If you love sunshine, then British weather is bound to get you down at least sometimes. With not even a day of unbroken sunshine guaranteed in many parts of the country, are dreams of warm and sunny summer just a phantasy if you live in the UK?
Actually, no. As our list demonstrates, there are plenty of towns in the UK that can regular, consistent sun and mild winters. Sure, it still won't be the south of France, but some places really are much better for sun than others. Most of the places on our list are, unsurprisingly, coastal towns, but there's an outlier (you'll never guess), which proves that you can live in the UK and enjoy sunny summers.
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1. Bognor Regis: England's sun king
Bognor Regis will not beaten on the amount of sunshine it gets every year: an average of 1,921 hours. In comparison, parts of Scotland get fewer than 900 hours, which should give you an idea of just how sunny the West Sussex town gets. It's also eminently affordable, with a three-bedroom home obtainable for around £200,000.
2. Eastbourne, East Sussex: Brighton's bustling cousin
Brighton isn't cheap these days, but it's slightly less gentrified cousin, Eastbourne, is still affordable, with average house prices standing at just over £273,000 – over £100,000 less than the average house price in Brighton. And Eastbourne gets a tonne of sunshine: nearly 1,900 hours a year. What's even better, it has a gorgeous sandy beach to rival the Dorset beaches, and is right next to the glorious Seven Sisters cliffs.
3. Hastings, Kent: the sunny heart of The Garden of England
Lovely Hastings is enviably positioned next to some of the most beautiful nature spots on the south coast, including the Hastings Country Park and the 109-acre Alexandra Park. The town itself is pretty, with an old town centre. The amount of sunshine Hastings gets is impressive: 1,871 hours per year. The average house price is just shy of £254,000.
4. Central London: it's sunnier and warmer than you think
If you're debating whether to move to the capital and are worried it'll rain all the time, you needn't worry: London gets a very decent 1,500 hours of sunshine and temperatures on average five degrees warmer than Scotland. Summers can be scorching, with high twenties common. We don't need to tell you what you already know about the (extortionate) house prices, but – it's London.
5. Tenby, Wales: the Welsh Riviera
Is this the Cinque Terre in Italy? You'll be amazed to discover that this picture-perfect town is in South Wales, and it gets a whopping 1,667 hours of sunshine per year. The average house price is £214,540.
6. The Isles of Scilly: slow living and warm winters
The Isles of Scilly boast a temperate climate unusual for the UK, nestling in abundant sub-tropical vegetation that thrives due to the unusually warm winters (rarely below 10ºC). The slow pace of life here has tempted many people looking for a change – no town here is bigger than a Cornish village.
St Mary's is our top choice, with its own airport, bank, and shops. It's not the cheapest place to buy property, with a flat costing an average of £250,000, and a detached property £460,000, but once you've seen this stunning corner of the UK, you'll see why it's a popular place to live.
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