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I can see it getting a slightly unfair rap depending on where. London has nearly the same climate as Seattle. Main difference is Seattle gets more rain but London's is spread out over the year. Seattle is sunnier (by hours) than London since that's the dry season. A lot of people in the US mention Seattle as having a wet climate but a mild and nice one. Many in the southern US (where I live) comment on how nice the summers are compared to the heat and humidity here but you don't hear the same praise for London's climate despite it being so similar. Now, if you start getting farther north then the climate rap becomes pretty justifiable. It's rarely truly uncomfortable, but it just doesn't get warm enough for me in summer. I can't spend all year wearing a jacket.
Seattle always struck me as the the city outside of Europe with the most similar climate to London, despite some notable differences, they are remarkably similar in most respects. In fact, much of the Pacific Northwest, all the way up into Canada, including Vancouver, seems to have that familiar Oceanic climate. I plan on visiting that part of the world in the future, it would feel like home away from home.
Among the 35 largest urban areas in the world (London is 32):
Sunnier than London:
Tokyo
Jakarta
Manila
Delhi
Karachi
Seoul
Shanghai
Beijing
NYC
Guangzhou
Sao Paulo
Mexico City
Mumbai
Osaka
Lagos
Moscow
Dhaka
Los Angeles
Bangkok
Kolkata
Buenos Aires
Tehran
Istanbul
Shenzhen
Rio de Janeiro
Kinshasa
Tianjin
Paris
Nagoya
Lahore
Bangalore
Chennai
Cloudier than London:
Lima
Chengdu
...and this is London, which is is among the sunniest cities in the UK. The UK average is 1373 hours.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sloth94
Levels of cloud are by no means unusual by Northern European standards. (See Diagram)
Okay, let's scan your map and in particular the blue areas (those who could potentially be cloudier than London). Among the European capitals in the light blue and dark blue areas:
The following are cloudier than London:
Brussels (but sunnier than UK average)
Copenhagen (sunnier than UK average)
Dublin (sunnier than UK average)
Reykjavik (cloudier than UK average)
Sunnier than London:
Amsterdam
Prague
Bratislava
Paris
Bern
Which means, according to your map, that the following European capitals (the cloudiest continent on the planet) are sunnier than the UK average:
Amsterdam
Andorra
Belgrade
Berlin
Bern
Bratislava
Brussels (cloudier than London)
Bucharest
Budapest
Chisinau
Copenhagen (cloudier than London)
Dublin (cloudier than London)
Helsinki
Kiev
Lisbon
Ljubljana
Luxembourg
Madrid
Minsk
Monaco
Moscow
Nicosia
Oslo
Paris
Podgorica
Prague
Riga
Rome
San Marino
Sarajevo
Skopje
Sofia
Stockholm
Tallinn
Tirana
Vaduz
Valletta
Vatican City
Vienna
Vilnius
Warsaw
Zagreb
while the numerous ones which are cloudier are:
Reykjavik
Nuuk (not even a true sovereign capital, included for the lulz)
Now if you folks insist that it your country isn't atrociously cloudy by ANY standard, and that my statements are "largely opinion based" and "extreme hyperboles" there's not much more I can do
DHDH, your confirmation that Brussels, Copenhagen, Dublin and Reykjavik are all cloudier than London proves the point that I was making all along, that Britain is not especially cloudy by Northern European standards, and basically does away with your earlier claim that it is "Extremely cloudy, even by European standards."
Please note that many of the other cities you mentioned are only slightly less cloudy
Average sunshine here is 1570 hours so sunnier than a few cities on continental Europe. What this proves is that northern Europe is cloudy. You'd notice little difference throughout the year between Paris and Leeds. You'd notice a bigger difference between Paris and Glasgow.
UK wide averages aren't important when most people live in southern and Eastern England. Even between Leeds and Manchester the difference is noticeable.
Average sunshine here is 1570 hours so sunnier than a few cities on continental Europe. What this proves is that northern Europe is cloudy. You'd notice little difference throughout the year between Paris and Leeds. You'd notice a bigger difference between Paris and Glasgow.
UK wide averages aren't important when most people live in southern and Eastern England. Even between Leeds and Manchester the difference is noticeable.
Of course, somewhere like Brighton is warmer and has far more sunshine than Aberdeen. Equally the Isles of Scilly are obviously a lot different to the Shetland Islands.
Seattle always struck me as the the city outside of Europe with the most similar climate to London, despite some notable differences, they are remarkably similar in most respects. In fact, much of the Pacific Northwest, all the way up into Canada, including Vancouver, seems to have that familiar Oceanic climate. I plan on visiting that part of the world in the future, it would feel like home away from home.
They both lie in the same climate zone (as does a lot of Europe) and I think a lot of people don't realize that. Portland isn't too far off, just even warmer.
The climate in the UK is not bad in terms of extremes or severe weather, it's just a boring region for people interested in weather as there are no real extremes in:
Temperature: no intresting temperature averages, no summer heat, no winter cold, low dew points, no remarkable temperature swings
Precipitation: no floodings in broad areas, convective precipitation events are "weak" against most areas on the globe, rainfall is mostly drizzle or weak showers
T-storms: only weak energy setups, no severe outbreaks, hail is very rare, big hail non-existent, virtually no significent tornadoes, no derecho events
Wind: the only thing the UK can deliver to a person intrested in weather due the european windstorm phenomenon
Sun: among the most gloomiest areas of the globe
short and simple...for a person (on a global scale) the weather in the UK is just to moderated and uniform to be interested in it...along with the cold summers and mild winters it doesn't fit in those two seasons in a global point of view
The climate in the UK is not bad in terms of extremes or severe weather, it's just a boring region for people interested in weather as there are no real extremes in:
temperature: no intresting temperature averages, no summer heat, no winter cold, low dew points, no remarkable temperature swings
precipitation: no floodings in broad areas, convective precipitation events are "weak" against most areas on the globe, rainfall is mostly drizzle or weak showers
T-storms: only weak energy setups, no severe outbreaks, hail is very rare, big hail non-existent, virtually no significent tornadoes, no derecho events
wind: the only thing the UK can deliver to a person intrested in weather due the european windstorm phenomenon
sun: among the most gloomiest areas of the globe
short and simple...for a person (on a global scale) the weather in the UK is just to moderated and uniform to be interested in it...
Lack of extreme weather is somehow a bad thing? Personally I'm thankful that I can go to sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that my house isn't going to be destroyed by a tornado!
Lack of extreme weather is somehow a bad thing? Personally I'm thankful that I can go to sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that my house isn't going to be destroyed by a tornado!
for a person interested in weather..yes! That's the point! "Bad" is the wrong word, it's just to boring to catch any excitement on a international weather forum! On the other hand, for the local population there the lack of extremes is a good thing...
Lack of extreme weather is somehow a bad thing? Personally I'm thankful that I can go to sleep at night, safe in the knowledge that my house isn't going to be destroyed by a tornado!
For many weather followers, apparently not. To many of them, extremes are fun. I believe someone posted in the winter thread they were hoping the southeast had a lot of severe weather this winter. Me, I'm not one of them, and it doesn't line up with my weather interests. My weather interest is in having warm summers with thunderstorms, and cool to cold winters without extreme temp deviations from average. Living where I am, I usually don't get the winter I want (no deviations beyond 10F).
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