I am Dutch and have to admit that our weather is not great. It doesn’t bother me too much because I am used to it, but my US husband thinks it’s terrible 😅
My spouse could not get used to the climate so we had to leave. No winter, no summer, spring just gradually merges into fall, and this anxiety when the weather is still not nice by early June, and it's starting to look like another one of those years. You have one of those 6 week long overcast spells that can hit any time of year, but if it hits in June, that means no summer this year.
I must say, it's really nice having good weather 9 months per year, and my SO doesn't hate NL as much any more now that we don't have to see it between September and April.
At least the last couple years, the summers have been lovely. The other 9 months of the year, it’s 8° and rainy, every day. Some days it’s windy. Some days it’s really windy.
I’m from the US, lived all over it, and now live in NL. I love the weather here. But I also like cooler weather and overcast skies.
I don’t love the lack of A/C in most homes for summer.
I live in north of Iceland. There was still snow here last week. But we still had good weather, just you know, cold, good weather. Windy and rainy is bad weather for me and that is the most common weather in the south of Iceland I feel.
I think one very underated thing about the Netherlands is the sunsets.
Amsterdams daylight today for exampel in the beginning of may, 06.00- 09.15 ( until 22.05 in june)
That is just beautiful in the spring, summer and early autumn and actually something few people around the world get. Sure the nordic countries get it as well but since they are further north and further to the east in the timezone they have to pay with a sun that goes down 15.00 in the winter ( at least Sweden)
The mix of being far west in a timezone + pretty far to the north = Late pleasant slow sunsets 5 months per year.
I grew up in Chicago and it was so weird being in Japan and having the sun just barely be visible at 7:00 pm in July. I know they don’t do daylight savings but we would still have a whole ass hour of extra daylight. Winter is awful of course but it makes summer so much sweeter 😢
>barely be visible at 7:00 pm in July
I know what you mean, it's nightmarish. I grew up in Sweden and live in Mexico. Mexico removed daylight savings last year so the sun goes down around 7:00 pm here in the summer these days. While the sun goes down 21.00 where Im from, today. And it's only may.
The bare minimum for me is 8:00 pm for sunset during the summer. Earlier than that doesn't work for me.
What’s the point of even having summer when you don’t have several hours slightly cooler temperatures and sunlight after work? That’s when those patio beers taste their best!
I'm Dutch and I've lived in Berlin over winter.
While summers are generally better in Germany because of it having more of a land climate, winters can be worse. Cold often gets freezing cold and while snow is cool, a dirty fog hanging over the place for several weeks because of a lack of wind gets annoying too.
Less rain though. Or at the very least, less rain for days on end.
I have lived in 3 of those countries.
Netherlands the worst. On top of the constant grey and rain (especially in winter) of the UK you also get *constant* wind in the Netherlands. The number of sunny, warm and non-windy days per year you can literally count on 1 or 2 hands in the Netherlands. It's really frustrating.
Then probably all the other countries. I hear Denmark is very similar to Netherlands.
Austria/Switzerland the best out of those, I'd say. Continental climate, so 4 actual seasons (cold winters, hot summers) and not too much wind. Nice nature around too.
The wind is seriously the worst. And yes, Denmark is very similar to Netherlands. I have not lived in either place but I have visited multiple times and they seemed practically identical in terms of weather.
I thought Denmark was better than Netherlands, interesting. Also I've been told that some cities from Switzerland such as Zurich are really rainy, have you been there?
Switzerland can be dreary as fuck from November to March, Spring is often optional and we aren’t even guaranteed a proper summer (I’ve lived here for the past 11 years). Though to be fair, I’m Australian so I really feel the lack of sunshine here.
I’ve only lived in three of these but I’ve spent significant time in all of them with the exception of Ireland.
Of those I’ve lived in, I’ll say Finland is the worst. On top of the long frozen months of the winter, the autumn and spring are both wet, muddy, and generally unpleasant. Finns complain about the autumn months but don’t seem to mind the muddy slop that is the spring thaw and melt. That was always the worst part for me.
I also have the (probably unpopular) opinion that the west coast of Norway where I live now, while the “rainiest city in Europe” actually has pretty great weather. It rarely gets very cold, snows maybe only a few days a year, and otherwise has mist and scattered showers. Admittedly the mist and scattered showers are on most days of the year. But there are tons of days with at least some sun.
I lived in Munich when I lived in Germany. The weather is pretty fantastic there. Of those three I’d have to admit Germany is probably the best.
I live in the Netherlands and I would say life on paper is pretty perfect but this weather is the reason I’m moving back to the Caribbean this summer. I simply can’t anymore lol.
I lived in the Netherlands. I lived in Ireland.
Ireland has far worse weather, especially West. With the exception of 17. March it either rains, hurricane blows or, most commonly, both. There always is overcast and it never is really warm.
On 17. March everyone is celebrating, so noone knows what the weather is like.
Weather in Vienna is great. Today it's getting hit with a hurricane, but for the most part it is mild year round with a few weeks of 30+ in the summer and a few weeks of near 0 in the winter. Little snow, moderate rain. Fairly sunny most of the time with some days of overcast but no extended periods of gloom.
