Interesting/ annoying things about the UK

Went through the rainfall climate stats between Bedfordshire and my actual village county since it's these places that I usually compare.

Rainfall difference in days: Bedfordshire has +19 rainy days a year (but the village has more rainy days from November to March)
Rainfall difference in mms: The village has +71 mm of rain a year (but Bedfordshire gets more volume from May to September)

So I stand by my previous comment that the weather in the UK is actually a lot nicer than what the stereotype suggests.
The winters are even milder in comparison, spring and autumn are relatively similar and the main differences (that probably cause the exaggeration) come from summer.
 
Went through the rainfall climate stats between Bedfordshire and my actual village county since it's these places that I usually compare.

Rainfall difference in days: Bedfordshire has +19 rainy days a year (but the village has more rainy days from November to March)
Rainfall difference in mms: The village has +71 mm of rain a year (but Bedfordshire gets more volume from May to September)

So I stand by my previous comment that the weather in the UK is actually a lot nicer than what the stereotype suggests.
The winters are even milder in comparison, spring and autumn are relatively similar and the main differences (that probably cause the exaggeration) come from summer.
I think the problem isn't (well, for some) so much the temperature or the amount of rain as much as so many days are just overcast and quite grey, even if they aren't rainy or particularly cold.
 
Went through the rainfall climate stats between Bedfordshire and my actual village county since it's these places that I usually compare.

Rainfall difference in days: Bedfordshire has +19 rainy days a year (but the village has more rainy days from November to March)
Rainfall difference in mms: The village has +71 mm of rain a year (but Bedfordshire gets more volume from May to September)

So I stand by my previous comment that the weather in the UK is actually a lot nicer than what the stereotype suggests.
The winters are even milder in comparison, spring and autumn are relatively similar and the main differences (that probably cause the exaggeration) come from summer.
It does matter which bit of the UK you look at in terms of the amount of rain. For perfectly solid geographical reasons which @Soldi will explain to you, the west coasts are much rainier than the rest of the country.
 
It does matter which bit of the UK you look at in terms of the amount of rain. For perfectly solid geographical reasons which @Soldi will explain to you, the west coasts are much rainier than the rest of the country.
I think it's also the frequency of the rain as well. London gets a lot less rain in terms of total rainfall than many other European cities, but we get frequent showers, rather than heavy outbursts. And they often occur in summer.
 
I think the problem isn't (well, for some) so much the temperature or the amount of rain as much as so many days are just overcast and quite grey, even if they aren't rainy or particularly cold.
I think it always relates to the experiences we carry along when comparing, having lived in a place where it almost feels like it starts to rain in November and stops in March, and as much as I love the sun, am less likely to complain for a cloudy day. But I used the rain reference as the comparison because the stereotype here and probably elsewhere in the south is that "in the UK it rains all the time".
 
Here too. :disco: (But haven’t ventured outside yet. Could be deathly cold like yesterday.)
I’m happily enjoying sitting in the glow from the window, shall brave a walk in the park at lunchtime :disco:
 
Literally every person thinks that where they live has interesting weather... People in Atlanta are always talking about our "unpredictable" weather like its the only place in the world that isn't 100% predictable day to day
 
I've never really thought about the weather in the UK much. It's a bit blander than in the Netherlands and Germany but I'm quite happy with it rarely getting overly hot. Berlin winters are brutal though. They go on FOREVER and only occasionally slip into utterly glorious summer.
 
You're not going to understand this, but I love the cloudy non-sunny summer in London (applies to UK in general I guess). Best weather ever for summer.
 
What I've missed the most when I was in the UK was the sea. I've seen it once in Blackpool but otherwise the closest I got to it was that little beach outside the Shakespeare's theater in Thames.
 
THE GOOD: the people are generally fucking hilarious, OR it's just me, but I don't think so. I'm not sure the Brits understand this about themselves, that their humour is second to none. And that the average person in the street in most other countries (the rest of Northern Europe for starters) will be painfully DULL to converse with, whereas my experience visiting the UK and meeting British people abroad has been exactly the opposite. I've struck up a chat with a random taking her rubbish out in Glasgow and it was a joy, I've also had a lady coming out of the Anne Frank House tell me not to bother paying admission because she's not in today. There's a stereotype that Brits are cold but I don't find that's true at all.

THE BAD: I find the British press very mean-spirited, same as much of the public discourse actually. The US is different, sort of oaf-y and loud, but I wouldn't say nasty. Brits go for the jugular. It would take me a while to get used to if I lived there.
 
