What do you like about spring in the UK?

Posted by ArugulaRocket1@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 47 comments

It's 31C in southern Ontario (Canada) right now and feels like 35C. (In my childhood we would have been happy if it hit 17C mid-May.)

I cannot take such hot weather so soon so I'm keeping cool indoors with the AC on lol.

Would you please share something you like about (cooler) springs in the UK? It can be anything...favourite spring flower, bird sighting, outdoor activity, park to visit, festival,....

I'm partial to lilacs and bluebells and chickadees, but I hardly see chickadees anymore. The aggressive red-winged blackbird has taken over in my city! :(

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GeordieAl@reddit

As a Brit expat living in Ontario, just north of Toronto, I miss the British weather! My birthday is March 21st, and while in the UK I would be sitting in a beer garden, enjoying an afternoons drinking, surrounded by green grass and spring flowers, here in Canada, there has still been snow on the ground or falling from the sky on nearly every birthday! I remember one year walking to my local pub through almost a foot of snow, the streets were eerily silent apart from the occasional snowmobile tearing by!

And here I am tonight... with broken AC, sitting in my house which is currently 33C... fans blasting, windows open, but I can not get the temperature down. Was going to go out and get a portable AC unit... but it's Victoria Day and everywhere that sells them is shut!

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Unpleasant_Pheasant4@reddit

When I drive the long way home from work through the country roads and you can smell the fields for the first time in the year. Makes me oh so happy.

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skibbin@reddit

No chickadee's in the UK. UK weather is far more consistent year round, down south freezing temperatures are rare, especially in London. High temperatures do happen (40C) but it's very rare. It's far more likely summer will be 16C and raining. The UK doesn't get much rain, but it rains frequently. The winters are darker here due to us being further north. In Scotland during winter it's dark at 15:45 and doesn't get light til 8:40. Gets depressing.

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GeordieAl@reddit

Great tits in the UK

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skibbin@reddit

Also British robins are way better than north American robins

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GeordieAl@reddit

100% British robin cuteness factor is off the charts

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Hot-Box1054@reddit

That it’s not too cold and not too hot.

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Aphr0dite19@reddit

The trees in my garden burst into pretty bloom, and then as it sheds I walk through it like confetti 😁

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Dangerous_Hippo_6902@reddit

Life. Flowers bloom. Bees are buzzing. Trees become green again after winter. A bit of warmth/mild, even the occasional “hot” day. The grass is green. The sky is… sometimes blue.

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ArugulaRocket1@reddit (OP)

Lol. Is it really that grey most of the time? Which part of the UK are you in?

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PretendingIts1995@reddit

I feel like this question was targeted for me! I was born in the UK, grew up in Canada (southern Ontario specifically) and have spent my adult life moving back and forth between the two (been back in the UK for 4 years this time). My fav season in Canada is autumn, but without a question of a doubt, my fav in the UK is spring. Ontario doesn't get spring. It goes from freezing to boiling over night. I've literally experienced there still being snowbanks, with the air temp in the mid to high 20s because it happened so fast the snow hasn't melted yet! The gradual spring here in the UK is flipping gorgeous! Spring flowers like bluebells, daffs, crocus, etc, that usually only manage a day before dying in the heat in Ontario, and especially blooming trees like apple blossom and cherry blossom. I adore the "confetti" of blossoming trees. I love that feeling of the first day you can walk out without a coat. I love being able to open your windows wide and let in temperate air, rather than going straight from heating to A/C (also opening windows without having to have screens to keep out mosquitoes!) Also the days draw out much faster here, since it's further north than southern Ontario. So that wonderful feeling the first time you leave work and it's still daylight and then shortly thereafter you're sat in a beer garden with your mates, enjoying an evening pint at 8pm and it's still daylight. Bliss! (Now if the weather THIS YEAR would just cooperate with everything I just said, that would be grand! I'm sick to the back teeth with this wind and rain!)

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ArugulaRocket1@reddit (OP)

Yes! I lament the lack of a decent spring season here. You literally go from wearing a toque one day to shorts and a t-shirt the next. They have cooling centres open today for those without AC and in two days it shall be back to 15C (and I will be happier then lol).

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usedqueendream@reddit

mild weather and blooming flowers

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Sirlacker@reddit

Fuck all.

It's rained, been glorious sunshine and hailed, sunshine again then hail again. Same day.

Some days it's boiling. Some days it's freezing.

It's the worst season of the lot. Never know what to wear. Can't trust the weather apps. Can't plan outdoor stuff in advance. It's like the UK just glitches the fuck out in spring and never knows what season it actually is.

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Dashcamkitty@reddit

The days are getting longer and the trees in blossom are beautiful.

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MrMikeJJ@reddit

The rain! The snow drops come out first and look pretty. Wisteria also looks and smells amazing.

