Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

otorongo
Posts: 1434
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 5:12 pm
Location: sub-subtropical London

Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by otorongo »

Personally I'm happy with my SE location with the London microclimate, one of the mildest in the country in terms of absolute lows (with the exception of the SW-most half of Cornwall), with the benefit of the 'hot and dry', 'continental' SE summers which the West doesn't get.

It could be sunnier, but my part of the country - the SE - is among the sunniest as soon as you leave the inner city. Clouds tend to form over big cities, so I take the reduced sunshine hours as the price for living in one.

The sunniest locations in the UK - the South Coast - are cooler in the summer due to the cool Channel, and windy pretty much all the time. The Channel protects them in the winter, but we are protected to the same degree by the urban heat, which - unlike the thermal mass of the water - works in our favour not only in the winter but also in the summer.

So, all things considered, I don't think there is anywhere in the UK I'd like better climate-wise.
stephenprudence

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by stephenprudence »

Not here for certain:
- Cool summers
- Cold winters
- Poor light levels
- Low sunshine
- High cloud
- Frequent frosts, occasionally hard

I would say my location is amongst the worst climates in the country (maybe even the world due to lack of sunshine/light levels)

However what I will say is clearly London and the South Coast win hands down.
billdango

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by billdango »

The best place to live in the UK must be the south coast.

Many places along the coast have over 2.000 hours of sun nearly every year and places on the IOW i.e Ventnor can get up to 2.200 hours of sun in the better years.

It can often be windy but thats not unusual living by the sea.

London does better Temperature wise but is not as sunny as the coastal regions.

London averages about 1.500 hours of sun a year [record 2.003 hours] in 2003?

This amount is among the lowest of any capital City in Europe except Bergen or the capitol of Iceland [I can,t spell the name].

So summing up I would have to say that the south coast of the IOW is probably the best place to live and grow exotics.

Personal opinion only.....

billdango icon_sunny
stephenprudence

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by stephenprudence »

Reykjavik :)
billdango

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by billdango »

stephenprudence wrote:Reykjavik :)

Thanks stephenprudence icon_thumleft

billdango icon_sunny
flounder

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by flounder »

Climate wise, we can get away with a lot more down here as long as a protection from the winds is in place.
Nigel

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by Nigel »

Central London, Scillies, south west tip of cornwall, daves garden
Tom2006
Posts: 8094
Joined: Thu Sep 30, 2010 11:23 am
Location: East Yorkshire UK

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by Tom2006 »

Hampshire looks good to me
Most wanted list - Any Young Trachycarpus and/or fern.
otorongo
Posts: 1434
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2012 5:12 pm
Location: sub-subtropical London

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by otorongo »

billdango wrote:The best place to live in the UK must be the south coast.
Southampton looks good on the metoffice maps of averages icon_thumleft

The consensus seems to be the South Coast and London, I guess it's a personal thing whether you prefer the extra sunshine hours or extra heat. When it's 30C in London it's 24C in Brighton, but then if you have a sheltered, south-facing garden you can turn those sunshine hours into heat... So on second thought I'd give the South Coast and London an ex aequo.
Nigel wrote:Central London, Scillies, south west tip of cornwall, daves garden
The South West tip of Cornwall is the mildest (on the mainland), but has chilly summers. I wouldn't trade my summers for the milder winters only to be able to overwinter things more easily. It may be preferable gardening-wise, but not nicer for us humans.

I don't think Dave would agree that his garden has a good climate, he often complains about the north-easterlies and being in a frost hollow...
Nathan

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by Nathan »

London is good temperature wise, but for me I'd rather have the extra sunshine that the south coast gets...

Portsmouth is pretty hard to beat, it has average minimums in winter comparable to coastal Cornwall (due to the city being so built up & on its own island) & has much warmer summers, warmer than other coastal locations again due to the urban warming effect. Average daytime highs in summer may not be as high as London, but the average minimums are as warm, if not warmer than London too icon_thumleft
billdango

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by billdango »

Southampton does pretty well most of the year.

