How much do UK adults really talk about the weather?

‘Nearly half of those we surveyed even admitted they secretly enjoy having a good moan about it’

Many UK adults admitted that the weather could put them in a bad mood (Getty Images)

The average UK adult spends 45 hours a year – almost two whole days – talking about the weather, despite regarding themselves as ‘dull’ for discussing it, research has revealed.

A quarter of the 2,000 UK adults polled confessed to always starting work-related client and colleague calls with chit-chat about the weather.

More than three quarters regard it as the perfect small talk because everyone has an opinion on it - but just over half secretly consider themselves to be extremely boring as a result.

How hot or cold it is tends to be Britons’ go-to topic, with half claiming that being the wrong temperature puts them in a bad mood.

And six in 10 admitted that it makes them less productive.

Stephan Lang, at Daikin UK which specialise in air conditioning and which commissioned the poll, said: “There are few things more British than talking about the weather.

“Nearly half of those we surveyed even admitted they secretly enjoy having a good moan about it.

“While on the one hand the UK’s mixed climate gives us plenty of small talk material, it also means that we need a sanctuary indoors where we can relax, concentrate and get things done.”

The study also found the optimum outdoor temperature for the public is a balmy 22C, compared to 19.7C indoors.

While Britons are three times as likely to want it to be hot all year than cold, it turns out variety is the spice of life, with many preferring the seasonal change to constant hot or cold weather.

That’s despite the fact more than half are guilty of demanding the sun come out, but then complaining it is too hot when it eventually arrives.

But almost two-thirds of adults find it harder to cool their homes down in summer than warming them up in winter.

Four in 10 of those polled via OnePoll have taken a cold shower to help them get through a heatwave, while others have taken even more extreme steps to help them get through a heatwave.

These included dunking their feet in iced water, sitting next to an open freezer door, sleeping with a damp towel over their head, putting their bedsheets in the freezer or even giving up altogether and spending the night in the garden.

SWNS