UK Tourism/Pros & Cons of hot weather

[Thundery wintry showers]

It's true that most of the people I know suffered only short-term inconvenience due to the severity of November/December 2010, and although it tested many people's patience with snow, even some of those who traditionally love snow, there were still a fair number enjoying the wintry weather around Christmas (I was one of them), with the only change being diminished novelty value. However, there were certainly some who were heavily hit, e.g. those with important journeys that ended up cancelled, and there were stark warnings that if weather of that severity had continued during January then we could have had far more serious and longer-lasting issues, such as power supply sources freezing over completely.

It's a similar story with drought- up to a point it only causes temporary inconvenience but when it really gets excessively dry, problems become more acute and longer-lasting. I don't think a moderately dry summer, say with frequent dry spells and occasional wet ones, or the "hot sunshine and occasional thundery outbreaks" pattern, is likely to cause more than temporary inconvenience, but if we get a summer as dry as 1976 or 1995 then some regions might have serious problems.

However, when it comes to tourism the effects of a drought are likely to hit far less than with a cold snowy spell. A cold snowy spell tends to positively affect tourism relating to winter activities and negatively affect other sources of tourism due to the disruption that it causes. A drought causes problems with water supplies- not generally strongly linked with tourism. Instead, tourism may well benefit due to conditions being a lot more conducive for outdoor activites than usual, especially in northern regions.

[Evening thunder]

I'll just add my 2 pence worth..

I had heard that some visitors come to the UK because the weather is not so hot in summer, so they feel more like getting out and doing activities like walking etc rather than wanting to lounge around under the sun shades all day because It's too hot to do much else.

With regards to winter I was one of the ones enjoying it until it ended, as is my like of cold and snow and more continental climates that have snowy winters and warm/hot summers. It would just be nice of we coped a bit better. In a way I think it's interesting how we struggle to cope with conditions that are the norm as close as e.g E. Germany in winter or France in summer, and are the norm at most places at our latitude. The impacts of course must be based on what's relative to normal for that area

[Thundery wintry showers]

I think you are right, as a general rule deviation from the recent average is a bigger factor than the absolute values. If the UK got colder snowier winters on a regular basis we would adapt and fit our infrastructure around the colder winters (we can get special winter tyres for vehicles for example), but because they're rare, we don't. The example I often quote to illustrate this is that Moscow doesn't have significantly more cold-related deaths per head despite its winters being more than 10 degrees colder than ours and being prone to occasional temperatures below -25C.

Similarly, I think as a country we will cope with summer heatwaves better if, as expected, they become more common, but in the middle of major cities, most notably London, we'd have to have major changes in how they are laid out to reduce the urban heat island effect that contributes to heat-related problems.

[AderynCoch]

I do think this country could adapt to wintry weather a lot better. Months like December 2010 might not come around very often, but even minor cold spells can cause chaos (January 2003 and the M11 springs to mind).

I noticed round here how much better the city council dealt with the snow in the run-up to Christmas (gritting roads, clearing pavements, etc.) compared with early January 2010, when the city practically shut down for a day or two. Both events dumped similar amounts of snow and lasted for a similar length of time, but there was much less disruption in December when it was also colder. That's not to say there was no disruption whatsoever, but it would appear that there were lessons learnt from last time.

I suppose those barren years without much in the way of snow and ice made most people complacent, but we should be expecting snowfalls every winter: after all, at least one significant snow event is no more unusual than getting no snow at all for most of us - and it doesn't take an exceptional spell of wintry weather to force us to adapt. We just have to make sure we're ready.

[knocker]

Similarly, I think as a country we will cope with summer heatwaves better if, as expected, they become more common, but in the middle of major cities, most notably London, we'd have to have major changes in how they are laid out to reduce the urban heat island effect that contributes to heat-related problems.

I think the problem in major cities is quite complicated. Without going into detail if anyone is interested I can recommend a book on the disastrous heatwave in Chicago in 1995 that basically showed there were a number of forms of social breakdown.

Eric Klinenberg, Heat Wave-A Social Autopsy of Diaster in Chicago.

[Bottesford]

I think the problem in major cities is quite complicated. Without going into detail if anyone is interested I can recommend a book on the disastrous heatwave in Chicago in 1995 that basically showed there were a number of forms of social breakdown.

Eric Klinenberg, Heat Wave-A Social Autopsy of Diaster in Chicago.

That does look a very interesting read that one.

The heat shouldn't kill anyone, especially the mild version of heat we get in the UK, but it's easy to see how the isolated elderly could perish if they can't keep cool and they have no one to help them. I think that more says a lot about how many elderly & poor people are neglected by society than how 'dangerous' heat waves are.

I think if we do start seeing more regular hot weather in summer we do need to be more prepared. In Europe they use shutters in the daytime to keep out the sun, then open windows at night to cool off. How many people here even shut out the sun during heat never mind use shutters? To keep cooler windows should only be opened once the outside temperature is lower than the indoor temperature. Perhaps some heat education needed - especially for the more vulnerable.

[damianslaw]

Coming from the Lake District - hot weather in general usually means a boost to the local economy as people are much more likely to spend money outdoors whether it be in cafes and pubs, outdoor attractions and places of accommodation. However, the major factor in terms of the weather governing the UK tourism industry is not necessarily hot weather but dry weather. A wet week or even weekend in July and August can have major severe repurcussions with people choosing to stay home or return home early particularly if they chose to go camping - incidentally though shops and indoor places can do very well on wet weekends in the summer as people choose not to go walking or take picnics so there are winners and loosers. I remember working in cafes and resturants aroung here when younger and we used to dread wet days as it meant busy busy busy, but warm sunny days often meant people preferred to sit outside with picnics and takeaways and didn't want hot food....

But the real factor influencing the british tourism industry is the economy and recent times have done the industry very well with people less able to afford holiday abroad and therefore more inclined to venture closer to home despite the vagaries of the mixed weather.

Edited May 20, 2011 by damianslaw

[J10]

A lot of foreign tourists come for the natural beauty of the UK, including beaches, National Parks etc, of course this is positively effected by good warm sunny weather.

[Eugene]

The public don't care how warm/hot it is during the summer just if its sunny, they arent bothered what the temp will be as in summer it will feel warm in the sun regardless of air temp, yesterday out walking it was cool in the strong breeze but if out in direct sunlight it felt very warm indeed, our moderate climate makes it perfect for getting out and about as its very rarely too hot outside the SE or too cold outside Northern Scotland in the winter.