Is the British climate really getting worse?

Question

Right. It seems like everyone goes on about how rubbish the summers in england are these days; lots of rain, few days of warm sunshine. And also that winters are mild and we hardly get any snow. As far back as i can remember (i'm 26) its always been like this... but did it really used to be any different "back in't'day"? Or are these recollections (usually by old folk) simply rose-tinted memories of the occasional hot summer day or snowy winter day which they can remember, and have simply forgotten the rest??? Can anyone actually remember a time when this was the case?

Answer 1

Who cares as long as the keep pumping out New Castle.mmmmmmm

Answer 2

No,nothing has changed only our warped minds

Answer 3

The weather in days of yore were more extreme.

In 1963 there was a very cold winter, the lake on the common froze over and we skated on it. It is before my time, but in 1947 there was 7 weeks of continual snow, 20 foot drifts were common. Similarly, the summers were warmer and the sun shone more. I imagine you have heard of the summers of 1975-76 when we had 10 weeks of constant sun?

The weather is blander nowadays.

Answer 4

Not sure I can answer this - you ask if anyone can remember different times but then slightly denigrate anyone who would be in a position to remember ("back in't'day", "old folk") so not sure if you would accept any personal memories or dismiss them as coming from old folk...

Ah, well, luckily we don't need personal memories - just look at weather records (e.g. http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/s... that clearly show a warming trend since 1982 (coincidentally as liong as you have been alive) and also generally getting wetter since the early '90s.

However - weather records, especially over 20 years and only from one place, aren't necessarily a good indication of global warming one way or another.

Plus, let's be honest - an average monthly increase of 1 mm every year (e.g. June 2007 got 1mm more rain than June 2006) and 0.2 degrees increase in warmth year-on-year is hardly going to stick in anyone's memory is it?

You felt more of a difference by a gust of wind or having as brisk walk...

Your question is about climate but the details are about weather - the two are linked but not synoymous.

In terms of weather, the UK isn't (to human senses) that much different although, yes, the freezing of the Thames, the pea souper fogs, the winter snows have all diminished or gone and birds, butterflies, flowers all appear earlier.

In terms of climate, however, 1 degree is huge - think about how much energy it takes to boil a kettle (a rise in 80 degrees) - imagine how much energy it takes to raise a planet 1 degree!

And nevermind Johnnie B - he is one of those "old folk" who never has anything positive to say and always rattles on about uncalibrated thermometers (as if we hadn't been making them for centuries beforehand). Basically he dismisses anything that doesn't fit his preconceptions. I wonder if it's possible to recalibrate attitudes...

Edit to Evans_Michael:

The UK already produces, and exports, more wine than it did in medieval times:

2006 - 362 vineyards in the UK, 923 hectares, production >25,000 hectolitres, or about 3.3 million bottles.

Domesday book - 42 vineyards in England

Should we worry now?

Does this make you an AGW believer?

Or will you move the goalposts?

Answer 5

Now I am 77 and remember that the weather is always a challenge. The temp. average is bad data as it is old data from uncalibrated thermometers.

Answer 6

In the UK (England to be precise) eleven of the last thirteen years have been the warmest ever recorded since the 1600's.

That doesn't mean that it has to be gloriously sunny to achieve that. It can still be wet but just a couple degrees warmer at the same time.

I remember the summer of 1976 which is still talked about as being one of the best we have ever experienced in living memory in Britain from the point of view of week after week of unbroken hot sunny days but that is why it gets talked about because it was unusually hot and sunny. The British Isles have a very changable maritime climate and that is what we predominantly get.... for now ;o)

Answer 7

I think global warming is just something that is used every now and again to scare us. I remember as a kid we used to get really hot days and really cold too - it's pretty much the same now. If the world really were warming up then it would be warm throughout the year and it isn't. Maybe in 50 to 100 years, but more like a lot longer than that. I'm certainly not worried about it.

Answer 8

Me and the wife were teenagers back in the '60's and to be honest we can't remember summers back then being as wet and overcast as they are now.

I used to spend most of the summer holiday from school out with the mates, mostly fishing because it was free and we used to club together for the maggots. My mother used to complain about my tan saying it wasn't good for me.

The wife used to spend her's up on the farm owned by her aunt & uncle in Derbyshire. She remembers the peace, quiet and the sunshine.

Her father was Croatian by birth and she still has many relatives living in Dubrovnik including a step brother who keeps a daily record of the weather there. Their weather pattern hasn't changed over the last 35 years, in the summer it's sunshine and heat, in the winter it's mild and wet. His idea of bad weather is if it rains at all in July, August & September.

Guess where we're retiring to??

Answer 9

yeah we used to get quite snowy winters at one time altho it has been like this before as well, mother nature likes to give us a bit of variety, i think the snowy winters will be back fairly soon.

Answer 10

I wouldn't worry until England starts exporting wine in large quantities.  Then it'll be as warm as it was during the Medieval Warm Period.

Answer 11

It's the same here in the US. It's Global Warming I guess.

Answer 12

The British climate is changing, whether for better or worse depends entirely on your point of view. The facts are that winters are becoming milder and summers are becoming wetter.

As one who was born in Aberdeen in the North-East of Scotland in the 1930's, I no doubt qualify as "old folk".  I can assure any reader that the winters of the 1940's and 50's all over the U.K., were consistently far more severe then, than anything experienced anywhere in the country, in the last twenty years.

The summers of those years were a little drier than today, in most of the country, and there were long continuous periods in those summers, when there was very little rain.

Answer 13

You need to look at History ,  during the 1600's  the River Thames used to freeze over for 1 or 2 months a year !  And 25,000 years ago 90% of the UK was covered in a glacier !

But in more recent times , I would say the winters are getting milder.  From 1975 to 1982 , when I was a kid and spent a lot more time outdoors and not in cars and offices.  I can remember walking to school in a few inches of snow just about every winter.  Or could it be that my local council is better at putting salt on the roads these days ?

I can also remember 1976 and 1977 having long dry summers, a drought even.

Answer 14

neh its gettin warmer over here its americe that gets it worse with the huricanes n that

Answer 15

If it is it's a natural phenomenon and we are being played for fools by corporations and governments.  Reason: There is always a price increase attched to their hype.

Answer 16

right I'm 48 love to watch the weather always have

the weather is getting hotter the winters are getting warmer & wetter when was the last time you saw real snow thats 3 ft deep and lasts for 2-3 weeks it comes in flurrys now lasts 3 days and is gone the ice is getting harder the rainfall is getting silly 1 year nothing the next floods

now the reasons why ! china has turned into a industreal nation the rain forests being cleared for beef stock for mc donalds britain importing coal from rushier when we have closed are own pits moveing from steam to diesal trains so we need the rag heads oil they say we wont have enough gas for britain soon electric prices going up why when we have millions of tons of coal under england lets open the pits and get cheap fule and jobs

Answer 17

And I also have heard that the fog in London is kind of decreasing

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The temperature here where we live is the same the winters cold days  are kind of 30 days late and then only for a couple of days

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And the hot days of summer are getting ridiculous

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And dry times are getting costly for some

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You are experencing what happens when the ocean currents are kind of acting up

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El Nino on the west side of the United Sates is all messed up cause of warming ocean currents

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Answer 18

I'm 21 and I can remember 1.... maybe 2 hot summers.  It has always been like this as far as I can remember.

However, winter did seem a h**l of a lot longer this year lasting right up until maybe April.

I've seen snow probably twice here too (I am from Liverpool)

I don't know, I think it depends where in the UK you live.  Some places are just colder or warmer than others. Just plain and simple geography - not necessarily global warming.