indiansummer

Good morning everyone

Firstly apologies if I am posting in the wrong section as it is my first time on here.

My husband and I are looking at relocating to the South Shore/Halifax area of Nova Scotia from the UK. We are popping over for a visit but this will likely be April, so I am not expecting the weather to be great and that is ok - we might as well see it at it's worst!! However... I am worried about reading about the climate in NS in general as we lived in Scotland for many years and although I love Scotland I hated the climate and could never move back up North for that reason (we are now in the South of England). Where we are now is def much better than Scotland was, but even the South of England is not known for it's lovely sunny climate!

I am not worried about it getting cold in winter as long as it is bright and crisp and would look forward to proper seasons. What I am terrified of is constant drizzle, constant cool days and constant overcast, grey, heavy clouds - I never want to do that again!

The beaches look lovely but is it warm enough to have a beach day, wear shorts and swim in the lakes? Google has thrown up a really mixed bag and we are non the wiser...
Thank you so much in advance from those who are perhaps there already and can give a realistic and honest summary?

Moses2013

Climate of NS has come up on several occasions and everyone will have their own opinion. Like anywhere, you will get microclimates and some people will love it and others will hate it. The reality is that depending where you are in the South of England, you might not find it an improvement and of course there are other factors to consider, such as how much sun your garden gets etc.


It would worry me, if you're already saying "South of England is not known for it's lovely sunny climate!". Actually, you'll find a lot of people in Europe dream of a climate like the South of England gets and even when you watch TV abroad, the mild climate and sunshine hours are always highlighted. It's pretty easy to find the official weather stats of larger towns, to get an idea, but again that will differ. Lived in the Channel Islands for a while and Jersey for example has hotter and sunnier summers than Halifax on average + less rainfall. Even in Jersey, some people complain that they don't always get decent summers and it's too cold, while other just enjoy. You could say that Halifax in winter, is like the average March in London from sunshine amounts, but a bit colder and wetter than winters in London. Just like the UK, some people in NS will spend the whole spring and summer outside or go to the beach, while others moan.

glendem4

The following website will give you a good summary of the weather in Nova Scotia https://www.livingin-canada.com/climate-halifax.html

It rains on average every third day - 136 days per year

If you hated the weather in Scotland, I doubt you will like the weather in New Scotland !!!

indiansummer

Thanks guys. I will need to see if I can find the other threads. I do actually quite like the climate here in the South of England but still find it difficult to compare NS to Scotland - it is on the same height as North Italy but also maritime....

I lived in Germany for a few years as a child and liked the climate there as more continental than the UK. German websites say NS has warmer summers and colder winters than Germany so I am finding it really hard to get any idea of what it really is like...

I see pictures of NS with clear blue skies and people talking about all the lakes ...I think I wore a T shirt in Scotland less than 10 x in 10 years.

It is the dull overcast days that worry me ... so is it grey and drizzly around Halifax every 3rd day?? Not sounding promising!!

glendem4

It all depends WHERE you actually live. We live in Bournemouth at the moment which has a micro climate all of its own. Weather here is very mild, although we DID have 2 days of snow this month - very unusual. In 6 years, we have only seen snow 3 times. Today, it is a beautiful sunny spring morning - 10c

We have also lived in Germany (Dusseldorf) and to be honest the weather is not much different from the south of England. In summer it can get 2-3c warmer in Germany.

Living by the ocean is a completely different from living on the mainland of Europe. Nova Scotia can suffer from the North Easters that blow up the eastern seeboard of North America. The ocean proximity helps keep the temp warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

If your main concern about moving is the weather, then I think you know the answer to your question.

indiansummer

Thanks. We would be based around Halifax/South Shore. Snow and cold does not bother me if bright and sunny. I totally accept that it will rain some days, it will be grey some days etc. In Scotland it was the norm.

There is a reason why the saying goes" Summer in Scotland is lovely - this year it was a Wednesday..!'

The climate there was awful.

looks like I will just have to check it out in April and then risk it if everything else fits..!

indiansummer

Sorry, currently in SE England.

Moses2013

Germany is a huge country, but even the sunniest spots are less sunnier than where you are now in the UK. The only difference, being inland you'll have less wind than on the coast and it will be a bit warmer. Every summer is different too + you were a kid at that time.




Unless you adapt/change your thinking, none of the locations mentioned will work for you.

The wanderer.

Nova Scotia does have some hot days in summer but it also has a lot of rain. I remember last summer it was going from really hot to a lot of rain to really hot. A lot of snow in winter.

Howefamily

NS isn't very big but where you live will affect your experience of the seasons.
We are central so have cold snowy winter's, sucky ugly spring, hot and humid summers and very warm Autumns.
Along the coast it can be cooler in the summer and have more fog.
You can certainly wear shorts anywhere in the summer. The sea off the Northumberland strait has very warm water July through to Sept. Look up Melmerby Beach.
South shore beaches are stunning sandy beaches but it's the Atlantic and the water stays cold.
I don't find it rains that much in summer, when it does, it downpours. Drizzle is not in my NS life.

indiansummer

Thank you Howe family, that is really helpful.

I am not sure how I meant to change my thinking? I am just trying to get an idea of what to expect. Perhaps unless you have lived in Scotland, you don't really understand what I am trying to get at with regards to overcast, grey and depressing days ...for months on end...

Even my Scottish husband who had never lived anywhere else has said he could not go back because of the climate!

I do not expect NS to be like the south of Italy! I also lived in Scandinavia and the summers there were beautiful despite being further North than Germany or the UK and one could swim in the lakes and although there were down pours there were lots of blue skies. Not sure I knew anyone who swam in a Loch in Scotland unless in a thick wet suit and slightly mad...!

The wanderer.

I've lived in Scotland, Germany ( north, south east and west, all were different), Scandinavia ( i don't know which country you mean but i was in sweden + estonia) NS is more like Scotland than any of the other's. I guess it's because of the Atlantic. I would find it more brighter than Scotland i.e clearer blue skys but more wet grey days than say southern Ontario or Kamloops.

Moses2013

It will again depend where you are in Scotland. No doubt that it will be extremely wet and grey in some parts, but Edinburgh is not that wet and I know people who swim in a loch.




The thing is that you can't change the weather in these locations and like anywhere the weather can be completely different, even just down the road. I'm in Ireland myself and while the mountains will be very wet, you can be 10kms away and enjoy dry weather with bright blue skies. Some summers we hardly had any rain, while others were wet. Even if it rains, I just drive to a place where it's dry (simple). Even in Germany, every summer I remember was different and this year winter in Germany was terrible. If you speak German read this: Wetter: Europa erlebt dunkelsten Winter seit Langem - SPIEGEL ONLINE


Some parts of Germany only had 30 hours of sunshine in a whole month.

indiansummer

Haha - you must be quite a chilled optimistic chap with regards to the weather... we were just north of Edinburgh! I suppose it does just go to show how bad weather for one does not feel like that to someone else.

The grey skies in Germany just seemed much higher up - in Scotland they felt like they were a meter above your head...I am painting a bad picture of Scotland here. It is a beautiful place (when the sun is out!)

...and you have crazy friends!

Moses2013

That's the thing and if you were already complaining about the weather in the drier parts of Scotland, imagine even more days of rain LOL
Well, the weather is changing everywhere and be it NS, UK, Germany, we'll just have more rainfall. https://climatechange.novascotia.ca/climate-data




It's never going to be like here, if that's what you want. And even the folks in Spanish Forum complain that this part of Spain is too cold and wet