I have never fully understood why it takes so long for temperatures to increase after December 21st. We are effectively 3.5 months our from the shortest day and it’s only 10-12c, yet if you go back 3.5 months from the shortest day you are in mid September and temps are much warmer then.

Is it solely down to the temperature of the Atlantic being cooled so much during the winter months?

Earth tilt

10-12c? It was (literally) freezing here yesterday 🙂

Earth tilt

So does that mean although the days are just as long, the sun strength is actually weaker than at the same time in Autumn?

10-12c?

Yep. It’s a balmy 10-12c down here on the south coast.

The earth is like a giant storage heater – it takes a long time to heat up and to cool down. That’s why it’s colder in January & February than December as the cooling takes it’s time. Similarly in the Summer – July and August are usually warmer than June.

Teef is right, but more precisely its mostly due to the thermal inertia of the oceans.

I’m with scotroutes – 12 degrees!? We had days colder than that in July last “summer”.

Global warming…

12 degrees? I’ve just scraped the morning snow off the car here in the midlands!

March temperature smashes 100-year global record

It’s all linked to Winter pothole size and people whining on about the state of the country.If there is enough of them,then their gloom and dullness keeps the temps down till May 😛 😈 😆

I blame Maggie Thatcher sucking the warmth from the ground to line her own coffin.

The cold is fine i just wish wiuld dry up.

Midlands is 2degree this morning..i will happily embrace 10-12 with no wind any day.

Coz we are an Island?
The sea is billions of gallons of cold water.
Takes weeks to cool down, and weeks to heat up.
The prevailing winds blow over the Atlantic and the cold sea cools them down.
When the Gulf stream is in full effect and the sea water temp goes up by 9’c the air is also warmed by this.

Some or none of the above may be true. IANAM

Concentration of electromagnetic spectrum not as concentrated and axis angle of the Earth.

Nothing to do with distance.

Combine that with weather and being on a island.

Or it’s just 5hit and appreciate the good weather.

At least no malaria or too many poisonous bugs.

and it’s only 10-12c

That is a summers day here, today’s conditions

When the sun is low on the horizon the UV power is massively reduced as it has to cut through the atmosphere at a shallow angle, making the atmossphere thicker and depleting the radiation.
In summer when the sun is high in the sky the UV rads hit at a much steeper angle so the atmosphere sort of thins , making it hotter quicker.
Think sloping tank armor for a simili ( sp )

It was trying to snow on the Quantocks at half ten this morning. 😕

The tilt of our orbit and low angle of the sun explain why the energy input to the Norther hemisphere is lowest in midwinter. But that doesn’t explain why the coldest days are after the 2st December

In December the Northern hemisphere is loosing heat faster faster than it the sun can replace it. It looks like this is true until late January. At this point we start add heat faster than we loose it. But things aren’t changing very fast. By the equinox, 20th March, the sun is increasing the rate at which we add heat at the greatest rate.

Because science.

You’re welcome 😆

I actually bought a copy of new scientist super space edition or whatever.. Very interesting.. The sea actually regulates the temperature of the land, if we had less sea, we’d see much more violent swings in temperature.

But that doesn’t explain why the coldest days are after the 21st December

Takes time for the sea to cool off / warm up around the UK, warmest/lowest sea temp lags longest/shortest day by about 2 months.

From what I understand, the earth is always radiating heat. After the 21st Dec, the earth is still radiating more heat than it is gaining from the sun. I think it is something like the 10th Jan before the northern hemisphere is gaining more heat than it is expelling. This then takes time to warm up the earth, so the earth is net gaining heat after 21 June, so it stays warmer into Autumn.