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Sun Withdrawal


damianslaw

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

Seeing as we have a thread titled snow withdrawal anyone, I thought I would create one asking if people are sun withdrawn.

I certainly am sun withdrawn, since Christmas eve we have had hardly any sunshine. Yesterday was a rare day with lots of sunshine, but most days since the end of the freezing spell have just brought dull leaden skies. We have had some days which promised sunshine but in the end high level cloud spolit the day and whilst visibility may have been good, sunshine was absent. Today was exceptionally dull, the low cloud being at river valley level and at one stage it turned foggy. With the prospect of more very dull days ahead, I just thought I would see if anyone else is sun withdrawn.

Tropical maritime air is great for those who love mild weather, but dismal for those looking for good lengthy sunny spells.

Roll on the next bout of arctic air please..

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Couldn't agree more - I absolutely love blue skies, sunshine and above all dry, especially (when we get them) the long light evenings in high summer. Then when winter comes for it to be mainly dry and bright with some snow to make it look pretty, eventually to be melted by just the power of the sun rather than some horrible grey wet frontal system.

In the south of France last March we had such an incident when 10 to 20 cms of snow fell to be followed by such blue skies and sunshine which gradually melted it over the course of a week and it was great. In fact it was so dry that a brush fire caught light at the side of the road whilst a lot of the snow was still lying. Not something we see too often at Watford.

Edited by mike Meehan
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Posted
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire
  • Weather Preferences: Spanish plumes, hot and sunny with thunderstorms
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire

I have wanted to keep a track of the lengthening days but its been very difficult when its been mostly cloudy every day since about Christmas. I can remember the last proper sunset i saw, and i dont just mean seeing a fleeting glimpse of the sun before it goes down. Luckily i'm in the best location to see some sunshine over the coming days.

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Posted
  • Location: Bramley, Hampshire, 70m asl
  • Location: Bramley, Hampshire, 70m asl

Love the colder winter weather as we tend to get more sunshine with it.

Bit grim at the moment....so much so that I've removed a few of my energy saving bulbs in the house and replaced them with (expensive) blueish daylight replicating bulbs!

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Posted
  • Location: Chorlton, Manchester
  • Location: Chorlton, Manchester

Hideous weather at the moment. Nothing worse than this muck.

I love a bright, crisp winters day. Snowcover makes it better but a nice frost will do.

Having said that I've been on nights this week and haven't seen much daylight anyway!

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

I had doubts about whether the full recovery of any declined enthusiasm for snow constituted "snow withdrawal", but I have no doubt at all that I am suffering from sunshine withdrawal.

I don't mind the odd dull day here and there but when we get a succession of them I soon start to find it depressing. I may not be a SAD sufferer in the technical sense but I appear to experience a lesser version of the same kind of effects, as it appears many of us do. For me darkness is by far the biggest downside of winter.

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Posted
  • Location: Berlin, Germany
  • Weather Preferences: Ample sunshine; Hot weather; Mixed winters with cold and mild spells
  • Location: Berlin, Germany

Yes definitely feeling the lack of sunlight lately. The weekend brought the only sunlight we've had since christmas! Northerlies are good for sunshine so be nice to see more of those as we head into late winter/early spring.

However, despite how I love sunshine, it is a pain in backside at this time of year sometimes. It's so low in the sky anytime it's out that it simply blinds you. At work I face south so it's in your face all day resulting in closed blinds for the most part. It's even worse if you're driving on a wet road heading south!

So actually sometimes November-Feb it's just easier for it to be thin cloud meaning bright but not blinding. As we move into spring and the sun lifts away from the horizon then bring on as much of it as possible. As ever, during winter it really is a case of 'make the best of it'. If it's warm it's dull, if it's sunny it's blinding and cold. If it's before 10am or after 2pm it's too dark to do much by natural light and so on. Roll on spring!

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Posted
  • Location: chilbolton observatory (North Hampshire when home)
  • Weather Preferences: Good dump of snow or a damn good thunderstorm
  • Location: chilbolton observatory (North Hampshire when home)

Well ever since Boxing day here in the south I have been suffering from Narnia withdrawal symptoms .

