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When is the last time they had a crop failure? Never heard that before.
2012. Several home-grown vegetables were almost impossible to get hold of during the summer that year due to the weather. I remember the understatement signs in the shops: "Due to the challenging weather in the UK we are unable to offer a full supply of...." (Translation: "Since it has been raining constantly for 3 months despite being high summer, we have no .... at all, hence the empty shelves you can see everywhere"). Many parts of the UK had several notably poor harvests in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
However, it doesn't have the same effect it would have done 500 years ago. It's so much easier to get hold of imported stuff, and we have a much more varied diet. So we don't tend to think of it as a "failure" the way they did in the old days.
.....mild winters that is. The summers are subarctic
Sub arctic!? Put it this way they are milder than the Northern US, milder than the rest of Northern Europe too, whichever way you look at it I would suggest that 'mild' or benign or hell yeah even quite pleasant is a very good way to describe the climate of the UK.
2012. Several home-grown vegetables were almost impossible to get hold of during the summer that year due to the weather. I remember the understatement signs in the shops: "Due to the challenging weather in the UK we are unable to offer a full supply of...." (Translation: "Since it has been raining constantly for 3 months despite being high summer, we have no .... at all, hence the empty shelves you can see everywhere"). Many parts of the UK had several notably poor harvests in the late 2000s and early 2010s.
However, it doesn't have the same effect it would have done 500 years ago. It's so much easier to get hold of imported stuff, and we have a much more varied diet. So we don't tend to think of it as a "failure" the way they did in the old days.
There are obvious variations season to season (like anywhere else on the planet), sometimes its been a bit cold or wet sometimes too hot or too dry for a 'bumper' crop but I wouldn't say the UK has suffered crop failure before (perhaps the Irish potato famine is the closest thing). As an example I would consider the starving people of different parts of Africa on different occasions to have suffered a 'crop failure'. Britain has a very good climate for growing food, rain tends to fall as showers and pretty evenly all year, mild winter temperatures make for a long growing season that's one of the main reasons it has had so many different peoples settle here throughout the centuries, the islands are famous for being a 'green and pleasant land' for that very reason.
Sub arctic!? Put it this way they are milder than the Northern US, milder than the rest of Northern Europe too, whichever way you look at it I would suggest that 'mild' or benign or hell yeah even quite pleasant is a very good way to describe the climate of the UK.
Benign or mild sound right, but pleasant implies an enjoyable climate. I think the worst 4-5 months of the year don't seem like a particularly enjoyable climate in the UK.
You could even stretch it to 7 in most areas or even more in more Northern areas. Parts of Scotland could not be said to be pleasant on average at any time of the year.
I agree. I think all people (with medical exceptions etc) share a similar level of what their body finds pleasant vs unpleasant. I think the warmer parts of England, are right on the margin of that level, during the middle shoulder months of each shoulder season.
I'd personally describe it as dull and uninteresting.
Much as I don't like the cold wind and rain we get in winter the UK climate is anything but dull and uninteresting from a weather recording perspective. It's very changeable and often totally different in any month from one year to the next. Its variation makes it really interesting to me. It's what keeps motivating me to do my weather records which are in their 10th year now.
Its easy for someone to look at a Wikipedia climate box and think it looks boring but it's only showing monthly averages and not the day to day variation and changes in weather patterns. Boring looking climate but interesting weather. I like how any kind of weather can happen, even if it's not as extreme when it does.
I think Mediterranean and desert climates are by far the most boring on earth, and most of Australia's. While I find UK summers too cool for my liking, their range of weather and temperatures make them very interesting for weather watching, rather than having 90 days of endless blue sky and boring weather in some med paradise.
Last edited by Northnomad; 01-04-2018 at 03:13 PM..
Benign or mild sound right, but pleasant implies an enjoyable climate. I think the worst 4-5 months of the year don't seem like a particularly enjoyable climate in the UK.
It IS an enjoyable climate, why wouldn't it be? You can enjoy the great outdoors at any time of the year day or night (something Churchill himself commented on I believe). It might not be the worlds best climate but nevertheless unlike a lot of places on this planet its a climate that you can deal with very easily, that surely is pleasant?
It IS an enjoyable climate, why wouldn't it be? You can enjoy the great outdoors at any time of the year day or night (something Churchill himself commented on I believe). It might not be the worlds best climate but nevertheless unlike a lot of places on this planet its a climate that you can deal with very easily, that surely is pleasant?
Enjoying the great outdoors is one thing, but how about the expectation of a nice cup of tea outside in the winter, in short sleeves? -unless that's a realistic expectation on a majority of winter days, I wouldn't call the winters pleasant.
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