Weather in southern (SW, SE) England: How wet IS it?
 

We are scheduled to fly to London on April 30. We can cancel until 48 hours prior to departure.
I've been watching the weather forecasts for Wiltshire, Somerset, West and East Sussex for some time now. It looks as though the cool, wet weather will continue for the foreseeable future, according to the UK Met Office and some weather sites. But the language in their forecasts is so vague, equivocal and nuanced that I wonder if I'm getting the right picture,
Has anyone had first hand experience of recent days and/or this season generally in S England? Any insights to offer?
Our itinerary includes a lot of National Trust houses and gardens, but no trekking or strenuous outdoor activities. TBH,the NT website has spooked me, with its frequent warnings that "Parking is limited, as half our parking area is submerged." and "The rhododendron walk is currently closed because of dangerous muddy conditions" etc etc.

"But the language in their forecasts is so vague, equivocal and nuanced that I wonder if I'm getting the right picture,
Has anyone had first hand experience of recent days and/or this season generally in S England? Any insights to offer?"

They are 'vague, equivocal and nuanced' for a reason ;) Just no way to tell in detail. What it is now has no bearing on what it will be next week. What it happening on any day at Stourhead (Wiltshire) may be completely different than what's happening at Sissinghurst (Kent). Showers means that - showers. So rain but light and not everywhere. It could pour with rain on one side of a county and be sunny with fluffy clouds 10 miles away. Just dress with layers and have sturdy shoes and either a jacket with a hood or a small collapsible umbrella (or both) and you'll be fine.

There is simply no way of knowing what exactly the weather will be more than a couple of days ahead. The cool, damp weather could continue right through May or it could just as easily be hot and sunny or something in between.

What we can definitely say is that it has been a very wet winter and particularly so in the south and east. Up here in North West England, whilst it has been wet, it's been not much more than normal for us but the south and east is not as used to wet weather.

In my view it would be bizarre to cancel a holiday based on UK weather forecasts.

Weather in England could be called changeable, in the extreme. One day, for instance, walking a path in Gloucestershire, I had rain, sun & hail in the time it took to cross one pasture. And I was chased by a herd of cattle, but that was most likely unrelated to weather. Do as mentioned above, be prepared. On my walks I dress in layers with a rain coat on top & an umbrella, with a light daypack to carry them. If you’re considering cancelling for weather you may never see England & the beautiful houses & gardens you have planned, also my favorite things along with the walks. The rain is, after all, why it’s a garden- lover’s paradise.

When I posted just before the sun was shining and it was really quite pleasant albeit cool. It's now raining but I can already see that will stop in minutes and the sun will be out again. A forecast for today would accurately have said sunshine and showers but you would have been fine spending the day outside.

Today we had showers, hail and I felt very cold, yesterday sunshine and warmer, more like 12C. The SW is especially open to this problem as it sticks out into the Atlantic. Europe north is suffering a lot from rain this year. Climate Change makes our weather problems only more energy filled and more changeable.

As the saying goes "March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers".
Please don't even contemplate cancelling your trip. The countryside is looking more beautiful by the day.
Up here in North Yorkshire we frequently get 4 seasons in a day (it hailed as I drove home this afternoon, and this evening I sat in the garden with warm sunshine on my face).
I promise you'll have a wonderful trip.

^^^MmePerdu: “And I was chased by a herd of cattle, but that was most likely unrelated to weather. ”^^^
I’m still laughing at this‼️

" the language in their forecasts is so vague, equivocal and nuanced that I wonder if I'm getting the right picture," Was it ever thus!

We split our time between Oxford and London and for the last six months it has been the wettest I have ever know it. We have ponds in the grounds here that have been empty since we moved in 2.5 years ago - they are now full! There are still a lot of flooded fields around the countryside but we drove out through the Cotswolds yesterday and most places seemed to be drying out very well. I wouldn't worry overly re the National Trust warnings as place do dry out very quickly.

Currently it is unseasonably cold here The wether forecasts at the beginning of the week was dry weather all week.- it has rained every day. The coming week does seem to be getting warmer (by around 10c ) and dryer. March and April are notoriously wet months . May is usually pretty good.

"No such thing as bad weather - only the wrong clothes" Plan for the four seasons as suggested in the above post and you will have a great time.

I laughed, too, after I made it to the fence ahead of them. But not by much.

I’ve been in that situation a few times too and there’s plenty of relief after the event.

I hesitate to burst this bubble but actually every year on average 4 to 5 people are killed by cows in the U.K., and not all of them are farmers. Be wary of any cattle in fields you walk through, especially if there are calves there too.

What Bubble? I was under no illusion that they were smart enough to know they'd made a mistake. They were far away when I entered the field, then 3 seasons of weather & a stampede in a few minutes. Never a dull moment on England's paths in springtime.

My tutor from university was killed 4 years ago by cows. In his case, despite being pretty bright, he took a dog walking with him and the cows had calves with them. If you ever do anything as stupid as this, do not protect your dog, let the lead go and walk the other way to the way the dog is running. The dog will survive (probably) and so will you.

Thanks everyone for the advice and the insights. My takeaway from the discussion ls: There are never any guarantees with British weather these days - and especially this year - but being prepared for all meteorological eventualities can carry us through.

Because we come from chilly Canada, we usually choose our destinations for their great weather: S Italy, Provence, Andalusia, S Africa. We spend the winter in Savannah, Georgia to escape the Canadian cold. Even thinking about rain on a holiday is foreign to me nowadays, although we have both lived in England and traveled regularly to "the Mother Country" in the '80s and '90s.

Our last trip (May, 2017) to this region was a great success and I will hope for a repeat of that experience, though it may be somewhat wetter and cooler.

I will remember about cows in fields, too!!

"There are never any guarantees with British weather these days - and especially this year -" . . . has nothing to do with these days or this year. English weather is and always has been very changeable.