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The changing daylight hours thread


Boydie

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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and blisteringly hot
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
On 15/09/2016 at 07:26, Bright Nights +1 said:

 

Alas Winter is coming and the dark nights will be upon us soon. Of Course the clocks go back less than 2 months before the shortest day, but we wait 3 months to move them forward?!!! North America doesn't wait!

The debate for years has been about moving the clocks permanently but this is understandably controversial because it is so dark in December & Janaury. However, we could just bring them forward a little sooner.  A small change like this would be a boost for many as it really would feel like Winter has ended early. It'll make the evening rush hour in March safer too for the majority.

There is a petition called bring March into the light. The proposal is to put the clocks forward at the end of Feb or start of March instead of the end of March. 

If you agree please sign the petition & share it with others!! Thank you!

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/166900

We tried all-year-round summer time from 1968-71. The reason the experiment was abandoned was because it was an unmitigated disaster. However you muck about with the clock, you still only have about eight hours of daylight  around the winter solstice.

I clearly recollect riding a bike to work in the dark mornings with black ice still on the roads because the sun didn't rise until after 9am.  Schoolkids being knocked down on the way to school on dark mornings by drivers who hadn't wakened fully.

I don't mind moving the start of summer time to 1st March, but most definitely not all year.

 

Edited by Wildswimmer Pete
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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and blisteringly hot
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
On 16/09/2016 at 22:53, DAVID SNOW said:

The point was to actually experience such a winter in the first place.

Many a cold/snow fan would perhaps say, never again thank you, but for me, I would love to be asked the question..........

 

 

 

My answer: Same again please, but with more snow at Christmas.:)

I actually did: Winter 1962-63.  An experience I hope never have to repeat.

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Posted
  • Location: Near Romford Essex.
  • Location: Near Romford Essex.
39 minutes ago, Wildswimmer Pete said:

I actually did: Winter 1962-63.  An experience I hope never have to repeat.

It was obviously bad for you, but you cant speak for everyone, the point was for the rest of us to 'experience' such an event............:cold:

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Posted
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow, thunderstorms, warm summers not too hot.
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
5 minutes ago, DAVID SNOW said:

It was obviously bad for you, but you cant speak for everyone, the point was for the rest of us to 'experience' such an event............:cold:

62-63 had quite a lot of snow here, however late January-March 1947 was more severe - according to my father they had to frequently climb out of the bedroom window in order to get out as the snow blocked the doors and windows downstairs. And that was at a modest elevation of 110m where they used to live.

Edited by Frost HoIIow
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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and blisteringly hot
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
16 minutes ago, DAVID SNOW said:

It was obviously bad for you, but you cant speak for everyone, the point was for the rest of us to 'experience' such an event............:cold:

I'm not claiming to speak for others - I'm stating a fact regarding that particular winter.  However those who enjoy harsh winters forget that winter is a killer - look at the annual cull of the elderly by the "Great" (or in my words, Lousy) British Winter.  During that most severe winter of the 20th Century we didn't have to shell out a large proportion of our incomes just in order to survive as we do now - and my home at the time was heated by coal fires, central heating was a relative rarity but my parents grumbled about the cost of coal but it wasn't a case of "eat or heat" which is the harsh and potentially fatal choice many pensioners face.

Edited by Wildswimmer Pete
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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

Now entering the period the year when the rate of daylight loss day to day reaches its yearly maxim. The loss becomes very notable from now on through until the clocks go back when we are hit for six in one 24 hour period.. its a knockout punch then. Until then its a painful slow climb down, and we all salvage the last vagaries of what daylight sunshine we can all get - its essential to store the vitamin D we get in time for the winter hibernation..

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Posted
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and blisteringly hot
  • Location: Runcorn New Town 60m ASL
30 minutes ago, Frost HoIIow said:

62-63 had quite a lot of snow here, however late January-March 1947 was more severe - according to my father they had to frequently climb out of the bedroom window in order to get out as the snow blocked the doors and windows downstairs. And that was at a modest elevation of 110m where they used to live.

Not according to the stats.  62/63 is regarded to the most severe of the 20th Century with '47 a very close second.  I wasn't around in '47 but the very cold spell in 62/63 was very long with a penetrating frost severe enough to freeze water mains buried 6ft deep.  Around Merseyside we had snow flurries during December with heavy snow over the Christmas holiday that persisted all the way though Jan and Feb.  It was at the end of Feb that we had our first 50F accompanied with a thaw (we used old money back then).

Oops, we've gone a bit off-thread. Sorry.

Edited by Wildswimmer Pete
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Posted
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow, thunderstorms, warm summers not too hot.
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
1 hour ago, Wildswimmer Pete said:

Not according to the stats.  62/63 is regarded to the most severe of the 20th Century with '47 a very close second.  I wasn't around in '47 but the very cold spell in 62/63 was very long with a penetrating frost severe enough to freeze water mains buried 6ft deep.  Around Merseyside we had snow flurries during December with heavy snow over the Christmas holiday that persisted all the way though Jan and Feb.  It was at the end of Feb that we had our first 50F accompanied with a thaw (we used old money back then).

Oops, we've gone a bit off-thread. Sorry.

As a whole 1947 was *slightly* milder but in terms of the snow fall 1947 blows 62-63 out of the water, the cold weather continued well into March as well. The deepest level snow depth ever recorded in the UK occurred in March 1947 in NE England - 7 foot deep but the drifts were 4x that. Houses were completely buried in some areas. Don't forget it wasn't just the snow that had a greater impact in 1947 it also occurred not long after the war with an already battered infrastructure.