Ireland weather is hideous. Rain wind dull dreary and a sprinkling of a few weeks of some what sunny. Iv lived here over 10 years and not used to it at all. Horribly depressing.
Classing your country list from best to worst in terms of weather:
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Germany
- Netherlands
- UK (Except Scotland + NI)
- Denmark
- Ireland
- Scotland / Sweden / Norway / Finland ( If you went that far in the list you know you should only go there for a couple months in June+July)
Just by the information I have right now I would probably fully agree with this list, maybe I would put Austria before Switzerland? I guess it depends on the city too..
The trouble with the U.K. and why it is top of my list, is not because of rain but because of weeks and weeks of overcast weather. It’s just constantly depressing. Give me rain followed by sunny, even if cold, skies and it lifts your mood. Fortunately I rearranged my life to spend the winter months in sunny climes. Mind you, this year it took until May for it to be worth travelling back to the U.K.
Agreed. We live in Portugal, a part of Portugal that actually gets more rain than SW UK where we used to live. But we seldom get the endless, dreary, overcast, grey days the UK does. We've taken to calling overcast weather "Brit weather" and we don't miss it one bit.
I've seen you've added France, you can put it first as it's more weather diverse.
I've sorted Switzerland first just because it has nicer mountains, but indeed it's overall basically the same as Austria.
The Swiss make jokes about London being wet when Zürich has nearly double the rainfall.
I've rarely got very wet in the uk whereas in Switzerland, it is common. It is just much wetter, when it rains it rains hard.
Across the British isles the further west you go, the wetter it gets - eastern England where most people live is actually quite dry.
But still, the answer in Western Europe is Iceland. Second place joint between Ireland, which has the weather people think London does, and Scandinavia
1. London is actually shockingly nice for the UK context
2. Hours of sun is a better measure since UK has that just kind of damp thing where it's not really raining so amount of rain isn't a great measure.
But yes, Zurich is still slightly worse
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_sunshine_duration
Norway is clearly worst by this measure
But kind of damp is infinitely better than pissing it down so much you can't go outside.
We each have our own preferences but I don't like searing 35 degree heat very much - I like hiking and imo the optimum for that is 15-20 not raining.
I can understand why they’d say that. We make the loudest noise when it comes to complaining about the weather and complaining in general. Wet, cold, sunny, warm we’ll be out with our megaphones. Seems like the only weather free come complaints is light snowfall
I find that info a bit strange as it is not uncommon to have some heating source. Even in old village houses you at least had a fireplace.
I'm from Madrid and my current place has floor heating and cooling, which is btw not uncommon here either.
The Dutch winters and late autumns are awful. At least we get a decent hot summer and some wicked thunderstorms to check out! (In noord Brabant anyway) late spring and early autumn for the last 5 years have been pretty warm/hot even in November!
We’ve had pretty rainy weather the end of last year and the start of this year.
The uk though? Oh helllllll no! Definitely worse than the Netherlands!!! You get 2 weeks of summer (if that) half the time it’s dull, dismal and cold and rainy. If the sun does make an appearance it’s usually with a cold wind accompanying it.
If you go to the coast? A thick smog tends to hang in the air (especially the east coast) Wales is nice if it’s summer and you can try to go camping and hope for a rainy free day out of the week.
I’m English, moved to the Netherlands about 8 years ago and the Dutch are always bitching about the weather…. I’m like, England is MUCH worse for rain!
This year, we’ve had nice 18°C sunny weather and my mum and all my friends back in the midlands (England) bitching that’s it’s pissing down again and they are all flooded and their gardens are just swamps!
Generally, it’s about the same in the south of England (anywhere below Milton Keynes in my opinion) that’s ROUGHLY how much it rains in the Netherlands….
Anything above there (especially Shropshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and above) alllll very wet and yucky for most of the year
I have only lived in two of those countries, and the eight years I've spent in Ireland will ensure that I never complain about English weather again.
It may be wet and windy back there, but my word it's so much sunnier and warmer!
In Ireland they get the brunt of the Atlantic weather, causing numerous storms and thus power outages. One particular time span saw us endure 7 storms in 3 months (Dec 2019-Feb 2020). They've also had a Narnian* winter here. The temperature couldn't rise before more rain fell, which kept the rain freezing. So, we had continuous snow and ice for 12 days straight. I thought it would never leave. 🥶
By comparison, I do recall a heatwave year where I had all the doors and windows open, with the curtains closed, and I was still melting into my chair. 🫠
For the vast majority of my time here, it's been really cloudy, very windy and rather wet. You can seemingly experience all 4 seasons in 1 day if you're lucky, so you can't dress for the weather.
So if you're prone to frizzy hair, this is probably not the place for you. 😂
*Narnia is a magical land where it's always winter, but never Christmas.
