Melbourne is not cold!

[chisywhizzy]

Brisbane isn't humid, we were told how humid Cairns would be, the only time it's humid is between now and Feb. Darwin has higher humidity but again only in the wet season does it get bad.

Melbourne is great as you have 4 seasons in one day.

 

I don't what you consider humid? Brisbane gets very humid during the summer months. Queenslanders tend to say it's too hot for 6 weeks, too cold for 6 weeks and perfect the rest.

P.S

Try telling anyone in Brisbane right now it's not humid!

[Guest The Pom Queen]

I don't what you consider humid? Brisbane gets very humid during the summer months. Queenslanders tend to say it's too hot for 6 weeks, too cold for 6 weeks and perfect the rest.

P.S

Try telling anyone in Brisbane right now it's not humid!

Try living in Cairns and visiting Brisbane, it isn't humid lol

[Quinkla]

It may not get quite as cold as the UK, but pretty close. what you haven't taken into account is that there is no snug central heating keeping the house to a pleasant ambient temp of 20 degrees or so.... so in winter it may be 5 degrees outside, and maybe only 11 degrees inside without relying on expensive to run heating systems like reverse air con. This, in my opinion, makes winter just as hard as in the UK and was certainly my experience when I lived in Melbourne.

Agree totally. Winter lasts a long time and the lack of proper insulation and ineffective heating make it feel much colder than the UK, even though the temperature may be warmer.

[Petals]

I have lived here almost 6 years and have come across very few houses without central heating of some sort - mainly ducted. The difference here is not the central heating, its the thermal mass. Uk houses with brick interior walls retain heat much better than Australian houses with stud interior walls as the bricks absorb the heat during the day and release it at night.

 

If you are living in a house in Melbourne without central heating then I think you need to move!

 

BB

 

And we do not want anything that holds the heat here in Aus.

 

http://www.melbourneaustralia.org/climate-weather in a nutshell

 

I love Spring, Autumn and Winter in Melbourne not keen on the summer. Fortunately its only three months of the year

[akiralx]

Melbourne winters are nothing like as cold as the UK. I don't even own a coat here in Geelong! But then I am a hardy Yorkshireman...

[Melb3000]

Brisbane is very humid in summer. Maybe not quite as humid as places way up in the tropical north, but compared to anywhere in temperate locations it certainly is. Sydney is also significantly humid in the warmer months of the year.

 

Melbourne has never recorded a day above 23.5C in winter, going right back to the 1850s. There are very occasionally winter days above 20C in Melbourne but most of the time it's between 13C and 17C, especially in mid winter. Also, most places in Victoria are colder than melbourne in winter, even up in the north of the state around Bendigo etc. it is about a degree cooler on average.

 

On the ranges of VIC and most of southeast Aus, even at modest elevations of 400-500m, the average temperatures throughout the year are close to southern England. The only real difference is that there are more hot days in summer, and the hot days are hotter than hot days in England, and in winter cold snaps aren't as severe.

[PomCat]

I can't understand how anyone can seriously suggest that the weather in Melbourne is remotely like the UK. Sure, there are days when there are similar temperatures but by a long way the weather in Melbourne is far more pleasant than in the UK. I have lived around half my life in the SE of England and the other half in Melbourne, so I base my view on a fair bit of experience. Having said that, I do believe that a warm summer's day in England takes a bit of beating - it's just that there are way too few such days each year. And in all my years in Melbourne I have yet to scrape frost of my windshield before I can set off for work, let alone clear snow and ice from the paths outside my home (a regular occurrence for UK residents during the depths of winter). Just saying.

[mng75]

As a child in Melbourne I can remember my mum boiling the kettle to thaw my dad's windscreen before he went to work in winter, but I never had to do that myself so there must have been some cold winters in the 80s.

 

My first winter here in the UK I was in coat, scarf, hat and gloves from October to April. 9 years later and I make do with a coat from November to March, so I think I've acclimatised and I'll probably suffer a bit through January and February in Melbourne!

