north and west you are in the UK, the grimmer it gets and further south and east you are, the better it gets. Anyone reading this be grateful you don’t live in these climates! I wonder if there’s anyone who lives in Lerwick or Stornaway on the forums, imagine what it must be like.

Easter is in Late March this year so it’s more likely to happen. I remember getting snow in Easter 2008 here, which was also at the end of March. It’s been a nice day here for a change, dry and mostly sunny, light winds and a high of 6°C. Sadly though it’s back to the gloom and rain tommorow though. Just hope it’s a nice spring after being gloomy and wet for so long now. A repeat of March 2017 or March 2012 would be wonderful (just wouldn’t want a repeat of April 2012 after it!)

@raz.org.rain Cheshire is one of the driest and warmest parts of NW England. You are shielded from the worst of the cloud and rain by the welsh mountains. On the other hand, the Lake District is the wettest and probably also the coldest, thanks to all those pesky mountains. I once went on a day trip walking in the Lake District in early October a few years ago and when I arrived it was very cold and cloudy. Felt like winter rather than October. Then it came on raining and rained for the rest of the day. Stopped off at a cafe and one of the cafe staff said “we’re sorry about the rain but it is the Lake District, so…” Got on the coach and the outside temperature indicator said 11°. A cold and wet day. ️ Back at home however, it had been dry and sunny all day… So the Lake District has an even worse climate than here. Ambleside in the Lake District records a whopping 2100 mm of rain a year on the 1990-2020 averages! ️️️ Hard to imagine somewhere with an even wetter climate than here. It’s looking wet on some days this week, at least here anyway, though I suspect the rain will be mostly light and drizzly. Living in West Yorkshire, you might be slightly more sheltered by the Pennines than I am however.

Nope, we’ve had plenty of wintery months since then, February and March 2013, February and March 2018, January 2021 and December 2022… Today has been heavy rain all day and a NE flow. A very miserable day. Very similar to this day in July last year in the screenshot below, only about 10C colder. Doesn’t look great here, but a drier and brighter day (hopefully) on Tuesday and Thursday. Although considering how they forecast Sunday to be partly cloudy here and turned out to be fully overcast… I might not even get that. 122 mm here at the nearest weather station, and 26 mm of that fell today.. Amazing how much wetter East Lancashire is than Leeds, despite there only being around 30 miles or so between them. Amazing how the Pennines make so much difference over such a short distance. Honestly I wish the Pennines didn’t exist so my area would be drier and sunnier (Can’t someone just flatten them down?) Although it would mean Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear would be duller and wetter… The damp climate was the reason East Lancashire had so many cotton mills. Because the damp air stopped the cotton thread from snapping. However, all of the cotton mills have long since closed down, but the rain hasn’t gone away, in fact, the annual rainfall has increased since the 1961-1990 period. The climate is still very wet, but the excessive rainfall is now useless. It’s also become a deprived area due to the mills closing and people being out of work. Lots of run down terraced housing, and some of the terraced houses are now even boarded up because they are so bad no one wants to live in them. Luckily I live in a nicer neighbourhood although there still isn’t much to do and of course the climate is still miserable. It wouldn’t be so bad if there was a nice coastal town 10 miles away, but the nearest coastal towns to me are Blackpool, Lytham and St Annes, which are around 50 miles away… Takes over 2 hours on the train.. Yorkshire even has a better train service than Lancashire, at least the Airedale line (Skipton to Leeds) has a fast and frequent service with modern electric trains, whereas my local line is only hourly and much slower, operated by a clapped out 2 coach 1980’s diesel train… It certainly is grim oooop north, and I find the gloomy and wet weather depressing at times. Even in the summer sometimes the weather is depressing. But I am finding this winter particularly difficult. It’s been gloomy and wet since late September, other than a couple of cold, dry, brighter periods and if anything it feels like the climate is getting even worse.. About time everyone deserted this rain soaked cr*phole.

Horrible day here too, heavy rain and very gloomy all day and high of about 6-7°C. About as grim as it gets. Indeed. I’m finding it’s really starting to affect me now. Just so fed up of the constant rain and gloominess. It’s wet enough around here even with average rainfall, but since late September it’s just been so gloomy and wet. Four months of this now. Ever since the clocks went back it felt like we were plunged into winter. November was close to average temperature wise but it felt like a cold month with temperatures in the single digits most days. In fact it was barely any warmer than the winter, And it was also a gloomy and wet month as well which didn’t help. This year the autumn and winter have kind of just seemed merge into one long cold, gloomy, wet period. Autumn 2019 and winter 2019/20 was like that with the cold and wet autumn and the very mild but very wet winter. Just six months of deluge conditions. ️ GavsWeatherVids (a weather channel I watch on YouTube said how it felt this winter was really dragging on, and I agree. Really hoping we get a warm and sunny March this year. March 2017 was a nice month. I don’t think we’ve had a better March since. I would be quite happy with a repeat of Spring 2017. Yes spring 2020 was better but March 2020 wasn’t as warm as March 2017. Spring 2017 had all three months above average, whereas March 2020 was only around average, Yes I would be quite happy with a repeat of April 2021 as despite being below average, it was much drier and sunnier than average. Sunshine and dryness is more important than temperature for me.