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coffeewalnut08@reddit

The flowers!

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Beneficial_Ear9631@reddit

The bright green of the new leaves on the trees and hedgerows. It's such a hopeful sight. And lapwings returning from their winter homes to nest in the fields.

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Blind_rat_rivers@reddit

The birds are singing, the flowers and leaves are back, it's sunny and hot some days, rainy and cold others... But it's never so hot it's uncomfortable. You can wear nice clothes and only need a light jacket if that. It's great weather for cycling when it's sunny right now. The lambs are out, everything smells fresh.

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Suspicious_Banana255@reddit

Spring is my favourite. I love early spring when all the plants start waking up. Love spring flowers, Snowdrops come first and I get excited to see them, daffodils are my favourite flowers with their cheerful yellow signalling spring has really arrived, then there are bluebells in late spring carpeting woodland floors, and I don't think there's anything more beautiful.

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OkTechnician4610@reddit

Fresh green of trees & new life baby birds etc. light early

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BongoHunter@reddit

The best thing about spring is the days getting longer after 2-3 months of both leaving the house when it's dark, and getting home in the dark.

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barkley87@reddit

It means summer is just around the corner

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ctrlaltdelaney@reddit

All weathers. All in one day.

And bluebells.

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ninjanoodle899@reddit

I'm not the biggest fan of spring but I do love when you look out the window and you can suddenly feel that after months of dark, cold, damp misery, winter is finally on the way out and everything feels fresh, everything looks a little brighter and life starts to feel a bit more manageable...and then summer comes and we all melt in the humidity 🫠

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GoatBotherer@reddit

It's not winter.

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JC_vee@reddit

The birdsong. The birdsong is glorious. You don't even have to be in the countryside. We have such beautiful choruses here. And Spring is when they sing their hearts out. They love this season..

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SnoopyLupus@reddit

I love the blossom, spring flowers etc.

But having lived in New Zealand, there, spring and autumn were the same. Most of the trees are evergreen. I got used to summer and winter being at opposite times of the year, but still get confused about autumn and spring.

In the U.K. they’re genuinely different seasons. New growth vs leaves dropping.

Never got used to it in NZ.

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Heat_Sad@reddit

Seeing the lambs bounce around farmers fields, birds singing every morning and evening, plants and flowers in bloom

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simplymondler@reddit

I love the lighter longer days. A little sun/warmth but not too hot. I love all the birds feeding their babies. I love all the colourful flowers.

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Skruffbagg@reddit

I like nature coming alive again after winter, particularly the bees and butterflies.

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JimmieSavsscumsock@reddit

Jumpers for goalposts, green and pleasant lands and a walk on a coastal path with the freshest air.

Careless caress of soft sunlight.

The UK is at its most beautiful in spring. In my opinion.

Good luck with the heat!

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Vivid_Employment8635@reddit

The temperature, it’s usually not too cold but it’s rarely hot enough to be uncomfortable (most of the UK is humid because of the sea so heat gets bad more quickly than in other places). Also, especially after daylight saving time begins, spring is our first taste of having daylight until a sensible time again after the long dark winter, so that’s nice.

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_flipsticks@reddit

My favourite season! Partly because spring ends up being warmer and drier than summer up north, lol.
Anyways, the little spring lambs bouncing around, curious calves out in the fields. All the flowers springing to life and the hedgerows full of bloom and colour again. Oh, and the longer evenings- the biggest win

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55thparallelogram@reddit

Being able to go out for a walk or run with light clothes but not be pissing sweat is nice, love when it's like 15-20⁰ with sunny spells.

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spicyzsurviving@reddit

Flowers in the park, blossoms on the trees, random heatwaves and sunny days that remind me better days are coming (they are, surely?!!!)

Also longer daylight hours- I’m in Scotland and it’s so lovely to have hours of light left after finishing work at 6.

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CharacterEye3775@reddit

It might get to 23°C here in Sheffield next week

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Background_Bug1102@reddit

It’s that fresh green haze on the trees as the leaf buds are popping and the evenings stretching out. In Scotland we’re just coming into the full colour of spring and the light is mellowing. My favourite season.

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Indium-103@reddit

It's fookin banging lad, there's loads of flowers to sniff, birds going mental, weather warning up - even the random intermittent heavy showers you don't mind, the rain drops glow in the sun, the heat of the pavement amplifies the soothing earthy petrichor, it's just fookin mint lad

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MarsupialPrimary8128@reddit

The trees. I love how the trees change during the seasons. The trees, the buds, the greens. Right now the weather isn't great, but the grey clouds with the different greens it does something! I absolutely love seeing the contrast.

But still come home and wrap up! It's just been a wet spring and unusually cold this year.

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