 

I love the unpredictability of Melbourne's weather, and I love the way Melbournians just get on with it. Torrential rain, massive thunderstorms, searing heat - doesn't matter if there's a footy game on. :biggrin:

[starlight7]

We live at the base of the Dandenong Ranges and we haven't had frost for years now. A few chilly days for sure but I can't remember seeing frost for a long, long time. We moved here in 1992 and for the first couple of years we did get light frost. Before that we lived in a neighbouring suburb for 18 years- no frost there, either. We did get hailstones a few times and they looked like snow . We have had a number of really hot days but the worst was the day of the bushfires a couple of years ago- felt very menacing from the moment we got out of bed (we live in a bushfire prone area) Our daughter's house went up, horrible day.

[fish.01]

I get cold just watching the Melbourne forecast on the telly :eek::biggrin:

[sally04]

Quoting temperature figures is one thing, experiencing the weather is another. I suppose the reason I started this thread was to say that in my view, although Melbourne weather is more like the UK e.g seasonal with colder winters and not as humid as other states, after being here for over 5 years I have seen bright blue skies and sunshine most days. Even in winter, although its cold, during the day there is often blue clear skies. Of course it's not year round sunshine and I wear a winter coat and boots during winter. But, I don't think people looking to migrate should be thinking that Melbourne is just like the UK in terms of its weather as I don't think it is. Equally probably don't come to Melbourne if you want the lovely all yr round sunshine!

[salpro]

Totally agree with you, I love the weather in Melbourne and couldn't stand endless sunshine in the northern States. Moved from Scotland so anything is better than there!

[Quinkla]

Of course it's not year round sunshine and I wear a winter coat and boots during winter.

Indeed - and although it is technically summer we have had the heating on this morning. I remember two years ago - my first Christmas in Australia - we had the heating on all day.

[jimmyay1]

I moved to Melbourne a month ago and so can't talk with any authority on the climate through the year yet, but if you take November to be , say the eqivalent of May in the UK, then there's no comparison really . Generally it's been much more sunny than the UK is with several hot days (30+) and a couple of days mid 30s - it was 39 last saturday.

Sure it changes regularly but the cool changes bring the temps down to 17-21 degrees, not 10 - 12 degrees, which can happen up to mid June in the UK. Also the humidity has been much lower, and visibility clearer.

 

In addition, under the hot airflows, even if only sustained for a day or two, temps barely cool at night, and overnight temps can be well in excess of 20 degrees, sometimes 25 or even more. This never ever happens in the UK, even under a prolonged 2 week heatwave, never mind a one or two day spell.

 

Will take some time to adjust though i have to say, the way the airmasses which constantly do battle here bring so many changes in temp from day to day and within days, but it's good to know you'll get relief from boiling heat after a couple of days. As an amateur weather enthusiast there's an awful lot to be interested in in Melbourne !

 

One thing people might want to bear in mind however is that in Melbourne ( i think probably rest of Oz too) , double glazing, insulation, and central heating basically don't exist, and if you've been used to it, you'll need to adjust to that - so when the temp falls, you do feel it. Believe it or not i was wearing a sweater in the house on Wednesday evening, despite it having being 39 degrees the previous Saturday! At least the baking heat was not retained in the house - All good fun!

[buzzy--bee]

Hi Jimmy, welcome to Melbourne!

 

Sure it changes regularly but the cool changes bring the temps down to 17-21 degrees, not 10 - 12 degrees, which can happen up to mid June in the UK.

 

I often say Melbourne is like London plus 10 degrees. Give or take, I'm about right.

 

Melbourne ( i think probably rest of Oz too) , double glazing, insulation, and central heating basically don't exist,

 

All newer houses should have all three. And aircon which is just as important. The older wooden places, lovely in character, are lacking in these essentials though!

