The arctic wind off the North Sea is what changes everything for me. It literally transforms whatever other weather conditions already present. For example, a cold winters day of around 5 or 6 degrees centigrade feels like minus 5 or 6 when the wind factor is added. On a cold wintry day the wind does feel as though it is blowing straight through you. Even in the Summer, when the wind off the North Sea is present it can quickly become coat weather.
But this is where the people of the North East differ from everywhere else I've been in this country, indeed everywhere else I've been in the world. What you or I would consider cost weather barely raises a jacket in North East England. Walk through the local town centre on one of these minus-5-or-6-feeling days and many of the men will be wearing just a t-shirt and maybe a pair of shorts; the women often in a short-sleeved top. You definitely feel and look like the visitor from Outer Space as you walk around in a coat.
The next level is a trip to a football match for one of the local teams - Sunderland, Middlesbrough or Newcastle United. There will be thousands upon thousands of fans at the stadiums throughout the winter months wearing only the shirt of their favoured team. The weather can be frightful, the fans can have walked miles to get to the match but week in, week out the required outfit is a football shirt.
I went to university in another northern town, North West this time, and in my halls of residence I became friendly with 2 guys from the North East. One was from Newcastle and the other from a small town near Northallerton. We walked a long a cold, rainy and windy January seafront one night, about two miles to a pool bar further into the town centre. Being North Easterners, my friends wore their standard uniform of jeans and a t-shirt. When we got to the pool bar there were bouncers on the door (it was that type of town) and they stopped us.
"Not really dressed for it, are we boys!"
"Oh. We didn't realise there was a dress code."
"There isn't. It's just that it's bloody freezing and you two are wearing t-shirts."
And for me, this exchange sums up the North East, weather and clothing.
Temperature figures
The North East of England is noted for it's weather, usually as some sort of insult from those that live in the South. The temperature figures show a few differences but nothing life-altering. I've taken these figures from the Met Office website (what else have they to do now the BBC won't be using them) and you can search your own UK places here - http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/
I've used London and Newcastle as being indicative of the South East and the North East, although London figures will always be slightly skewed due to the size of the city and the activity levels.
London
I've used London and Newcastle as being indicative of the South East and the North East, although London figures will always be slightly skewed due to the size of the city and the activity levels.
London
| Month | Max. temp (°C) | Min. temp (°C) | Days of air frost (days) | Sunshine (hours) | Rainfall (mm) | Days of rainfall >= 1 mm (days) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 8.1 | 3.1 | 6.6 | 44.7 | 41.6 | 11.4 | |
| Feb | 8.6 | 2.7 | 7.6 | 65.4 | 36.3 | 8.5 | |
| Mar | 11.6 | 4.6 | 2.8 | 101.7 | 40.3 | 9.8 | |
| Apr | 14.6 | 5.9 | 0.8 | 148.3 | 40.1 | 9.0 | |
| May | 18.1 | 8.9 | 0.1 | 170.9 | 44.9 | 9.2 | |
| Jun | 21.0 | 11.8 | 0.0 | 171.4 | 47.4 | 7.4 | |
| Jul | 23.4 | 13.7 | 0.0 | 176.7 | 34.6 | 6.3 | |
| Aug | 23.1 | 13.8 | 0.0 | 186.1 | 54.3 | 8.1 | |
| Sep | 20.0 | 11.4 | 0.0 | 133.9 | 51.0 | 8.6 | |
| Oct | 15.5 | 8.8 | 0.4 | 105.4 | 61.1 | 10.9 | |
| Nov | 11.3 | 5.8 | 2.7 | 59.6 | 57.5 | 10.9 | |
| Dec | 8.4 | 3.4 | 7.6 | 45.8 | 48.4 | 9.5 | |
| Annual | 15.3 | 7.8 | 28.6 | 1410.0 | 557.4 | 109.4 |
Newcastle
| Month | Max. temp (°C) | Min. temp (°C) | Days of air frost (days) | Sunshine (hours) | Rainfall (mm) | Days of rainfall >= 1 mm (days) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 7.2 | 2.2 | 5.9 | 61.1 | 45.5 | 9.8 | |
| Feb | 7.3 | 2.2 | 6.1 | 81.6 | 37.8 | 7.6 | |
| Mar | 9.0 | 3.3 | 2.6 | 117.7 | 43.9 | 8.7 | |
| Apr | 10.3 | 4.8 | 0.7 | 149.9 | 45.4 | 8.2 | |
| May | 12.7 | 7.2 | 0.1 | 191.7 | 43.2 | 8.3 | |
| Jun | 15.6 | 10.0 | 0.0 | 183.0 | 51.9 | 8.7 | |
| Jul | 18.1 | 12.3 | 0.0 | 185.7 | 47.6 | 8.6 | |
| Aug | 18.1 | 12.3 | 0.0 | 174.9 | 59.6 | 9.2 | |
| Sep | 16.1 | 10.4 | 0.0 | 141.1 | 53.0 | 8.1 | |
| Oct | 13.2 | 7.7 | 0.1 | 106.2 | 53.6 | 10.7 | |
| Nov | 9.7 | 4.9 | 1.7 | 70.4 | 62.8 | 11.6 | |
| Dec | 7.4 | 2.5 | 6.5 | 51.9 | 52.9 | 10.1 | |
| Annual | 12.1 | 6.7 | 23.6 | 1515.0 | 597.2 | 109.5 |
There are differences, but they are subtle. Annual Average Maximum temperatures (daytime) are 3.2 degrees warmer in London, and Average Minimum Temperatures (nighttime) are 1.1 degrees warmer. Over the course of a year, London receives 105 hours more sunshine than Newcastle but only 0.1 days less of rain. One areas of real surprise was that Londoners experience 5 days a year more air frost than the inhabitants of Newcastle-upon-Tyne - which may well explain the t-shirts that Geordies insist on wearing all year round.
Wear what you feel you need to keep warm, but be aware on a visit to the North East of England that if you wear a coat then you'll probably be in the minority.
