Is the weather really constantly grey & gloomy in the UK vs the 4 seasons we have in most states of the US?

I have friends that live in the UK that say the weather is dismal. I also have friends that live in other European countries %26amp; i ask them what they think of England %26amp; they say it is constantly raining. They say the sky is grey most of the time %26amp; they dont get very sunny summers %26amp; that it barely snows in the winter. Is this true? I want to hear what its like from people other than my friends.





In the state that i live in, we have four very obvious seasons. In the winter we get TONS of snow. This state is KNOWN for getting mountains of it infact. In the spring, we get alot of rain. They say 'April showers bring May flowers'. In the summer it rains a little, but it is mostly warm %26amp; sunny. The fall it tones down, the leaves change into magnificent hues of orange, browns %26amp; reds %26amp; obviously eventually fall %26amp; then we have are famous winter for 5 months, the longest season for this state.





I find it hard to imagine the weather there is that bad. Can you tell me honestly if this is true?

Is the weather really constantly grey %26amp; gloomy in the UK vs the 4 seasons we have in most states of the US?
I agree about the mild winters, but some of the comments about our summers are way off the mark!





I have lived near London for many years. The first hot summer I remember was in 1959, but during the 1960s there were NO hot summers at all! The next ones were in 1975 and 1976 (the latter broke all records). The 1980s had a mixture of good and bad summers - July 1983 was the hottest single month ever recorded. But things really started to warm up from about 1990 onwards. Since then, UK summers on average have been MUCH warmer than they used to be. Younger people may find this hard to believe, but it is true - ask any meteorologist, or study the records!





A new all-time UK temperature record was set in 1990, and this was exceeded in 2003, when the 100 degree F mark was reached for the first time ever.





I hope this puts things in perspective.
Reply:Not really that bad some years are a little off ,while we also


get the opposite then water shortages and other problems,like crops not getting enough but we dont get the extremes of alot of countries but the slightest discomforts the media makes a meal of it like if a roads blocked with snow a few hours (8-10) the end of the world is nigh
Reply:I cannot believe the other answers!!


I live in the south, and though we get our fair share of rain, come March its always sunny. April gets showery again, and then we get a good sunny summer!! Two years ago was the hottest on record!
Reply:Yep it is as bad as that, it rains one day in three and is dark, wet and gloomy nine months of the year, and VERY windy, why do you think most of us leave whenever we can?
Reply:No. It was bright sunshine yesterday.





Grey and gloomy now though.
Reply:yeah mostly.


we do have some nice sunny days but often just one or two sandwiched between a couple weeks of rain
Reply:it's all true
Reply:The weather in the UK is very unpredictable,yesterday in the north east of england where i live it was very hot i was sweating even when i was indoors,then at about 2am it started raining.In the south of england it was raining all day.The sun is out this morning again but its not hot its just bright but i would imagine by 2 pm it will be hot again our summer is finally here.Most years the sun only lasts for 3 weeks and then never comes back until next year,then we get prepared for winter as it gets very cold windy it rains and its icy cold at the same time.Its true we dont get much snow either only on some days in winter.Our weather is weird because we live on an island we have the atlantic on one side the north sea on the other side then the north pole above us and below us is spain and the other hot countries.However we are lucky,i would rather live here than other places as we dont get any earthquakes or hurricanes or any other bad weather phenomenon or whatever which is cool.
Reply:The weather here has seemed to change over the past 30 odd years. We also used to get the seasons where it was hot in the summer and snowing in the winter - spring was wet and Autumn crisp. Now however we do seem to have mild, grey skies during the winter months - seldom do we get snow anymore. Spring is always wet and dismal - summer is a few hot days and the rest cloudy and in Autumn we seem to get a late summer. Its all messed up somehow xxx
Reply:Michael Flanders and Donald Swann were a duo act performing on stage and reciting songs which Swann had composed - he was the pianist.


They wrote a lovely one which was a song of the Weather (meaning in this green and pleasant land). You may find the words on the web if you care to look.


It starts obviously enough with:


January brings the snow, makes your feet and fingers glow


February's ice and sleet - freeze the toes right off your feet.


Welcome March with wintry wynde - would thou wert not so unkind.


April brings the sweet Spring showers - on and on for hours and hours.


May ....... (? can't recall at the moment)


June just rains and never stops - thirty days and spoils the crops.


In July, the sun is hot! Is it shining? No, it's not!


August cold and dank and wet, brings more rain than any yet


Then September adds a gale. Wind and sleet and rain and hail.


October ???????


Then November brings the fog. Would not do it to a dog!


Freezing wet December, ..... then .......................


B***dy January again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!





Your question answered? Actually, we do get some snow, sunshine, pretty high temps for a warm temperate zone, we just never know when these things are going to happen!
Reply:Unfortunately, yes!





I used to live in Montreal, Canada, but we moved here to England. We live in the Midlands, and yes, the weather is pretty dismal.





But it isn't ALWAYS bad - in the summer, especially towards the south, it can get up to 30°c, and up here it usually gets up to about 25°c.





And no, we don't get very much snow - only about 5cm in January-February time, unfortunately. I definitely miss Canada's winters!





In the fall, we just basically get cold weather, and obviously a bit of rain! But it doesn't rain all the time.





Nope this helps!
Reply:I can honestly tell you that your friends are right. I live in Manchester, it is always grey and rainy. The past few days it has been rainy but warm at the same time. In the winter we do get snow sometimes but not every year. We had strong winds on monday here! The other week we did have a mini heatwave which was fabulous but the rain soon set in!! I envy you guys over in the states! ha Our weather changes from day to day and not season to season!