 

BB

[fish.01]

One thing people might want to bear in mind however is that in Melbourne ( i think probably rest of Oz too) , double glazing, insulation, and central heating basically don't exist, and if you've been used to it, you'll need to adjust to that - so when the temp falls, you do feel it. Believe it or not i was wearing a sweater in the house on Wednesday evening, despite it having being 39 degrees the previous Saturday! At least the baking heat was not retained in the house - All good fun!

 

As a FYI there is quite a bit of insulation in houses. Could be a lot better and not as much as UK obviously but still a significant amount... especially in owned occupied houses as opposed to rentals.

[jimmyay1]

Hmm, yes - i'm in a rental at the mo , so probably seeing it from that point of view. Loving it all the same, and was never one to heat my apartment in London excessively anyway so i'm sure i won't feel particularly cold in the winter - i'm just acclimatising still to the see-saw temperatures!

[sally04]

As a FYI there is quite a bit of insulation in houses. Could be a lot better and not as much as UK obviously but still a significant amount... especially in owned occupied houses as opposed to rentals.

 

I can vouch for their being zero insulation in our rental! It's cold cold in the winter and excessively hot in the summer. Windows singled glazed and no air con and limited heating. That said, rentals I would say are pretty dire anyway, unless you rent a much more expensive property to get the higher spec of house. Though overall around Melbourne ( esp within a 20k radius) the value of rentals are IMO pretty poor, but then so are the values of the houses to buy!

 

i have felt so cold here in Melbourne during the winters, due to the poorly constructed houses. I was one for using the central heating at home in the UK and I really miss it!

 

I would be interested to know from people living in the newer built estates ( such as sanctuary lakes etc.) if the houses have double glazing? Would be great if they did! I expect they would have a higher building spec overall compared to the older style properties.

[Ken]

I would be interested to know from people living in the newer built estates ( such as sanctuary lakes etc.) if the houses have double glazing? Would be great if they did! I expect they would have a higher building spec overall compared to the older style properties.

 

I can confirm our rental apartment (part of the Edgwater estate and less than 2 years old) has double glazing. I suspect that the building regulations require it for new builds but I haven't been able to confirm this.

[buzzy--bee]

I would be interested to know from people living in the newer built estates ( such as sanctuary lakes etc.) if the houses have double glazing? Would be great if they did! I expect they would have a higher building spec overall compared to the older style properties.

 

We not only have double glazing, we have uPVC double glazing just like in the UK! But then I did build the house myself......

 

Some so-called double glazing in Australia is not worthy of the name. It's not just about having 2 panes of glass, it's more about the width of the air gap between them. 12mm is ideal, some of the cheaper ones only have 6mm and that has no more effect than single glazing. So if you are planning on buying "double glazing" then check this point. If it's less than 12mm, or the salesperson doesn't know, steer clear.

 

BB

[Melb3000]

The most southern mainland city, i.e. Melbourne, is at roughly the same latitude as Athens, Sicily and Cordoba in Spain, so as you can imagine from that fact, the winters are pretty mild at sea level, at least when comparing to central and Northern Europe. I don't know how common double glazing is in southern Spain, Greece, etc. but I would be surprised if it is.

 

There is more emphasis placed on keeping the house cool in summer than the reverse side of the coin. Sure it does get pretty cold, especially on the hills and ranges inland from Melbourne (where some towns/villages are as cold as southern England on average), but the general psyche is such that most people are more concerned about dealing with the heat than the cold.

[Melb3000]

I

One thing people might want to bear in mind however is that in Melbourne ( i think probably rest of Oz too) , double glazing, insulation, and central heating basically don't exist, and if you've been used to it, you'll need to adjust to that - so when the temp falls, you do feel it. Believe it or not i was wearing a sweater in the house on Wednesday evening, despite it having being 39 degrees the previous Saturday! At least the baking heat was not retained in the house - All good fun!

 

Central heating is common in Melbourne, particularly gas ducted.