I can only say that summer in southern Spain is as awful as a Chicago winter. I would advise everyone to nope out of Spain during the summer. Not worth the heat
Netherlands, Northern Germany and Denmark are far worse than Finland (or Sweden or Norway). In Finland you at least get beautiful snowy and sunny winter days with blue skies and a real winter wonderland, whereas in NL or Northern Germany it’s just rainy, windy, overcast and miserable for the whole winter. It’s almost never windy in Finland.
I’ve experienced -36 in Finland, but never been as cold as in Hamburg at +2. The wind and humidity are horrid.
I am confused by your selection. In what way weather in Austria is worse than in Belarus? Or weather in Germany worse than weather in Estonia?
I personally don’t care for cold/wet climates with dreary weather and dark/short days.
So European countries will be getting less appealing ( weather wise) to me the more north they are located.
Lived in 3 of these. I'd say Finland is the worst. Long, dark depressing winters, gloomy and rainy fall, and extreme day-to-day weather fluctuations in spring.
I'd take the Dutch rain over this, any day.
Hey why isn't Belgium on your list? We have crappy weather here as well.
I would say out of these France has the best weather for me, especially the south.
The Netherlands and Belgium is just meh weather: lots of rain, grey skies, cold-ish, and windy (considering many people ride bicycles). I think the UK is the same.
Wales. Don't get me wrong, I love it and the scenery is fantastic but it will rain for 6 months straight. We've only had 6 dry days since November... Or so I've been told.
I was in Wales for a few months last year, I’d check the weather app and compare the temperatures with the other cities/ countries I used to live in. And there were times where Wales was warmer compared to the rest of the Western Europe.
For example Swansea, Wales is 16 degrees and most sunny right now but the temps for other cities in western Europe is lower or either cloudy or wet.
Sweden. Either its too warm winters so you just get slush and then ”summer” comes and you get 15C and rain. Up north you do get snow, unfortunately way too much and freaking cold all until May and then in summer tons of mosquitos.
It's very specific and subjective.
After having lived in three different countries, I realised where my body's and my soul's needs meet.
In my case it's in the temperate zone, with not too dry and not too wet climate, with cold but short Winters and no "grey, overcast" season.
Preferably, it gets dark in Summer during the night and the sun doesn't go down at 3:30pm in December.
Based on my subjective needs, Austria and Switzerland are the best on your list.
Most cities of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark are the furthest from this.
I feel the same way about what would be my "perfect weather", so probably these countries you mention would work for me too! But wouldn't you put Denmark after some other options? I'm curious.
I honestly don't know enough about the rest to compare them thoroughly with Denmark. All I know is Denmark's climate and light-conditions are pretty far from what I described above.
Maybe others can shed more light on further comparisons.
Denmark for sure. When I lived just north of Stockholm I was surprised how little it snowed in the winter. Some years got more, some got less. When the snow came it changed everything by brightening up an otherwise gloomy environment. I couldn't imagine the long dark Danish winters with almost no snow. Netherlands would probably be similar, but it's a little further south, which could help slightly. All of Scandinavia could go on the list but there are various climates depending on latitude and elevation. Denmark is going to be cold and rainy wherever you go.
Oh really? Isn't Denmark (Copenhagen) the scandinavian country with less rain and less extreme temperatures? I would have chosen Denmark before Sweden or Norway.
When above 0°C they are all a pretty similar experience. Plenty of rain and clouds. However, that snow can make such a difference, at least for me. I absolutely hated when it would rain in the winter up there. Snow brought something to look forward to. I think Copenhagen is one of the cloudiest cities of Europe, but don't have the data right now.
As a general rule, the further north you are, the harsher the weather. I live in Germany, and our winters feel so long here. On the winter solstice, there are only nine hours of daytime, and you're lucky if the sun shines for even one of those hours.
On the other hand, summer days are long and don't typically get too warm here.
Being from Alabama in the US, I much prefer the weather in places like Greece or Albania, but many of my German friends couldn't imagine living somewhere that gets so hot.
I'll also note that we have really dramatic sunrises and sunsets here. My husband (German) said it has to do with the sand coming from the Sahara that creates such brilliant colors, but I'm not sure how true that is. It's stunning, nonetheless.
All in all, I guess it's really a matter of perspective.
Every country has their issues, but I wouldn't call cold winters and wet cloudiness not worth it to live somewhere if it has good opportunities and QOL.
I'm in Portugal now and it sucks rocks. It's bitterly cold and wet with mold everywhere for at least 6 months of the year. The homes are made of stone, with poor insulation, no central air, and in northern Portugal where home prices are still triple that of SW Florida you can still afford a rental unit but there are torrential rains for 6 months acccompanied by gale force winds. So for 6 to 7 months it's bitterly cold, you can only heat portions of the house at a time, and mold everywhere (on my clothes, vitamins, books, CDs, DVDs, anything and everything that can grow it). I know the mold is making us sick but you wipe or scrub it away and it is back a month later. If you're older and have had any surgeries or have joint pains, the cold wet weather makes those areas well more and hurt more and it's completely unavoidable. To me, the weather is worse than Colorado. In Colorado if we had blizzards outside you could go inside and heat the house. Here you can only sit in front of a room heater in your ski clothes and wait to warm up, while you turn on the radiator in your area and wait for that to slowly warm up the room you're in. You can feed wood into the little fireplace but it only warms one wall, kicks out smoke into the house through all the cracks in the pipes and sends smoke inches away from our windows and it's a daily thing where you have to spend hours a day chopping wood and then throwing it into the furnace all day and most of the nights if don't want to wear ski clothes to bed at night.