While not quite as warm as central London we Get an average of 1.775 hours of sun a year [record in 2003 at 2.150 hours] and although London gets less sun hours then Southampton many fine exotics grow in that City and I think a lot more could be grown if more effort was made by the City fathers.

Many exotics hate to much sunshine anyway as can be proven by the fine CIDPs grown in that City.

Exotics like Neriums and bottle brush shrubs do better with more sun and flower very well in Southampton and elsewhere on the south coast.

On the coast itself in spite of the wind CIDPs and other palms do well as here frost is rare.

In Southampton itself I have seen at least 8 different palm species growing and doing very well but the Phoenix canariensis_CIDP needs winter protection here as our nights are slightly colder then central London.

billdango icon_sunny
stephenprudence

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by stephenprudence »

If Llandudno wasn't so lacking in Summer heat and sunshine, it would be amongst the best climates in UK, it's Winter climate is comparable to the south coast (and often warmer in daytime due to frequent foehn winds), in terms of mildness, indeed the sea front rarely goes below -1C in a 'normal' winter.
Nigel

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by Nigel »

otorongo wrote: I don't think Dave would agree that his garden has a good climate, he often complains about the north-easterlies and being in a frost hollow...
Dont take any notice of dave , he wants perfection, my spy says it was 20C in his garden today and rained for 5 minutes, and he would have us believe it was blowing all day, raining and pouring down with rain. :lol:
User avatar
Adam D
Posts: 3574
Joined: Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:47 pm
Location: Scotland

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by Adam D »

I guess that this thread is based on pointing out which part of the UK has the most sunshine, warmest temperatures and mildest winters.

However, there are some "exotics" that thrive in other non-named parts of the UK that would struggle in the named parts in this thread.

Sigh!
User avatar
Dave Brown
Site Admin
Posts: 19742
Joined: Sun Jul 09, 2006 10:17 am
Location: Chalk, (Thames Estuary) Kent, England 51.5N 0.3E
Contact:

Re: Which part of the UK is the best climate-wise?

Post by Dave Brown »

Nigel wrote:
otorongo wrote: I don't think Dave would agree that his garden has a good climate, he often complains about the north-easterlies and being in a frost hollow...
Dont take any notice of dave , he wants perfection, my spy says it was 20C in his garden today and rained for 5 minutes, and he would have us believe it was blowing all day, raining and pouring down with rain. :lol:
:lol: :lol: :lol:
Yes perfectly correct Nigel :wink: There are 20Colocasia in my garden today, and it rained for only 5 minutes out of every 6 :lol:

In fact my climate is a bit of a mixed bag as it is 35 miles east of London, but being near to, although not exactly on, an Estuary, is halfway between inland and coastal.

I get around 1625 hours sun, about 175 more than London and have the estuary moderate weather, milder in winter, much cooler in spring with NE winds, and can be a problem into early summer. The estuary, and being on the north side of the North Downs means I get sort of a foehn wind with southerlies. As SE winds are the hottest, coming directly across France and then are subject to the slight foehn, you can see why North Kent coast records the highest temps in UK. Gravesend held the record briefly of 38.1C 10/8/2003, but was beaten by an unmanned orchard near Faversham (N Kent) with 38.5C.

My garden is not particularly warm as we get high winds from all directions, and particularly funnelling up and down the Thames :roll:

Summary
Winter = Mildish, but prone to NE Blasts. Min Temp around -6C
Spring = Cool to cold with frequent NW Winds
Summer = Warm and can be hotter than London, but always cooler than London at night.
Autumn = mild and mellow, garden looks it's best
icon_thumleft
Attachments
20100702 temps 1340.jpg
Best regards
Dave
icon_thumright
_________________________________________________
Roll on summer.....
http://www.hardytropicals.co.uk
Post Reply