# Canadian weather vs uk weather



## Amber76 (Feb 11, 2014)

I'm hoping to move to canada soon with my kids with a work permit, I'm just a bit worried about the recent harsh weather over there? Anyone out there that can compare to uk? Thank you


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Where in Canada are you planning to go? Canada is a gigantic country (second largest in world) and consequently has numerous climates. The only place with UK type weather is in coastal BC.. What harsh climate are you referring to? Would it be like the flooding in Southern England. How much research did you do before selecting Canada? It experiences harsh weather somewhere in the country every year.


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## Amber76 (Feb 11, 2014)

Thanks for your reply.. It's going to either be Calgary or Toronto. The coldest Britain gets is around -5 degrees, I'm just hoping the extreme cold in canada won't be too difficult to get accustom to?


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## Amber76 (Feb 11, 2014)

Thanks for your reply.. It's going to either be Calgary or Toronto. The coldest Britain gets is around -5 degrees, I'm just hoping the extreme cold in canada won't be too difficult to get accustom to?


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

-5c with Britain's dampness has a much colder feeling than -15c here, believe me. Calgary's winters are more severe/colder than Toronto. There is no bad weather just bad clothing.


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## Amber76 (Feb 11, 2014)

Cool. I've heard about the difference re damp feeling here, thanks for the info it really helps. Will focus more on Toronto as the first step out as I also have friends in Brampton. Are you from uk?


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

Yes, from Glasgow many years ago. Wouldn't live anywhere else now.


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## Amber76 (Feb 11, 2014)

Brilliant  again thanks


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Amber76 said:


> Cool. I've heard about the difference re damp feeling here, thanks for the info it really helps. Will focus more on Toronto as the first step out as I also have friends in Brampton. Are you from uk?



I live in Brampton and our winter was cold as all hell this year, but it was an anomaly as we haven't had a winter this cold in decades.


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## Amber76 (Feb 11, 2014)

Thanks for the reply, did Brampton deal with the extreme weather well? There wasn't many accidents/fatalities I hope? I've heard Ca is more equipped to deal with winter


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## MarylandNed (May 11, 2010)

Amber76 said:


> Thanks for the reply, did Brampton deal with the extreme weather well? There wasn't many accidents/fatalities I hope? I've heard Ca is more equipped to deal with winter


Yes, Canada is much better prepared to deal with the weather. It doesn't make sense economically for the UK to have snow ploughs and salt trucks at the ready all winter. 

I lived in and around Toronto for 7 years. I didn't mind the cold at all. I saw more of the sky and sun in Toronto than I ever did in the UK. A cold day with a blue sky can be beautiful.

Also, as someone else said, it's more of a damp cold in the UK. The dampness gets into your clothing and makes it feel colder than it is.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

What do you mean by extreme weather?


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Amber76 said:


> Thanks for the reply, did Brampton deal with the extreme weather well? There wasn't many accidents/fatalities I hope? I've heard Ca is more equipped to deal with winter



Yeah, we dealt with it perfectly well as we are used to this kind of weather. Life went on as normal. The country doesn't stop over a couple of inches of snow like Britain does and, outside of something like a traffic accident (which can happen in any weather), we do not suffer fatalities because of some snow and cold.


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## Welcan82 (Aug 8, 2010)

As the others have said, it's really not all that bad. I'm in Nova Scotia, but we still occasionally see as low as -30 here and life goes on as normal. Like MarylandNed says, you get more sunshine here in general, I'd take colder sunny days over grey miserable days anytime. As for safety, people drive according to the conditions for the most part, and the majority have winter tyres, so the roads are probably safer here with 6inches of snow than the UK roads are with 2inches of snow.


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## conflict73 (Oct 18, 2013)

Welcan82 said:


> As the others have said, it's really not all that bad. I'm in Nova Scotia, but we still occasionally see as low as -30 here and life goes on as normal. Like MarylandNed says, you get more sunshine here in general, I'd take colder sunny days over grey miserable days anytime. As for safety, people drive according to the conditions for the most part, and the majority have winter tyres, so the roads are probably safer here with 6inches of snow than the UK roads are with 2inches of snow.


I'll second that. I'm in northern Alberta, Peace country. We have regular -25 daytime temps, windchill is what you need to consider. We have very little rain here tho, lots ofbig blue skies which is great. Very hot in the summer.
It may take some time to get used to the driving but put 4x4 on and you're ok in general.


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## PastyPete (Oct 13, 2013)

For the last 9 weeks I have been going back and forwards to Toronto and whilst it has been cold... Coldest winter for 10 years some say it's not an issue. In fact it's colder here at freezing then there at -15.

Minus 24 is very difficult to be outside in, would not go for a Sunday stroll how ever going to work supermarket and general day to day is fine.

You do need a hat scarf and good gloves, good padded coat and good foot ware, when all on its toasty.

The roads and pavements are cleared quickly and everything is open, trains run and road run.

It's sounds more scary than it is.

One definite though you need lip salve like you have never. Needed lip salve before....

He this helps


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Welcan82 said:


> As the others have said, it's really not all that bad. I'm in Nova Scotia, but we still occasionally see as low as -30 here and life goes on as normal. Like MarylandNed says, you get more sunshine here in general, I'd take colder sunny days over grey miserable days anytime. As for safety, people drive according to the conditions for the most part, and the majority have winter tyres, so the roads are probably safer here with 6inches of snow than the UK roads are with 2inches of snow.



