Right now we have a one-day respite from a heat wave and in case you think this is normal, it isn’t really. I normally have to listen to people moaning about how bad the weather is in Frankfurt and how they miss the sunlight… Now, every conversation starts with a quick temperature check and a prayer for cloud cover and 20°c.

This is really unusual for Frankfurt. The summer is normally long and warm with a few ‘hot’ days (unless you are Aussie!) over 30°c. Average temperature for July is actually only 18°c, slightly warmer than London but always about 1-2°c cooler than Berlin. In the winter the average goes down to 1°c, so decidedly colder than London but also warmer than Berlin… You can see all of the monthly averages here for cities around the world.

It got me thinking when I saw a post on the Frankfurt Expats facebook group a few months ago. The opening post was as follows and really got the discussion going:

Hello expats!

I never seen anyone who brought this topic up before so I’ll talk about it.

I’ve been living in Germany for 2 years now and still couldn’t get used to the gray weather here 😞. 
Like really this winter was legitimately the worst on my psyche. I just feel like it’s weighing heavy on my heart 😕. For instance, I wake up, get dressed and head off to my Uni campus and still dark, cold, foggy out there ://.

Did you go through similar experience? Or it’s just me overreacting.

This certainly brought out the sympathisers, but it is also a matter of perspective. I grew up in the middle of England and find the weather here incredibly good. Temperatures are stable and predictable, and when it rains, it rains properly and then stops for a decent period so that you can get on with your daily life.

In fact, according to an article in the FAZ last year, Frankfurt averages 100 days more sunshine than London. Don’t know where they pulled that stat from but it there is definitely more sun and a brighter more consistent light than in the UK. A useful article from that trusted information source, Wikipedia, shows that during the summer months from May to August, Frankfurt averages 60 hours more sunlight than London even though the daylight hours are longer in London.

*Average hours of sunlight, source: wikipedia

But there is also credibility to the complaints of a dark depressing winter as Frankfurt also has less sunlight than Edinburgh! But at least it is better than Berlin 😉 …

*Average hours of sunlight, source: wikipedia