Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
A sunny, 4C and low humidity day here, definitely feels better than say a typical 7C and damp cloudy day.
High humidity in cool temperatures chills you to the bone! Dry air certainly doesn't.
Whilst a humid 7C is still cold, it is not spine-chillingly cold (not unless if you're standing in the rain I guess). Even a sunny 15C with low humidity would chill me to the bone (unless if I'm sitting in the sun I guess).
Right now it's 17C with 88% RH and I'm sweating. If it were 17C with RH of 40% I'd probably be shivering (and this has happened before).
I've always thought (or felt) that dry cold is worse than humid cold. But hey, maybe that's just me.
It does get an unfair rep as it is mild much of the time with decently long growing seasons without the extremes found in continental regions of the world. The one disadvantage it would have (for some) would be the lower number of sunlight hours per year, compounded by higher latitude lower sun angle.
There are some advantages to that latitude. Endless summer days, conversely the long winter nights provide an interesting seasonal variation.
17C isn't cold though. Genuinely cold weather, as in say below 4C, feels better with low humidity. I've worked in the Arctic circle where it's been freezing cold, yet the dryness of it doesn't feel that bad.
I know we all have our opinions, and are rightly entitled to them, but I've never know anybody say dry cold feels colder than damp cold. I could probably go on Facebook now and put out a status regarding this, and I'm sure all the people I've worked with would back this up.
A sunny, 4C and low humidity day here, definitely feels better than say a typical 7C and damp cloudy day.
High humidity in cool temperatures chills you to the bone! Dry air certainly doesn't.
IMO, it's the humidity. The cold humid air seems to penetrate through whatever layer's you're wearing, unless you have decent gear on of course, and any exposed skin feels chilled to the bone. Just try a damp 7C day here in January.
Admittedly, -30C feels pretty cold, and -50C wind chill feels horrendous. Humidity isn't a factor at those temperatures.
23C can be very be unpleasant, if the sun is nasty.
23C is the sort of temperature indonesians can say both "hot" and "chilly"
When raining and there're clouds, 23C even with almost 100% humidity people here would say its chilly, even Cold!
But 23C with strong highland sun like in Lembang afternoon - people here, even from Jakarta, would say its "hot" even with only 50% humidity
Whilst a humid 7C is still cold, it is not spine-chillingly cold (not unless if you're standing in the rain I guess). Even a sunny 15C with low humidity would chill me to the bone (unless if I'm sitting in the sun I guess).
Right now it's 17C with 88% RH and I'm sweating. If it were 17C with RH of 40% I'd probably be shivering (and this has happened before).
I've always thought (or felt) that dry cold is worse than humid cold. But hey, maybe that's just me.
I'd say with temps between 14 and, say, 20c, high humidity makes me both sweat and and feel chilly. We've had a lot of it lately, and there is no temperature in that range with so much RH where I feel fine, I either stand still and shiver and start doing physical activity and feel too hot and sweat (and then feel colder because of sweat).
And there is no sun / cloud issue for me, because I have verified it many times at night.
I think that Scottish weather gets the reputation that it deserves and possibly a fair bit worse (because many people would not guess how snowless a typical Glasgow or Edinburgh winter is).
However, I think that the London area definitely gets a worse reputation than it deserves. From the perspective of someone who lives in Glasgow, a London spring and summer does not seem too bad at all.
I think that Scottish weather gets the reputation that it deserves and possibly a fair bit worse (because many people would not guess how snowless a typical Glasgow or Edinburgh winter is).
However, I think that the London area definitely gets a worse reputation than it deserves. From the perspective of someone who lives in Glasgow, a London spring and summer does not seem too bad at all.
I think that people think of typical highland Scottish weather when they think about UK weather as a whole, which is not fair. The eastern side of the UK is quite dry, it is not uncommon for us to go weeks without measurable rain. This year from early May - early July, we had something like 16mm.
And of course, those in continental climates even pretty far down into the NE US often have March and part of April that resembles another winter month whereas usually March and April here are very springlike. Likewise with October and November - look at Moscow, eastern Europe, Germany, northern parts of Maine etc that are seeing single digit highs already whilst we are usually very stable at this time of year and remain mild.
Of course, summers are a let down for the UK, but I don't envy some climates that get hot summers which cool down drastically by October or take half way into Spring to get above freezing.
Location: Northern Ireland and temporarily England
7,668 posts, read 5,262,503 times
Reputation: 1392
The Se of England is not descriptive or typical of the British Isles climate. The se of England doesn't even have a typical British landscape.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
