Lots of people come to Australia for the sunshine.

Does it make that much difference to your life?

And yes - the word ''weather'' is missing from one of the options. Never mind.

Lots to be honest.

I enjoy going to the beach, but living in Brisbane that means a 1 -1.5 hour trip so I don;t go as often as I might. However, sunny weather is much more than "going to the beach".

The result of a warm and sunny climate is all pervasive in how Australians live their lives.

It means our kids play sport; lots of sport, because it isn't raining, or cold, or the ground is hard, or frosty or muddy.

It means we have friends around or go to friends more because we can just have them sit outside in the back yard and throw something on the BBQ without the stress of planning dinner for weeks in advance.

It means you ask your friends to go camping.

It means your kids friends come round and play in the pool, and not just play on the Playstation.

It means suburban streets are "full" every morning of people of all ages taking exercise, jogging, walking with friends or walking the dog and keeping fitter than they might otherwise.

It means getting out and doing stuff outdoors and appreciating nature.

It means the beach in the summer, and bushwalks in the winter.

It means (in QLD) maximum daytime temps of about 20C (at wort) in the winter, with cloudless, bright blue, happy skies making for happy people.

It means when I am mowing my front yard (because it is sunny and it is not raining) that friends pass and toot the horn and wave. Some will stop and come in. Others will pass and return with 6 beers to share and have a yarn.

There are lots of reasons why the sun makes a difference, and few of them are about going to the beach, which I can't do when I am at work.

I love sunshine, and the heat - they are integral parts of life in Australia.

For most of the summer so far I've been in the pool after work, playing with my son and drinking beer. MO this afternnon is; get home, get changed into some swimming shorts, pop 3 Coronas, dive in.

I love it.

I love this aspect. Our house always seems to have the noise of children playing and having fun - which is music to my ears. Our neighbours across the road have just got a pool - and it sounds like their 4 kids live in it!

I'm a happy koala in the sun! I've always hated winter since I was a small child and even struggle now with the Mellie winter! We had a cold night last night and it dropped down to 18 degrees in our lounge and we felt really cold this morning

I really don't know how I would have coped this winter in the UK with all that snow. My worst nightmare is driving in snow and I had a 3 hour a day commute over there so I think I would have become agrophobic this winter!

I basically just seize up when it's cold...now if only they could make Aussie houses like UK ones in the winter (i.e. proper heating, insulation and decent double glazing) then everything would be rosy!

So yep, the sun makes a big difference to me!

I voted for "I don't mind sunny weather but I'd prefer a little less sunshine, thanks."

The Australian sun is my mortal enemy. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I am only happy when it rains, but I do prefer rain and snow to scorching weather and heatwaves.

I did not return home to Australia for the weather. If I had to choose between the UK and Australia based entirely upon their climates, I would choose the UK!

No.1 reason why poms emigrate

Second all of that, I actually exercised more in the UK ... happy was I tramping through the rain/snow ... now I find I'm delaying the bike ride until the chances of contracting terminal cancer are below 20%.

Bring on winter ...

We came to Perth because of the weather. And yes, the sun does make a huge difference to our lives.

This summer we've had 78 continuous days without rain, just lovely sunshine. And even when it did eventually rain it was "blink and you miss it".

Just the fact that nearly every day when we wake up it's sunny. And it's lovely and warm for so much of the year. Even in winter everything is green.

I am not wild about the hot north-easterly winds and humidity we get in Perth in February. But hey, even that is preferable to the long, dank, dark, dreary, wet and cold UK winters.

The snow photos from the UK this winter looked pretty. But I was so glad not to be actually living and working there during that winter.

Third that!

I actually got to dislike it, not so much the temps, but the intensity people say avoid the sun 10 - 2, if you look at the gov sunsmart UV alert its actually more like 8 - 4 most days.

The dislike became serious after a few years and the odd suspicious mole or three started. 2 of my sons and I have scars from skin removal. We do all the sunsafety things but as any dermatologist will tell you fair haried/skinned people were NOT designed for this climate.

The bottom line is skin cancer is thought of by most people as just a mole which can be chopped off, bit of a scar no worries - reality is skin cancer if left or even once removed can be the start of far more serious cancers. Sunday paper here was saying 16% of workclaims are now skin cancer claims.

I use the pool more at night than daytime, ditto beach , sports etc etc,

Yep, I loved chucking on warm clothes, solid shoes or boots and a nice big heavy overcoat to brave the rain/snow/wind or whatever else the weather was going to throw at me.

Overcast days are fantastic and I enjoy walking in the rain without an umbrella!

I need the sun and can't imagine getting bored with seeing it but who knows? We have plenty of grey days but obviously masses of blue skies and bright sunshine are the norm. Heat doesn't bother me, infact I can only think of about half a dozen days in the last four years when I've felt too hot. However being cold makes me ill. It's a no brainer for me.

After 33 votes:

75.76% Happier
18.18% Prefer a little less sunshine (living in QLD maybe ? )

3.03% No Difference

3.03% Don’t Like it

I personally vastly prefer the UK's climate - simply because the Summer's are pleasant rather than scorching and the colder winters, with Christmas and New Year, are actually quite a nice change that makes you enjoy and appreciate warmer conditions all the more when they are there.

An Aussie friend of my wife was staying with us when we were still in the UK and we were outside on a really warm day in Summer and she remarked how, even though it was hot, the sun didn't feel as intense as it does in Melbourne. Now I've lived here I can DEFINITELY see what she was saying!!

The Autumn colours in the UK are gorgeous and you simply don't get that in Australia. And before some smartarse posts a picture of a botanical garden somewhere in Australia - it's NOT the same so don't even try and claim it is.

Sun is nice, but it isn't always that good for you (I swear a lot of people ignore this fact) and can get a little boring. A clear blue sky stops being so appealing when it's all you see 95% of the time.