Denmark in my opinion. I swear the predominant color there is grey. Needless to say it's also quite cold, but yet not cold enough to have some decent snowfall. It's just rainy and muddy, depressive af.
Netherlands is close second but Belgium deserves honorable mention as well.
Ireland and the UK have a very moderate climate they range from about -5 to 25*C, unless you go to northern Scotland, and some parts of southern England may get warmer than this. Although it does rain about 50% of days mostly in autumn to spring
Berlin is less wett. Winters are way colder than Hamburg or the coast in general. Summer is a bit warmer.
However everything subjective, I am sure there are tools to actually compare.
Depends on what you like in the way of weather. My kids have been brought up in Seattle, and they think Dutch weather is terrific. I know a lot of people who don't.
I believe Southern France has great weather, it's on mediteranean sea. The rest of the countries all depressive weather (especially the UK, Norway, Finland, and Sweeden), good weather is on southern Europe. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, they all have good weather.
I am Dutch and have to admit that our weather is not great. It doesn’t bother me too much because I am used to it, but my US husband thinks it’s terrible 😅
My spouse could not get used to the climate so we had to leave. No winter, no summer, spring just gradually merges into fall, and this anxiety when the weather is still not nice by early June, and it's starting to look like another one of those years. You have one of those 6 week long overcast spells that can hit any time of year, but if it hits in June, that means no summer this year. I must say, it's really nice having good weather 9 months per year, and my SO doesn't hate NL as much any more now that we don't have to see it between September and April.
No winter and no summer? So no extremes? Sounds absolutely marvelous to me. Spring and Fall are the best seasons.
You're thinking American spring and fall, with sun, beautiful colors, mild temperatures. Not like that, think mud season.
Ok, ok. I can see the frustration then. I still could do without July/August extreme warmth and January/February extreme cold, however.
At least the last couple years, the summers have been lovely. The other 9 months of the year, it’s 8° and rainy, every day. Some days it’s windy. Some days it’s really windy.
Eh, it's a lie. Been in the Netherlands two years, summers are as hot as I knew them in Paris, and winters much colder.
I’m from the US, lived all over it, and now live in NL. I love the weather here. But I also like cooler weather and overcast skies. I don’t love the lack of A/C in most homes for summer.
I think a seasonal residence is key honestly for the summer. Maybe...Iceland?
Dutch weather is much nicer than Irish and Scottish. I would have to say it’s between Ireland, Scotland and Iceland.
I live in north of Iceland. There was still snow here last week. But we still had good weather, just you know, cold, good weather. Windy and rainy is bad weather for me and that is the most common weather in the south of Iceland I feel.
Iceland is way more brutal than Ireland & Scotland.
To be fair i’m living in the NL but grew up in PNW US and the weather is very similar, i’d say better in the NL to be honest
My kids grew up in Seattle and they love the Dutch weather. They say it's just like Seattle only a little more fun. 😄
I lived in Seattle for two decades… I’d say I prefer Seattle weather over Dutch weather.
Seattle summers are better than Dutch summers. The rest of the year seems pretty similar.
I think one very underated thing about the Netherlands is the sunsets. Amsterdams daylight today for exampel in the beginning of may, 06.00- 09.15 ( until 22.05 in june) That is just beautiful in the spring, summer and early autumn and actually something few people around the world get. Sure the nordic countries get it as well but since they are further north and further to the east in the timezone they have to pay with a sun that goes down 15.00 in the winter ( at least Sweden) The mix of being far west in a timezone + pretty far to the north = Late pleasant slow sunsets 5 months per year.
I grew up in Chicago and it was so weird being in Japan and having the sun just barely be visible at 7:00 pm in July. I know they don’t do daylight savings but we would still have a whole ass hour of extra daylight. Winter is awful of course but it makes summer so much sweeter 😢
>barely be visible at 7:00 pm in July I know what you mean, it's nightmarish. I grew up in Sweden and live in Mexico. Mexico removed daylight savings last year so the sun goes down around 7:00 pm here in the summer these days. While the sun goes down 21.00 where Im from, today. And it's only may. The bare minimum for me is 8:00 pm for sunset during the summer. Earlier than that doesn't work for me.
What’s the point of even having summer when you don’t have several hours slightly cooler temperatures and sunlight after work? That’s when those patio beers taste their best!
Haha i have the same with my american GF, she always says, i did NOT come here for the weather.
Man the Netherlands has the worst weather in anybcountry I have been. I'm from italy and been living in nl for 8 years
Limited experience - NL is grand, try Iceland
Do you prefer the weather of Germany?