Will the possible sighting of an Easterly bring back the wardrobe ? :rolleyes:

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddar Valley, 20mtrs asl
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and lots of it or warm and sunny, no mediocre dross
  • Location: Cheddar Valley, 20mtrs asl

We were lucky down here in the SW at the weekend, dry and beautiful blue sky with lots of sunshine, up until then I'd been missing the Sun too. It's since gone back to grey muck though with rain, lots of it.

Can't wait to feel the sunshine beating down on me as I work, longing for t-shirt days to return, soooooooo bored with coats and jumpers.

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Posted
  • Location: Scunny Lincolnshire.41m (134FT)ASL
  • Location: Scunny Lincolnshire.41m (134FT)ASL

I don't mind the odd dull day here and there but when we get a succession of them I soon start to find it depressing.

There has hardly been any sunshine here since BEFORE xmas.Plenty of dull dry days, which is very boring indeed.

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Posted
  • Location: West London
  • Location: West London

i've actually noted a much higher level of stress and depression amongst colleagues at works, and friends on FB, and it's definately a widespread case of SAD

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Posted
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia

Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday were all sunny here, and the large yellow one very nearly made it out this morning, so that's my fix for the time being.

Despite the overall dullness, it still feels a lot better than July did. :rolleyes:

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Posted
  • Location: High Wycombe, Bucks
  • Location: High Wycombe, Bucks

Tell me about it! I'm counting down the days until the first day it's warm enough to kick back on the beach (probably March sometime). cool.gif

The end of last January, seeing a stronger sun poke through was like an awakening. Late February feels like waking up after a very long sleep in my mind, just the longer days!

i've actually noted a much higher level of stress and depression amongst colleagues at works, and friends on FB, and it's definately a widespread case of SAD

Same problem on my Facebook, though that could be due to the fact a lot of my friends are still at uni and have exams now or essays due. Welp. mega_shok.gif

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Posted
  • Location: South Yorkshire
  • Location: South Yorkshire

Nah I love it like this (except for the accompanying mild!). Apart from it's life-giving properties etc I'd be more than happy to never see the sun's disc again. It did make an appearance the other day whilst I was lounging around the house and I was overcome with dread and reminded that spring isn't far off. I responded by shutting the curtains,to much protestation from the missus. Now for the all too familiar drag of counting down the days til midsummer when it turns again. Lawdy,feels like five minutes ago since that pivotal moment last year....

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Posted
  • Location: Irlam
  • Location: Irlam

I certainly am sun withdrawn, since Christmas eve we have had hardly any sunshine.

That was a stunning day. It didn't even feel that cold in the sun even though it was. Blue skies and sunny and with snow cover, it was absolute stunning. The big disappointment was just after New Year when the forecasts underestimated the amount of cloud cover.

The sun will return.

Edited by Mr_Data
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Posted
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)
  • Location: Eastbourne, East Sussex (work in Mid Sussex)

Got the roof down on the car at the weekend - first time this year. I do miss the sun, but have a daylight alarm clock which helps me into the dark mornings!

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Posted
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.
  • Weather Preferences: Summer:sunny, some Thunder,Winter:cold & snowy spells,Other:transitional
  • Location: Newbury, Berkshire. 107m ASL.

Hello.

When someone says "Hello Sunshine" or "You are the Sunshine of my life" how do you react to such a comment? :rolleyes:

It is supposed to be a welcoming or cheery comment and aside from those that have that "disease" where they cannot venture out in daylight/sunlight, the vast majoirty all need it for fulfillment. :good:

I feel sunshine is most welcome at any time of year, particularly in the dark long days of winter. In particular, I welcome the sunshine and showers of early spring and then ironically, come the hottest time of year in summer, I require the sun to hide behind the clouds on occasions too.

I believe, the best time of year to feel any warmth from the sun is after the Spring Equinox or on occasions by mid-late February, provided that the air temperature is warm enough.

Hopefully we will all soon return to the cooler sunnier regime that I greatly admire at this time of year but I must say we are not lacking in variety, as it must have been an added benefit having had the recent and the impending rainfall.

Cheers

gottolovethisweather

Edited by gottolovethisweather
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Posted
  • Location: Madrid, Spain (Formerly Telford)
  • Location: Madrid, Spain (Formerly Telford)

As a SAD sufferer i have a lamp for the winter to deal with this dark and depressing time though the irony last year was that i had to have it on throughout July as there were only 2 days out of that whole month with a decent amount of sunshine! August would of been similar to but it was made up for during the last week which was gorgeous.

