Dark Evenings

I do not mind the earlier dark evenings, I am normally settled down by 6pm anyway watching TV, and trying not to drop off to sleep.
Curtains closed its cosy in my Anchor bedsit.
Mick

I am in the let's stick to GMT all year camp. We have modern lighting and heating and so are no longer reliant on daylight to work. The only way to get the length of daylight you like is to move.

I have kept my kitchen clocks on summer time, don't know why but it will be interesting as I've never done it before. The winter nights fly by in this house!

I love this time of year. #All I Want Is A Room Somewhere# My settee is at the side of the window and there are trees at the back of the garden. To see them going brown and orange and falling off in the wind is beautiful. It's needed really, to sweep out the old and hibernate until the new buds start to appear. To snuggle up with a throw, my wonderful pets, a radiator (no fire in this house), good tele and a view to watch nature, perfect. It's a good job this is online as I will never budge til Spring creeps under the windowsill.

I don't like the dark whether it be morning or evening. It reduces my driving because I would rather be out in daylight. I am not as confident as I used to be. I do like the Autumn ? leaves don't get me wrong, It's loss of confidence and night time driving that scare me so much. I think I suffer with SAD.

Craftycat you are wrong about the experiment being a success (1968-72 I believe), leaving clocks as GMT+1 was not liked by the majority of the population.

I personally like Autumn & Winter, ok I dislike the grey, miserable days but leaving the clocks 1 hour forward would not make any difference to that & the thought of it not getting light so early in the morning makes me miserable whereas dark evenings are a fact of this time of year. When I worked I always traveled to & from work in the dark - that would have been the same if we were still on GMT+1. It has nothing to do with it just being the farmers who dislike it, what about the building trade, other trades/businesses which work outside ?

I love crisp, sunny days in Autumn/Winter & get out as much as I can. Dark evenings mean I can sit inside without feeling guilty, catch up on jigsaws, embroidery, reading & catching up on tv. Spring & Summer I feel guilty if I'm not outside working on/sitting in my garden (you should see my house on the other hand no best not), at least in the darker nights & dull days my housework gets done properly not just "a lick & polish".

Love hearty home made soups/stews, hearty food without feeling guilty. I no longer drive in the dark so even in the Summer I have to watch the time if I go out.

This is me at this time of year:

Don't like the clocks changing, it seems to mess with my circadian rhythm

Don't mind autumn, I like the colours.

Do count the days until the 21st December.

Don't like not being able to hang washing outside.

Don't like big, heavy coats.

Do like a nice warm jersey and stretch pyjamas

I don't like the dark evenings, but I dislike dark mornings even more. Getting up is hard enough, without having to do it in the dark.

Not my time of year, loathe the dark which comes so early, and makes one feel isolated until March, there is no compensation at all today either, it is SNOWING, mind you we do live in Sweden, and thats no consolation either, but a good thing, I am off to the UK next week, no snow please!

dont mind the winter and dark nights as long aa we have dry crisp days and can get out. As not being able to trigger article 50 Kim, well it is demoracy it is right that the peoples choice (but only just!) is debated in Parliment by the members elected by the country and then the decision can be made and I say bring it on.

I love the 21st of December and get really fed up on June 21st. only thing i like about Autumn and Winter is i refuse to go out in the dark, so come 16:00 i am in my pyjamas

Well I agree about staying in with the fire & TV or a good book etc, but unfortunately I have to go out most weekday evenings to meetings, classes, rehearsals etc and I loathe driving in the dark, esp when it's icy, foggy etc, So roll on March!

I am going to get back into my jewellery making. I always feel that I should make the best of the better weather by working in garden or going out walking. The dark nights mean I can stay in and feel "guilt free"

I also no longer feel confident driving in the dark. Until I retired recently I dreaded driving home from work in the dark and on icy roads, especially as my school was in an area which seemed to have its own micro climate. There were a few occasions, when it snowed so hard we had to leave our cars and trudge home in the snow.

I love being in a temperate climate with four seasons! I thoroughly enjoy the cosiness of dark winter and opportunities to snuggle and read in front of the fire etc. www.visitdenmark.co.uk/en-gb/denmark/culture/art-danish-hygge

Equally I get excitied and encouraged by spring's newness and new shoots in the garden. Summer is probably my least favourite time of year, probably because I find it the most disappointing! Autumn, as now, with the fabulous colours and anticipation of winter is great too!