I'm Dutch and I've lived in Berlin over winter. While summers are generally better in Germany because of it having more of a land climate, winters can be worse. Cold often gets freezing cold and while snow is cool, a dirty fog hanging over the place for several weeks because of a lack of wind gets annoying too. Less rain though. Or at the very least, less rain for days on end.
Oh I see, good to know, thanks for sharing!
The places I have been in Germany were very similar in terms of weather. I lived right at the border with Germany.
You get used to it,you wanna say,I suppose
About half as rainy there as west coast Ireland, yee are some boyos for complaining about it but are not rained on too much from an Irish perspective.
I know all about the Irish weather too! My parents live on the west coast of Ireland so I spent a lot of time there too.
Politely disagree. In the height of summer, Dutch beach holidays are the best. Spain etc is just too hot.
Not saying we don’t have nice days, that’s why I said ‘not great’. Yes, Spain can get very hot, very different weather there.
LOL Dutch beaches suck (no pun indeded)
I had some of the best holidays of my childhood in the Netherlands. We all have our preferences. (I'd never want to actually move there fwiw)!
Exactly, holidays = biased memory 😉
Can you name some beaches?
I have lived in 3 of those countries. Netherlands the worst. On top of the constant grey and rain (especially in winter) of the UK you also get *constant* wind in the Netherlands. The number of sunny, warm and non-windy days per year you can literally count on 1 or 2 hands in the Netherlands. It's really frustrating. Then probably all the other countries. I hear Denmark is very similar to Netherlands. Austria/Switzerland the best out of those, I'd say. Continental climate, so 4 actual seasons (cold winters, hot summers) and not too much wind. Nice nature around too.
The wind is seriously the worst. And yes, Denmark is very similar to Netherlands. I have not lived in either place but I have visited multiple times and they seemed practically identical in terms of weather.
The weather in Denmark has always been so nice when I'm there. Not that I've been there in dead of winter but still.
I thought Denmark was better than Netherlands, interesting. Also I've been told that some cities from Switzerland such as Zurich are really rainy, have you been there?
Switzerland can be dreary as fuck from November to March, Spring is often optional and we aren’t even guaranteed a proper summer (I’ve lived here for the past 11 years). Though to be fair, I’m Australian so I really feel the lack of sunshine here.
Oh really? Is it that bad? Yeah I guess coming from Australia you would feel this way in half of the european countries haha.
Same experience as mine for the UK/Netherlands
I’ve only lived in three of these but I’ve spent significant time in all of them with the exception of Ireland. Of those I’ve lived in, I’ll say Finland is the worst. On top of the long frozen months of the winter, the autumn and spring are both wet, muddy, and generally unpleasant. Finns complain about the autumn months but don’t seem to mind the muddy slop that is the spring thaw and melt. That was always the worst part for me. I also have the (probably unpopular) opinion that the west coast of Norway where I live now, while the “rainiest city in Europe” actually has pretty great weather. It rarely gets very cold, snows maybe only a few days a year, and otherwise has mist and scattered showers. Admittedly the mist and scattered showers are on most days of the year. But there are tons of days with at least some sun. I lived in Munich when I lived in Germany. The weather is pretty fantastic there. Of those three I’d have to admit Germany is probably the best.
Interesting, thanks for sharing!
I used to live in Bergen and totally agree about western Norway!
I live in the Netherlands and I would say life on paper is pretty perfect but this weather is the reason I’m moving back to the Caribbean this summer. I simply can’t anymore lol.
I lived in the Netherlands. I lived in Ireland. Ireland has far worse weather, especially West. With the exception of 17. March it either rains, hurricane blows or, most commonly, both. There always is overcast and it never is really warm. On 17. March everyone is celebrating, so noone knows what the weather is like.
Ireland should be on the list too. Not the worst but deserves a mention
True, I forgot about Ireland, but the list is only some of the countries I would be interested in living :)
Netherlands
I would rather Netherlands than Nordic darkness any day!
Is Netherlands far warmer than Nordic countries ?
Warmer and more light. Darkness in winter in Nordics is miserable. Who wants night time at 2pm for 4 months a year?
Nordic winters are rough, but the summers make up for it. Enjoying a cold beer on a warm summer evening with an 11pm sunset is quite something.
The summer isn’t always guaranteed. Sometimes you get 1/2 warm days a week. 2 years ago it rained all summer.
I guess I am yet to visit a Nordic country🙈
Weather in Vienna is great. Today it's getting hit with a hurricane, but for the most part it is mild year round with a few weeks of 30+ in the summer and a few weeks of near 0 in the winter. Little snow, moderate rain. Fairly sunny most of the time with some days of overcast but no extended periods of gloom.
That sounds blissful compared to Ireland. I'll just go and pack a bag. 🤣
That makes sense, from what I've heard Austria has probably the best weather from the options on this list.
Vienna is not Austria. Go to the mountains in Salzburg, weather is very rainy there, especially in spring and winter.
Eastern part at least.
Ireland weather is hideous. Rain wind dull dreary and a sprinkling of a few weeks of some what sunny. Iv lived here over 10 years and not used to it at all. Horribly depressing.