The weird thing is now 12 hours later it’s one of the coldest places in the country at 5°C… That is quite a quick drop from 19! Meanwhile in SW England it’s still around 12°C. Just a quick question, I live near an electricity pylon and whenever it is drizzling outside it makes a buzzing noise.. Only happens with drizzle not any other weather type. Just curious as to why that is.

Yes it’s been a disappointing weekend. There has been no sunshine at all here and temps have only been in upper single digits. Annoying considering the BBC weather app was forecasting 11°C and sunny intervals today. (See pic below). They normally get it pretty bang on so I was surprised. And lucky Northern Scotland bathes in a balmy 19°C! It has stayed dry at least which is something I suppose, given how wet the last week has been. I went out on a walk this afternoon and it didn’t feel very mild at all in the wind, despite the air temp being 9°C. The problem is though mild in winter usually means lots of wet and dull weather, not good if you suffer from SAD. It always seems to Scotland that records these exceptionally mild temperatures in winter, whereas in summer it’s nearly always the south east that gets the hottest temperatures. Today was probably warmer up there than most days they had last July! And I bet there would have been coldies complaining on here back in the very mild February 2011 after we had the (almost) coldest December on record… As someone posted above, it’s not the temperatures that are the problem, it has been the excessive rainfall and lack of sunshine. If it is 20°C during the day and 15°C at night and raining day and night, then even though it works out warmer than average because of the warm nights, it’s still not exactly ideal summer weather is it? The July to December period has been the wettest on record for the UK. People are sick to death of the cloud and rain. Other than the exceptionally hot first week of September, then has been very little in the way of dry, sunny, warmth. Instead it’s been more a mild, wet, dreary, humid kind of warmth. Yes it has been warmer than average, don’t get me wrong, but it’s been the wrong kind of warmth… We have had quite a few fairly cold winters in the last decade, 2012/13, 2017/18, 2020/21… I know anything above freezing point is shorts weather for you but not everyone has the internal thermostat of a penguin… January 2022 and 2023 was probably sunnier where you are than July 2023 here! (I think a local weather station recorded less than 100 hrs) I am surprised January 2020 was so sunny where you are considering it was a very Atlantic month. I remember it was very dull and wet here.

BBC Weather app currently says, 10°C, sunny. The reality… Oh well, at least it is dry and feels fairly mild at around 8°C as the winds are fairly light.

Possibly feeling springlike on Sunday with high of 11°C and sunny spells forecast. Feel like that’s it for wintery weather now. Only a month and six days to go until the start of meteorological spring anyway. Hoping for a mild, dry and sunny February this year.

A very mild January night here. Mild, damp, breezy and 11°C at midnight. Around this time last week it got down to around -7 one night!

@In Absence of True Seasons I really enjoyed that Spring. Spent many days sat in the garden and went for walks. If I was in a tower block in a city I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it though.

The current model output is looking great if you’re a mild lover. If you’re a cold lover.. Eh, not so much… Its also looking fairly dry for most places, away from northern and western areas. Just about all of Europe is bathed in a sea of mildness. There is a possibility it might turn colder however.. From 14th Feb…

Weather forecast here next 10 days….. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

Weather forecast here next 10 days….. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…..

It certainly doesn’t feel mild now. Been out for a burns night meal at Whetherspoons and it felt quite cold with a chilly breeze. A bit disappointing today as it was forecast to be partly cloudy but it remained overcast all day here. The moon is out now though in partly cloudy skies and is still visible with the thin clouds passing under it. Got up to about 9°C today, now currently 4.8°C.

@moochops It will be Sod’s Law it’ll be mild, wet and windy until the end of March then we’ll get snow in April… Although mild winters are usually followed by warm springs and cold winters are usually followed by cold springs. Winter 2017/18 and March 2018 and then Winter 2020/21 and Spring 2021 are good examples of cold winters followed by cold spring months. Although saying that winter 2015/16 was exceptionally mild but then April 2016 was very cold at times. Even had a bit of snow..

99 mph gusts at Capal Curig. A really wild night out here now. And temps still 13°C in places.