Edited by Frost HoIIow
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Posted
  • Location: Boar's Hill, Oxon
  • Weather Preferences: Interesting weather
  • Location: Boar's Hill, Oxon

http://www.disswebsites.com/article/take-a-look-back-at-diss-in-1947--ice-skating-is-how-they-rolled-back-then.html

My hometown of Diss, before my time. I was lucky enough to step into the Mere when it was slightly frozen one winter, but am very envious of people who got to skate on it years ago :-)

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds
2 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Now entering the period the year when the rate of daylight loss day to day reaches its yearly maxim. The loss becomes very notable from now on through until the clocks go back when we are hit for six in one 24 hour period.. its a knockout punch then. Until then its a painful slow climb down, and we all salvage the last vagaries of what daylight sunshine we can all get - its essential to store the vitamin D we get in time for the winter hibernation..

I'm thinking of taking vit D supplements in winter. Winters in northern, central and Eastern Europe are amongst the cloudiest anywhere in the world.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold, snow, thunderstorms, warm summers not too hot.
  • Location: Medlock Valley, Oldham, 103 metres/337 feet ASL
26 minutes ago, cheese said:

I'm thinking of taking vit D supplements in winter. Winters in northern, central and Eastern Europe are amongst the cloudiest anywhere in the world.

If you do decide to take Vitamin D3 it's a good idea to take a seperate Vitamin K2 supplement along side them - Apparently it helps the Vitamin D3 go into the bones better and stops the body from producing too much calcium which in itself can be problem if it gets into the soft tissue like the heart, arteries......not good. Lots of interesting reading about the D3/K2 combination online. Once you take the K2 you can up the dose of D3 to a high level (5,000 - 10,000 IU every day) ....the sort of level that you make naturally in the Summer months and you won't have to worry about "calcification"

Edited by Frost HoIIow
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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

This morning was the first early shift I have got up for while still dark. Saw a cracking sunrise on the drive in though.

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Posted
  • Location: Braintree, Essex
  • Weather Preferences: Warm and sunny in the summer, cold and snowy in the winter
  • Location: Braintree, Essex

My 5 year old noticed last night that the sun had started to set before he went to bed.  It does make it easier putting kids to bed when it's already dark/getting dark at their bed time.

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

Sun now setting behind the central fells just before 7pm, a sure sign the autumn equinox is close at hand. This evening saw a stunning sunset and it stayed fairly light until around 8pm. There is a marked difference at this time of year between wet overcast evenings and clear sky ones, the former sees us descend into darkness at 7pm the latter not until 8pm, the extra hour makes the world of difference. However in a months time an equally clear sky as tonight can't stop the darkness enveloping is by 7pm. Indeed it starts to become dark at 6pm under a wet overcast sky and will thus continue for 5 months thereafter. 

 

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Posted
  • Location: Headington,Oxfordshire
  • Weather Preferences: Snow
  • Location: Headington,Oxfordshire

Sunset was due to be 7:12pm yesterday here. Because of the dank,cloudy and rain it was dark here just before 7pm. The slide to autumn well underway now. 

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

Today is the first day where the night exceeds day length. Winter is coming...

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Posted
  • Location: sheffield
  • Weather Preferences: Basically intresting weather,cold,windy you name it
  • Location: sheffield
22 minutes ago, cheese said:

It's all very depressing..

By far the best time of the year:)

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds
1 hour ago, markyo said:

By far the best time of the year:)

Lack of daylight has never been a good thing - why do you think we go out of our way to get as much as possible while it's here? :( Now we have stories of how 1 in 5 of us have a Vitamin D deficiency. Not good.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: sheffield
  • Weather Preferences: Basically intresting weather,cold,windy you name it
  • Location: sheffield
53 minutes ago, cheese said:

Lack of daylight has never been a good thing - why do you think we go out of our way to get as much as possible while it's here? :( Now we have stories of how 1 in 5 of us have a Vitamin D deficiency. Not good.

Agree we need daylight for health reasons but many like myself don't like the strong sun of summer months and prefer the shallow Autumn and Winter sun(when we get it!). I would not and have never sunbathed at all,hate sitting out in blazing sun,find it very unpleasant,hence why i love this time of year. Spend much more time outside so in fact my exposure to light increases. That coupled with the glorious sunrises and sunsets you can enjoy makes it by far my favourite 2 seasons. Opposite to yourself i know!!:) 

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

I like the levels of daylight and the altitude of the sun at this time of year as it reminds me of the start of the university year, always associate it with freshers week :D

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Posted
  • Location: Glenrothes,Fife,Scotland. 104m ASL
  • Location: Glenrothes,Fife,Scotland. 104m ASL

First group of Geese flew over my house today, winter is slowly clawing its way in. I've noticed the grass slowing down, and up here the trees are starting to change.

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Posted
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill
  • Weather Preferences: Cold and snowy or warm and dry
  • Location: Tullynessle/Westhill
15 minutes ago, Boydie said:

up here the trees are starting to change

Horse Chestnut trees up here are well on their way and a few others just beginning to show hints of colour.

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Posted
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: Cold & Snowy, Summer: Just not hot
  • Location: Cheddington, Buckinghamshire
3 minutes ago, Ravelin said:

Horse Chestnut trees up here are well on their way and a few others just beginning to show hints of colour.

Many of the Horse Chestnuts here are turning early because of disease rather than the seasons, have been going brown since August.

Edited by Nick L
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