Brits caught out by weather 11 times a year on average and blame unreliable forecasters, study finds

Widespread distrust of meteorologists prevalent as pedestrians routinely wrong-footed by sun burn and unexpected soakings

A spectator attempts to stay dry at Wimbledon (David Ramos/Getty Images)

The average Brit will get caught out by the weather 11 times a year, and its causing a lack of trust in the weatherman.

Soggy, sun-burned and dishevelled Brits are chancing it with the weather and losing, and just 13 per cent are willing to place their complete faith in what the weatherman predicts.

In the last year, three in 10 have found themselves wilting in sweat-sodden shirts and hiding unsightly patches after an unexpected heat-wave struck.

One in five have wrestled in the street with an inside-out umbrella when light rain graduated to a fully-blown gale.

And twelve per cent have had their trusty brolly totalled in a torrential downpour, leaving them to get soaked for the rest of the day.

One in six have had a good hair day turned bad by a rogue shower as soon as they stepped out the front door.

And one in four have found themselves squinting into the sunshine and hunting for cover after leaving their shades at home.

Greg Tatton-Brown from Online Casino Casumo.com, which commissioned the survey, said: “We are all familiar with the experience of looking out the window at uncertain skies and deciding whether to take a chance on the day’s outfit.

“The Great British climate is notoriously changeable, and making the wrong choice when you step out the door in the morning can mean a day soaked to the skin in rain or sweat, a wrecked hair-do or even sunburn.

“The real trick is deciding who gives the best odds on the forecast - your own lucky guess on the day, or the hit-or-miss prediction of the weatherman.”

Two in five Brits favour their own judgement on the weather over that of a professional weather prediction, but 38 per cent will admit they are regularly inaccurate with their own estimations.

All the window gazing, personal intuition and prediction-tracking still isn’t enough for 77 per cent of Brits, who agree British weather is unpredictable despite our best efforts.

At the very least, guessing certainly keeps us talking, with the average Brit engaging in an average of 42 discussions a year about the unpredictability of British weather.

One in seven weather-worriers believe they are more likely to over prepare for the possibility of bad weather, rather than get caught out.

Comparatively, a fifth leaves it up to fate to decide whether their outfit is fit for the conditions outside.

As a result, three in 10 Brits think they have become unwell from being under-dressed for the day’s weather.

A third find it easier to put an outfit together from their wardrobe when the weather is warmer, according to the survey conducted by OnePoll, but 44 per cent prefer a milder climate to give them more clothing options.

And 32 per cent think wet and windy weather is the most difficult condition to dress adequately for.

Sometimes style is more important than comfort, with one in three Brits admitting to wearing something wildly inappropriate for the conditions outside - because they liked how it looked on them.

Forty two per cent thought the weather in 2017 in the UK was warmer than usual, and over a third thought 2017 was a notably wet year.

During the recent December snowfall in the UK, one in ten felt the chill because they didn’t wrap up adequately enough, and one in five stayed warm and dry indoors instead of venturing out.

Greg Tatton-Brown added: “We thought it was amazing almost a third of Brits have put style ahead of practicality in the past. Sometimes an outfit is just too good not to wear in a flurry of snow.

“One in ten Brits took a chance on the snowfall in December and ended up with cold feet and frozen fingers. When we’re not checking it, planning for it or talking about it, the weather is catching us out.”

Online casino Casumo.com ran this survey to mark their Super Snowball campaign (rolling until 16 January), which offers players the chance to win a number of prizes from their weekly draw.

SWNS