Ever wondered why London seems permanently stuck in a cloud? Or, as we hear a lot of tourists ask, “Why is London always so gloomy?!”
London always looks so gloomy because of its location, topography, and the city’s high concentration of buildings and infrastructure. This is also a region often affected by the Atlantic Ocean’s moisture-filled winds, leading to cloudy and rainy weather.
If you want to learn more about why our city often has all the atmospheric charm of a wet mop, read on! We’ll break it down for you.
London’s gloomy weather
–Media from lauraacastelli
Now, you may be wondering why London seems to be cursed with perpetually dismal weather.
One reason could be its location, which puts it squarely in the path of weather systems that love to rain on our parade. Especially during winter, low-pressure systems from the Atlantic seem to have a particular fondness for charging into our city.
It’s like the heavens have a personal vendetta against us Londoners and are determined to keep us in a perpetual state of dampness.
Lack of sunlight
–Media from mattheweaton_
Now, you might be thinking, “But London is in the Northern Hemisphere! It should get plenty of sunlight, right?” And technically, you’d be correct.
But London seems to have a knack for hiding behind a thick curtain of clouds, even on the brightest of days. It’s like we’ve got our own personal cloud machine that never shuts off.
But why is this the case, you ask? Well, some experts believe that it’s due to London’s high levels of air pollution, which can create a haze that blocks out the sun’s rays.
Also worth noting is that London only has an average of 1,481 hours of sunshine per year, which is lower than many other European cities.
A history of killer smog
–Media from megtatehh
Smog is the not-so-silent killer of London’s sunny disposition.
If you’ve ever found yourself strolling down one of the city’s busy streets and thought to yourself, “Wow, this air feels thick enough to cut with a knife,” then you’ve experienced London smog in all its glory.
London has a long and complicated history of air pollution. Back in the day, when the Industrial Revolution was in full swing, factories pumped out smoke and fumes at a rate that would make even the most reckless of pyromaniacs blush.
And all that pollution had to go somewhere, right? That’s where smog comes in.
Smog is like a combination of smoke and fog that forms when air pollution combines with moisture in the air.
And in London, smog is so thick that it could block out the sun for days on end. It’s like a dark, ominous blanket that smothers the city and its residents.
A lot of high-rise buildings
–Media from architects_arc8projects
Picture this: towering skyscrapers piercing the sky like stubborn bean sprouts in a city allotment.
These giants of architecture, while impressive to look at, have a way of casting their long shadows across the city, playing hide-and-seek with the sun like a bunch of mischievous imps.
You see when you’ve got a skyline crowded with skyscrapers, it’s only natural that the sun’s rays struggle to penetrate the concrete jungle.
Those poor rays get lost in a labyrinth of glass and steel, desperately trying to find a way to brighten up our lives.
But alas, their efforts are often thwarted, leaving us with a perpetual dimness that can make even the chirpiest of Londoners turn a shade gloomier.
Intentionally grey architecture
–Media from tadkapastaa
Believe it or not, London has a penchant for the grey and the sombre.
Just take a stroll through the city streets, and you’ll find yourself surrounded by buildings that look like they’ve been drenched in a never-ending drizzle of concrete-coloured paint.
London’s architectural palette tends to lean towards shades of grey that would make even the most enthusiastic lover of monochrome weep tears of joy.
We’ve got grey facades, grey roofs, and even grey skies to match. It’s like the city planners got together and said, “Hey, let’s give the whole city a permanent filter of gloom!”
But here’s the thing: grey architecture can have a profound impact on our perception of the weather. When the buildings around us are as grey as a pigeons’ feathers, they absorb and reflect the light in a way that makes the whole city seem dimmer.
It’s like we’re trapped in a grayscale world, where even the brightest days feel as though someone turned down the contrast dial.
Claustrophobic urbanisation
–Media from antyapiuk
Now, urbanisation is like that nosy neighbour who moves into the house next door and starts rearranging everything, including the weather.
As London’s population grows and the concrete jungle expands, we find ourselves amidst a bustling metropolis, where buildings sprout like mushrooms after a rainstorm.
But here’s the twist: all these buildings, roads, and concrete giants have a knack for playing weather tricks on us. They conspire to trap moisture, scatter clouds, and create their little ecosystem of gloom.
It’s like they’re saying, “Cheerio, sunshine! We’re here to cast our shadows and turn London into the land of perpetual drizzle!”
So, as the cityscape grows, it disrupts the natural flow of air, creating wind tunnels that can whip up a frenzy faster than a London cabbie on a rush-hour dash.
And those clouds? Oh, they just can’t resist hanging around, hovering above our heads like a cheeky group of tourists who’ve lost their way.
Susceptibility to the Azores High
–Media from janzenmia
The Azores High is a large area of high atmospheric pressure located in the North Atlantic Ocean near the Azores Islands. It influences weather patterns in various regions, including London.
So, when this high decides to take a vacation and drifts northward towards us, it brings with it all sorts of weather shenanigans.
And by shenanigans, I mean rain – lots and lots of rain. It’s like the high’s gone mad with power and decided to drench us poor Londoners with its rainy wrath.
Proximity to the North Sea
–Media from vitaliijourney
The North Sea is just a stone’s throw away from good old London town, and like any good neighbour, it likes to pop over for a visit now and then.
And by “visit,” I mean it likes to bring its little friends – the storms.
So, when those winds from the North Sea sweep across London town, they bring all sorts of weather madness with ’em. It’s just another reason our city looks like a stormy, gloomy, gothic setting.