I am obviously a Winter person..just booked a Norwegian holiday in January!

One of the reason s we moved to Southern France. Long sunny autumns and doesn't get dark until 1800 hrs even in late December.

I absolutely love the dark nights. Time to catch up with friends or simply curl up with a good book in front of the fire. Glass of claret hit the spot too.

Simply cannot understand people who aren't similarly enamoured.

Love the dark winter nights.
Comfy warm PJS
Good tv or book
Hot chocolate and biscuits
And next month I will open a bottle of Bailys .....

I hate Autumn and Winter. Presently hanging on to the thought that 21st of December is the shortest day and it's all heading in the right direction from then on.

I remember in 60s when they tried to leave clocks alone for a couple of years & it was so much better.There was opposition from farmers that they had to milk cows in the dark but these days they have these parlours where the cows walk in when they feel like it & practically milk themselves & anyway if you just move milking back 15 mins a day for a few weeks they soon get used to it. Going to school in the dark is no excuse as they now come home in the dark instead.
I think it archaic & we should stay on Summertime all year. When I was working I never saw my house in daylight at all during the week & I hated it!You can't do housework in the dark.

I'm trying very hard not to indulge in angst about anything. Boy, it's difficult especially after having strong opinions on almost everything. Winter downside? Totally agree but - can't change it so 'go placidly'. Getting stressed albeit even slightly about things we can't change is futile. Save it for that which we can improve. My failure is such that I'm currently trying to control my FURY at this brand new legislation that parliament gets a say on article 50. So much for democracy! I think I'll go and do some painting for therapy. Here's hoping!..............

I love darker evenings, heating on, lamps lit, warm slippers, comfort food, lovely,
However, my DM was housebound for the last six years of her life and hated it getting dark earlier, she said it was because as soon as she closed the curtains, she felt sad. During lighter evenings, she'd see people out walking dogs, and we'd often take her out in her wheelchair, but once it turned cold and dark she felt lonely.
We bought her a 'Sad Lamp' so that she was getting some very bright light every day, which seemed to help a bit, and I use it now if we've had a run of a few dull days.
Winter misery is apparently a lot to do with serotonin levels, which can be low due to a lack of sunlight!
I have a friend who lives just north of Inverness, and she says the only thing that keeps her sane during the dark winter is the thought of the Highlands in the summer!

Then there is the difference in longitude, too, across the country from East to West. That increases the late sunrise by an hour or more from East Anglia to Cornwall or Argyll.

The country is not one single point that gets exactly the same sunrise, sunset, day length, amount of solar energy and light and warmth.

It is not due to the clock change that there are fewer hours of daylight, it is a natural phenomenon. There would be just the same number of (short) hours of daylight with no clock change at all, in either direction.

With no summertime, there would not be the abrupt shift back to normal, the mornings and evenings would gradually get darker, and we woulod adjust to it.

There is a general feeling in the south that we shoulkd have summertime all year - but why that and not Greenwich Mean Time all year? Summertime was a temporary expedient to con workers into making the most of the earlier sunshine in the mornings.

The difference in longitude of a few degrees makes a difference of an hour or more in the rising and settings times between the South and North of the country - at both ends of the day. There is a also a difference in the amount of solar radiation reaching northern parts of the country because of the curvature of the earth meaning that the rays have to travel more obliquely through more atmosphere to reach the ground.

I too hate and loathe dark evenings. Can't believe that I actually used to love them! Now they just seem endless and cold and lonely. And the run up to Christmas..........yuk!
Wish I could emigrate to the south of France until next April.

But you do have to remember that the time we have now is the REAL time. Summer time is when the foot is cut off the blanket and stitched onto the other end. Winter time is back to normal.

12 noon is by definition the time when the sun is at its highest point in the sky. Greenwich is the place that is taken as the noon time point for everywhere in the UK, and that is also the zero point for all the other time zones in the world, and for the map longitude references of the whole globe.

In midwinter the sun is still at its highest point at 12 noon Greenwich Mean Time. The reason it rises later and sets sooner is because of the latitude of this island, set as it is off the northwest of continent of Europe.

I myself don't mind the darker nights, but I have a friend who suffers from SAD syndrome. It affects her all year round so it's not really seasonal disorder. More likely to be depression but she insists she is not depressed.