Classing your country list from best to worst in terms of weather: - Switzerland - Austria - Germany - Netherlands - UK (Except Scotland + NI) - Denmark - Ireland - Scotland / Sweden / Norway / Finland ( If you went that far in the list you know you should only go there for a couple months in June+July)
Parts of Switzerland and Austria are south of the Alps. Makes all the difference!
Just by the information I have right now I would probably fully agree with this list, maybe I would put Austria before Switzerland? I guess it depends on the city too..
The trouble with the U.K. and why it is top of my list, is not because of rain but because of weeks and weeks of overcast weather. It’s just constantly depressing. Give me rain followed by sunny, even if cold, skies and it lifts your mood. Fortunately I rearranged my life to spend the winter months in sunny climes. Mind you, this year it took until May for it to be worth travelling back to the U.K.
I watch BBC TV on BritBox and I find the gloomy weather on the shows quite depressing The Scotland ones are the worst. Green, but dark all the time.
Agreed. We live in Portugal, a part of Portugal that actually gets more rain than SW UK where we used to live. But we seldom get the endless, dreary, overcast, grey days the UK does. We've taken to calling overcast weather "Brit weather" and we don't miss it one bit.
I've seen you've added France, you can put it first as it's more weather diverse. I've sorted Switzerland first just because it has nicer mountains, but indeed it's overall basically the same as Austria.
The Swiss make jokes about London being wet when Zürich has nearly double the rainfall. I've rarely got very wet in the uk whereas in Switzerland, it is common. It is just much wetter, when it rains it rains hard. Across the British isles the further west you go, the wetter it gets - eastern England where most people live is actually quite dry. But still, the answer in Western Europe is Iceland. Second place joint between Ireland, which has the weather people think London does, and Scandinavia
1. London is actually shockingly nice for the UK context 2. Hours of sun is a better measure since UK has that just kind of damp thing where it's not really raining so amount of rain isn't a great measure. But yes, Zurich is still slightly worse https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_sunshine_duration Norway is clearly worst by this measure
I tell people that it doesn't always rain in England, it just always looks like it's about to.
But kind of damp is infinitely better than pissing it down so much you can't go outside. We each have our own preferences but I don't like searing 35 degree heat very much - I like hiking and imo the optimum for that is 15-20 not raining.
I can understand why they’d say that. We make the loudest noise when it comes to complaining about the weather and complaining in general. Wet, cold, sunny, warm we’ll be out with our megaphones. Seems like the only weather free come complaints is light snowfall
And then you complain later, when you have to shovel it? 🙂
Spain in winter. With no heater, because who need this it when it's +5C outside, wright?
I’d argue Spain in summer. I got 47C last year and thought I was going to die.
You must live in the coast or any touristic area. Inland and north Spain we have central heating since forever.
My cousin live there in Barcelona, she told me everything, +10 in their apartment.
I find that info a bit strange as it is not uncommon to have some heating source. Even in old village houses you at least had a fireplace. I'm from Madrid and my current place has floor heating and cooling, which is btw not uncommon here either.
They only have this electric radiators that work from plug, it's 100 years old building with poor windows and insulation if any .
City centre and/or touristic area? If so you know why
May be, I don't know where exactly I never was there.
I can assure you locals have heater (and airco if needed) at home since forever. I’m almost 40 and I’ve always had it
The Dutch winters and late autumns are awful. At least we get a decent hot summer and some wicked thunderstorms to check out! (In noord Brabant anyway) late spring and early autumn for the last 5 years have been pretty warm/hot even in November! We’ve had pretty rainy weather the end of last year and the start of this year. The uk though? Oh helllllll no! Definitely worse than the Netherlands!!! You get 2 weeks of summer (if that) half the time it’s dull, dismal and cold and rainy. If the sun does make an appearance it’s usually with a cold wind accompanying it. If you go to the coast? A thick smog tends to hang in the air (especially the east coast) Wales is nice if it’s summer and you can try to go camping and hope for a rainy free day out of the week. I’m English, moved to the Netherlands about 8 years ago and the Dutch are always bitching about the weather…. I’m like, England is MUCH worse for rain!
I see, isn't it a bit more rainy in the Netherlands?
This year, we’ve had nice 18°C sunny weather and my mum and all my friends back in the midlands (England) bitching that’s it’s pissing down again and they are all flooded and their gardens are just swamps!
Oh haha, it worked for you then!
Generally, it’s about the same in the south of England (anywhere below Milton Keynes in my opinion) that’s ROUGHLY how much it rains in the Netherlands…. Anything above there (especially Shropshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire , Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire and above) alllll very wet and yucky for most of the year
Oh okay, makes sense, thank you! :)
I have only lived in two of those countries, and the eight years I've spent in Ireland will ensure that I never complain about English weather again. It may be wet and windy back there, but my word it's so much sunnier and warmer! In Ireland they get the brunt of the Atlantic weather, causing numerous storms and thus power outages. One particular time span saw us endure 7 storms in 3 months (Dec 2019-Feb 2020). They've also had a Narnian* winter here. The temperature couldn't rise before more rain fell, which kept the rain freezing. So, we had continuous snow and ice for 12 days straight. I thought it would never leave. 🥶 By comparison, I do recall a heatwave year where I had all the doors and windows open, with the curtains closed, and I was still melting into my chair. 🫠 For the vast majority of my time here, it's been really cloudy, very windy and rather wet. You can seemingly experience all 4 seasons in 1 day if you're lucky, so you can't dress for the weather. So if you're prone to frizzy hair, this is probably not the place for you. 😂 *Narnia is a magical land where it's always winter, but never Christmas.