Has been exceptionally grey though here since Christmas, there was some sunshine on Sunday but other than that its been generally overcast.

Personally this year i would love to have endless sunny skies all summer, one big fat high pressure plonked over us all Summer long occasionally moving east to

give Spanish Plumes would certainly makeup for 4 poor summers in a row here :lol:

Im quite sure that we can't surely suffer a 5th poor July & August in a row, last year January of all months was far sunnier than July here.

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Posted
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire
  • Weather Preferences: Spanish plumes, hot and sunny with thunderstorms
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire

Well if the GFS 12z is anything to go by the opportunities for some decent sunshine are limited as the Atlantic regains control. The ECM 0z showed high pressure in control which would guarantee sunshine in Summer but in winter mist and low cloud might become a hinderance but it could just as easily end up being a nice clear high bringing lots of sunshine.

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Posted
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.
  • Weather Preferences: Anything extreme
  • Location: Derbyshire Peak District. 290 mts a.s.l.

No, it wouldn't worry me if the sun stayed behind the clouds permanently. Just over 9 hours sunshine so far this month which is very low even for here especially as 5.6 hrs of it was on one day.

By the 13th the average for January is about 23 hrs.

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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

I can get sun withdrawal at any time of year, and have certainly noticed it since December's snow disappeared. I don't know if it's technically SAD (though I did have one of those lights a few years ago) but I do feel lethargic all the time when sunshine/daylight is lacking, find it harder to get up (though I'm never much of a morning person!) and generally get more irritable- a walk in the sun is a great mood-booster I find. Snow cover also makes it less of a problem, especially when it lasts a long time as in December. It's definitely a light thing as temperature doesn't affect it at all.

Like some others on here, last July was so sunless here that these symptoms actually did start appearing then despite 16-17 hours of daylight.

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Posted
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
Im quite sure that we can't surely suffer a 5th poor July & August in a row, last year January of all months was far sunnier than July here.

In Valentia, July was very nearly the dullest month of 2010. Its sunshine total of 85 hours beat only November (80.9 hours).

I wonder if for some places in that corner of Ireland July actually was the dullest month of the year. That would be incredible.

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Posted
  • Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent.
  • Location: Tunbridge Wells, Kent.

I'm definitely suffering with the lack of sunlight recently, more so than ever before. I think I might have to invest in one of those lamps soon if things don't improve.

Looking at the forecasts it looks like this dull and boring weather is going to stay with us for a while longer yet. :(

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Posted
  • Location: Cheltenham,Glos
  • Weather Preferences: Thunderstorms :D
  • Location: Cheltenham,Glos

Yes, I miss the Sun. I miss gardening.There's not a lot to do in Winter outside.I can't wait for Spring.Plenty of gardening then. :)

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

Oh dear I am feeling in a bit of a depressed state this evening, combination of the time of the year, it is a known fact that we are now in what is traditionally for many the most ' depressing time of year which often doesn't peak until later in the month usually sometime around the 21st', and also due to the abymsal dull weather we are experiencing.

Today was another doom gloom fest, with low cloud shrouding everything. This morning was shockingly dark even at 8am, I thought it was 7am still, and it only started to get light at 9am. This is something I have noticed these part two weeks, how much darker the mornings have been compared to December - not helped by the seasonal lag in daylight, mornings are darker in early Jan than before christmas, but conversely we begin to gain more light in the evenings. It always catches people out, as they think the mornings should be drawing out in January.. they do but not really until the end of the month.

The next three days look equally dull and depressing, I have my fingers crossed next weeks drier spell will bring brighter conditions, we need the high to ridge a bit further north to prevent any atlantic gunk getting circulated within it.

I have just watched the BBC news and John Hammond seemed keen on emphasising the change to much brighter and colder and frostier weather - so some positives here. I also noted the uplands of Cumbria could see 200m of rain on Saturday, god I hope not, the rivers are already at quite a high level, that much rain in a short space of time would bring widespread flooding - a mini repeat of Nov 2009 I fear, we have the same synoptics, just the rain won't be as long lasting. This weekend will be the first in a long while when I definately don't have any desire to be out on the fells.

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