I completely disagree with regards to winter tires. I've never had winter tires on a car in my life, nor can I think if a single person I know who has used them.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

PastyPete said:


> Minus 24 is very difficult to be outside in, would not go for a Sunday stroll how ever going to work supermarket and general day to day is fine.
> 
> You do need a hat scarf and good gloves, good padded coat and good foot ware, when all on its toasty.



Even that is not needed if you are just going from the house to the car, the car into wherever you are going, and then back again. I put a coat on the back seat of my car every December and it might get worn 2-3 times each winter...the rest of the time I am fine in a sweatshirt. And no I am not one of those weirdos who likes the cold, I actually hate it. The truth is that it is not nearly as bad as people make you believe. And, being a guy, I don't use lip salve either.


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## conflict73 (Oct 18, 2013)

colchar said:


> I completely disagree with regards to winter tires. I've never had winter tires on a car in my life, nor can I think if a single person I know who has used them.


It's not quite the same out west and the north, most drivers I know do have winter tires but that's because the roads aren't plowed or salted/gritted like east or even uk. Most people up here have trucks, that's a different matter in the snow, ha ha.
You'll be fine in Calgary tootaling around without them, if you're going to the mountains or bush in the winter then get them. They even fill them with nitrogen to help stabilise the temp of the tires.


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## Welcan82 (Aug 8, 2010)

colchar said:


> I completely disagree with regards to winter tires. I've never had winter tires on a car in my life, nor can I think if a single person I know who has used them.


Which part of Canada are you in? As I said, I'm in Nova Scotia and the majority run winter tires here, to the point where if you want to get your tires switched anytime from October to December, you really do have to book an appointment with a tire fitter at least a week in advance.

In addition, I have family who have lived in Ontario some 40 years and my girlfriend was born and raised in New Brunswick, and they too will say the same. 

Regardless of how many others do and don't use winter tires, I have experienced the difference on a number of occasions, and in a country that sees this much snow, I'd say they're well worth the money. Just my 2 cents...


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## Amber76 (Feb 11, 2014)

Lots of brilliant useful info, thanks everyone! It seems the stories are a lot scarier than the reality. Can't wait to get out there


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Welcan82 said:


> In addition, I have family who have lived in Ontario some 40 years and my girlfriend was born and raised in New Brunswick, and they too will say the same.





I live in Ontario, just west of Toronto (still within the GTA), and I couldn't disagree more (if you look at the info at the top of the post it indicates that I live in Brampton, Ontario). As I said, I have never once had winter tires on a car (I've never even _considered_ buying them) and nobody that I know uses them either. If one lives in an urban area like this, they are not needed as roads are cleared after snowfalls. If one lives in an area that gets a lot more snow than the GTA/southern Ontario then yes, they make sense but in the most populated area of the province the use of winter tires isn't as widespread as in other areas. 

I spent ten years living in Kitchener-Waterloo (roughly an hour west of the GTA), an area that gets a lot more snow than the GTA, and even there, I never used them nor did I know anyone who did. I have friends who live up north in Barrie and even they don't bother with them. If you have decent all-season tires and are an even remotely competent driver then winter tires are not needed in this area.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Amber76 said:


> Lots of brilliant useful info, thanks everyone! It seems the stories are a lot scarier than the reality. Can't wait to get out there



The stories are always scarier than reality. And as people have mentioned, we are a lot more prepared for 6-8 inches of snow than Britain is for 1-2 inches of snow and, unlike Britain which damned near shuts down over a tiny bit of snow, life here just goes on as normal.


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## Welcan82 (Aug 8, 2010)

colchar said:


> I live in Ontario, just west of Toronto (still within the GTA), and I couldn't disagree more (if you look at the info at the top of the post it indicates that I live in Brampton, Ontario). As I said, I have never once had winter tires on a car (I've never even _considered_ buying them) and nobody that I know uses them either. If one lives in an urban area like this, they are not needed as roads are cleared after snowfalls. If one lives in an area that gets a lot more snow than the GTA/southern Ontario then yes, they make sense but in the most populated area of the province the use of winter tires isn't as widespread as in other areas.
> 
> I spent ten years living in Kitchener-Waterloo (roughly an hour west of the GTA), an area that gets a lot more snow than the GTA, and even there, I never used them nor did I know anyone who did. I have friends who live up north in Barrie and even they don't bother with them. If you have decent all-season tires and are an even remotely competent driver then winter tires are not needed in this area.


Well I guess our experiences differ greatly in that case. I know a handful of people who feel that winter tyres are a waste of money, and that all seasons are just fine, but then they're normally the ones holding everyone else up on the highway when the weather gets bad. There's a reason why winter tyres are a legal requirement in some countries, like Germany for example. Anyhow, this is all my opinion, as I said. You're entitled to yours too.


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## colchar (Oct 25, 2011)

Welcan82 said:


> Well I guess our experiences differ greatly in that case. I know a handful of people who feel that winter tyres are a waste of money, and that all seasons are just fine, but then they're normally the ones holding everyone else up on the highway when the weather gets bad.



That is just silly. I have absolutely no problems driving on a highway in all season tires, none at all. I was out when our last big snowfall hit two weeks ago and I had absolutely no problem driving in it.


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## conflict73 (Oct 18, 2013)

colchar said:


> That is just silly. I have absolutely no problems driving on a highway in all season tires, none at all. I was out when our last big snowfall hit two weeks ago and I had absolutely no problem driving in it.


I don't think the principle is silly.
If they end up in BC then chains are mandatory in some areas for fixed periods of time in Winter. It's best to wait and see what part of Canada you end up in.


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## Auld Yin (Mar 10, 2009)

This thread is getting out of control. Differing opinions on tyres are a common issue with Canadians. No more silly arguing. The thread will be closed.


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