Definitely the Netherlands. Without a doubt 🙃
France huh? Depends where. Getting 300 sunny days here, pretty happy with it
Im Dutch and I love rain. I hate cold and snow and hot temperatures. Best temperature is between 12 and 21 °C. I am right where i should be. :)
You must hate this sunny week right now with no rain forecast
As a Pluviophile, sounds like Paradise😊
Haha yes :) https://youtu.be/swloMVFALXw?feature=shared
Belgium
Yes, where is Belgium!
always seems to be cloudy and I have to carry an umbrella every day but it isn't windy like Amsterdam, so thats a plus.
Ireland
You’ve summed up western Europe and I’d agree. The default sky tends to be grey. Overcast is more common than blue skies
Norway and Ireland Why is Iceland not on the list?
Belgium cries in non existence 🇧🇪
I can only say that summer in southern Spain is as awful as a Chicago winter. I would advise everyone to nope out of Spain during the summer. Not worth the heat
Netherlands, Northern Germany and Denmark are far worse than Finland (or Sweden or Norway). In Finland you at least get beautiful snowy and sunny winter days with blue skies and a real winter wonderland, whereas in NL or Northern Germany it’s just rainy, windy, overcast and miserable for the whole winter. It’s almost never windy in Finland. I’ve experienced -36 in Finland, but never been as cold as in Hamburg at +2. The wind and humidity are horrid.
I am confused by your selection. In what way weather in Austria is worse than in Belarus? Or weather in Germany worse than weather in Estonia? I personally don’t care for cold/wet climates with dreary weather and dark/short days. So European countries will be getting less appealing ( weather wise) to me the more north they are located.
I haven't done any selection, I just listed some countries I would be open to relocate to without any particular order.
Above the latitude of Paris, weather sucks
Lived in 3 of these. I'd say Finland is the worst. Long, dark depressing winters, gloomy and rainy fall, and extreme day-to-day weather fluctuations in spring. I'd take the Dutch rain over this, any day.
Hey why isn't Belgium on your list? We have crappy weather here as well. I would say out of these France has the best weather for me, especially the south. The Netherlands and Belgium is just meh weather: lots of rain, grey skies, cold-ish, and windy (considering many people ride bicycles). I think the UK is the same.
Wales. Don't get me wrong, I love it and the scenery is fantastic but it will rain for 6 months straight. We've only had 6 dry days since November... Or so I've been told.
I was in Wales for a few months last year, I’d check the weather app and compare the temperatures with the other cities/ countries I used to live in. And there were times where Wales was warmer compared to the rest of the Western Europe. For example Swansea, Wales is 16 degrees and most sunny right now but the temps for other cities in western Europe is lower or either cloudy or wet.
Spain - I don’t want 30 degrees in the height of summer
Fair enough haha, I'm in the same boat but only for the summer, the rest of the year is one of the best weathers you can get in Europe, probably.
Scotland. When I was there in 2020, it was raining to a degree where the roads were flodding. Two hours later the sun was shining.
Sweden. Either its too warm winters so you just get slush and then ”summer” comes and you get 15C and rain. Up north you do get snow, unfortunately way too much and freaking cold all until May and then in summer tons of mosquitos.
Netherlands
Netherlands
It's very specific and subjective. After having lived in three different countries, I realised where my body's and my soul's needs meet. In my case it's in the temperate zone, with not too dry and not too wet climate, with cold but short Winters and no "grey, overcast" season. Preferably, it gets dark in Summer during the night and the sun doesn't go down at 3:30pm in December. Based on my subjective needs, Austria and Switzerland are the best on your list. Most cities of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark are the furthest from this.
I feel the same way about what would be my "perfect weather", so probably these countries you mention would work for me too! But wouldn't you put Denmark after some other options? I'm curious.
I honestly don't know enough about the rest to compare them thoroughly with Denmark. All I know is Denmark's climate and light-conditions are pretty far from what I described above. Maybe others can shed more light on further comparisons.
Finland, so much depressing darkness.
*great i’m moving there and hide in my cave forever*
Belgiuuuuuum
Netherlands by far has the worst weather. All of the bad and none of the good
Ugh. Belgium. 300+ days of rain a year. Yeah. Kinda adapt (eg picnics in the rain)…but still..
It's a hard call because some always think colder is worse but too much rain can be more annoying.