THE GOOD: the people are generally fucking hilarious, OR it's just me, but I don't think so. I'm not sure the Brits understand this about themselves, that their humour is second to none. And that the average person in the street in most other countries (the rest of Northern Europe for starters) will be painfully DULL to converse with, whereas my experience visiting the UK and meeting British people abroad has been exactly the opposite. I've struck up a chat with a random taking her rubbish out in Glasgow and it was a joy, I've also had a lady coming out of the Anne Frank House tell me not to bother paying admission because she's not in today. There's a stereotype that Brits are cold but I don't find that's true at all.
I agree with this 100%
 
THE GOOD: the people are generally fucking hilarious, OR it's just me, but I don't think so. I'm not sure the Brits understand this about themselves, that their humour is second to none. And that the average person in the street in most other countries (the rest of Northern Europe for starters) will be painfully DULL to converse with, whereas my experience visiting the UK and meeting British people abroad has been exactly the opposite. I've struck up a chat with a random taking her rubbish out in Glasgow and it was a joy, I've also had a lady coming out of the Anne Frank House tell me not to bother paying admission because she's not in today. There's a stereotype that Brits are cold but I don't find that's true at all.

THE BAD: I find the British press very mean-spirited, same as much of the public discourse actually. The US is different, sort of oaf-y and loud, but I wouldn't say nasty. Brits go for the jugular. It would take me a while to get used to if I lived there.
Love this and completely agree (the press is vile, for a start, not all of it but enough of it) - and yes, obviously subjective, but I adore the British sense of humour. It’s uniquely dry, self-depreciating and at times absurdist.

And people WILL talk to you, certainly outside of London. Whomever created the idea of the British stiff upper lip had clearly never been to Yorkshire.
 
And this is OT but I saw this and since we’ve already discussed this earlier I’m posting it here:

UK still ugliest. Why are there so many, and wtf Greenland and Turkmenistan?!

895E6C3F-518E-4D44-B465-308697A88626.jpeg
 
I thought stiff upper lip had nothing to do with friendliness but with the inability to express emotions (your upper lip WOBBLES when you cry, so a stiff one means your rictus never changes).

And I would say that is OVERALL true, public displays of emotions are RARE and people tend to be quite PRIVATE (good) and end up BOTTLING THEIR EMOTIONS (not so good), which sometimes leads to ALCOHOL as a RELEASE VALVE which results in a PROBLEMATIC RELATIONSHIP with DRINKING.

Obviously #notallBrits etc.
 
There’s no way to say this without sounding a bit xenophobic, but @Peekaboo WHY DO YOU LIVE HERE?

Everything you post suggests you utterly loathe Britain and everything about it :D
 
If it makes your LIONHEART happier, I'm equally critical about Spain, probably worse if you asked my Spanish friends. Start a similar thread about Spain and I'll be happy to contribute :)

Countries are a social and political construct. I'm not PARTICULARLY PROUD of being Spanish or choosing to live in Britain, but knowing the two cultures well enough there are certain TRAITS from each that I can like and cherish and others I can criticise and deplore.
 
You may have missed my PREVIOUS POST in this thread where I listed lots of things I like about Britain!
Next you’ll be slagging off our glorious leader, the queen and Sarah Lancashire :(
 
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Next you’ll be slagging off our glorious leader, the queen and Sarah Lancashire :(
I'm not too familiar with Sarah Lancashire but any country that can continually sustain a plethora of talented, middle-aged theatre actresses in its star system must be doing something right.

The Queen can frankly fuck off.
 
Depends on what part of London you're in really.
I lived there for several years and actually lots of Londoners are very friendly and approachable. (Certainly more so I would say than Parisians
:eyes:
hi @Dark Carnival )

In fact, in my experience, the rudest people in London tend to be the tourists/visitors.
 
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My understanding is the three prongs are safer, it’s an earth so less chance of electric shocks
The thing is we've had sockets with 3 prongs (circular) for years but they were canceled because of safety problems and that's how the schuko became the norm.
 
I don't know if this classifies as interesting, but back in the 00s the UK banks (if you were an overseas student I assume) and you were opening a bank account, would gift you a little bag with TESCO value products. Not a TESCO voucher but an actual bag with food the bank assumed you would need, such as tins of beans in tomato sauce etc. It was both sweet and extremely embarrassing.
 

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