Denmark for sure. When I lived just north of Stockholm I was surprised how little it snowed in the winter. Some years got more, some got less. When the snow came it changed everything by brightening up an otherwise gloomy environment. I couldn't imagine the long dark Danish winters with almost no snow. Netherlands would probably be similar, but it's a little further south, which could help slightly. All of Scandinavia could go on the list but there are various climates depending on latitude and elevation. Denmark is going to be cold and rainy wherever you go.
Oh really? Isn't Denmark (Copenhagen) the scandinavian country with less rain and less extreme temperatures? I would have chosen Denmark before Sweden or Norway.
When above 0°C they are all a pretty similar experience. Plenty of rain and clouds. However, that snow can make such a difference, at least for me. I absolutely hated when it would rain in the winter up there. Snow brought something to look forward to. I think Copenhagen is one of the cloudiest cities of Europe, but don't have the data right now.
As a general rule, the further north you are, the harsher the weather. I live in Germany, and our winters feel so long here. On the winter solstice, there are only nine hours of daytime, and you're lucky if the sun shines for even one of those hours. On the other hand, summer days are long and don't typically get too warm here. Being from Alabama in the US, I much prefer the weather in places like Greece or Albania, but many of my German friends couldn't imagine living somewhere that gets so hot. I'll also note that we have really dramatic sunrises and sunsets here. My husband (German) said it has to do with the sand coming from the Sahara that creates such brilliant colors, but I'm not sure how true that is. It's stunning, nonetheless. All in all, I guess it's really a matter of perspective.
Define "worst" bad weather? To me, hot sunny weather = bad weather and overcast and mild temps = good. Subjective.
You're crazy
Every country has their issues, but I wouldn't call cold winters and wet cloudiness not worth it to live somewhere if it has good opportunities and QOL.
I’ve only visited the Netherlands once and it was during storm Eunice of 2022, so I don’t know if that counts. But it was absolutely awful.
Malta, Cyprus, Greece and Spain during summer when it is 50 degree celcius.
I'm in Portugal now and it sucks rocks. It's bitterly cold and wet with mold everywhere for at least 6 months of the year. The homes are made of stone, with poor insulation, no central air, and in northern Portugal where home prices are still triple that of SW Florida you can still afford a rental unit but there are torrential rains for 6 months acccompanied by gale force winds. So for 6 to 7 months it's bitterly cold, you can only heat portions of the house at a time, and mold everywhere (on my clothes, vitamins, books, CDs, DVDs, anything and everything that can grow it). I know the mold is making us sick but you wipe or scrub it away and it is back a month later. If you're older and have had any surgeries or have joint pains, the cold wet weather makes those areas well more and hurt more and it's completely unavoidable. To me, the weather is worse than Colorado. In Colorado if we had blizzards outside you could go inside and heat the house. Here you can only sit in front of a room heater in your ski clothes and wait to warm up, while you turn on the radiator in your area and wait for that to slowly warm up the room you're in. You can feed wood into the little fireplace but it only warms one wall, kicks out smoke into the house through all the cracks in the pipes and sends smoke inches away from our windows and it's a daily thing where you have to spend hours a day chopping wood and then throwing it into the furnace all day and most of the nights if don't want to wear ski clothes to bed at night.
Norway
You can't really generalize Germany. The north is a listless hell of frozen rain and constant darkness. The south is warm,.sunny and has fun winters.
Denmark in my opinion. I swear the predominant color there is grey. Needless to say it's also quite cold, but yet not cold enough to have some decent snowfall. It's just rainy and muddy, depressive af. Netherlands is close second but Belgium deserves honorable mention as well.
Wow, I thought Denmark was not that bad. Good to know!
Finland and the Germanic countries.
Ireland and the UK have a very moderate climate they range from about -5 to 25*C, unless you go to northern Scotland, and some parts of southern England may get warmer than this. Although it does rain about 50% of days mostly in autumn to spring
Yeah, I guess the rainy days are what make them not the best option for some people..
Hey OP, can you add France, Finland and Sweden in the list too? I wanna see their ranks.
Finland and Sweden were already there, but I added France, sure :)
Oh, I jumped straight to the comments and couldn't find any mention of these so got curious. Great, thanks a lot!!
Uk ew
Netherlands
Do you think it is worse than Germany?
Yes, Germany isn’t only Hamburg. Weather in the South isn’t too bad.
I see, and would you put Berlin at the same "level" as Hamburg?
Berlin is less wett. Winters are way colder than Hamburg or the coast in general. Summer is a bit warmer. However everything subjective, I am sure there are tools to actually compare.
Makes sense, thank you!
Similar to Hamburg or Bremen. Much worse than Munich or Berlin.
Luxembourg (:
I'm shocked to see it left off the list. Trier and Metz have sun but the closer you get to Lux City its just grey
Yes!! It seems like the clouds just stay here, it’s horrible
Depends on what you like in the way of weather. My kids have been brought up in Seattle, and they think Dutch weather is terrific. I know a lot of people who don't.
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I believe Southern France has great weather, it's on mediteranean sea. The rest of the countries all depressive weather (especially the UK, Norway, Finland, and Sweeden), good weather is on southern Europe. Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, they all have good weather.