Australian weather: British expat in Perth shares shock at how cold winter is

Australia
By William

A British woman living in Australia shared her shock at the cold winters Down Under.

Gracie Jayne said she expected “sunshine and warmth” when she moved from the UK to Perth, but found herself leaving her coat on indoors because she is so cold in the winter.

The avid traveler has been living in Perth since March and sees her friends back home on social media enviously enjoying an unusually warm British summer.

She shared her displeasure in an online video mocking TikTok’s ‘Put a Finger Down’ trend.

“Put a finger down if you’ve been traveling around the world to Australia hoping for sunshine and warmth and days spent on the beach and now you’re here and it’s freezing cold,” she said.

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British expat Gracie Jayne (pictured) didn’t expect Australian winters to be this cold when she moved to Perth in March

“All your friends are home in England at festivals and in the sun and it’s the hottest summer ever and you’re freezing to death and you’re still wearing your coat when you come into the house.”

Gracie said her house is “too cold” because Australia “doesn’t really know how to do central heating” and the houses “freeze” because they don’t have radiators before she put her finger on it.

The expat’s clip was viewed thousands of times and many sympathized with Gracie’s dilemma and offered tips on how to deal with the Australian winter.

Expectation: She said she expected

Reality: Gracie said she's 'freezing to death' in her home where she has to wear a coat and isn't impressed Australia hasn't embraced central heating

Expectation vs reality: Gracie said she thought she would spend days of heat and sunshine at the beach, but instead she’s wearing her coat inside the house and ‘freezing to death’

Our winter lasts about two months. Not like 10 months a year in the UK,” said one woman.

‘I know! It’s crazy – it’s sooooo cold in the house, brrrrrrr – invest in a heated blanket and hot water bottles!’ advised a second.

“Yeah, no idea why the houses are so cold without double glazing or proper heating,” a third added sarcastically.

Others told Gracie to prepare for the hot summer months.

“Wait until summer and your friends will be really freezing and you’ll be complaining about how hot it is, even hotter than in Spain,” one man laughed.

“Enjoy winter while you have it, for summer is the damp depths of hell,” said another.

This isn’t the first time a Briton has been caught off guard by Australia’s cold winters.

Tembie recently moved from the UK to Albury/Wodonga on the NSW/Victoria border and revealed that ‘the biggest shock’ was how cold Australia’s winters are.

This isn't the first time a Briton has been caught off guard by Australia's cold winters

Tembie (pictured) recently moved from the UK to Albury/Wodonga on the NSW/Victoria border and revealed 'the biggest shock' was how cold Australia's winters are

Tembie (pictured) recently moved from the UK to Albury/Wodonga on the NSW/Victoria border and was also said to be ‘the biggest shock’ was how cold Australia’s winters are

The nurse said she was taught to believe that Australia was all “heat waves and wildfires” and that she should go buy a coat after landing Down Under.

Why is Australia so freezing cold? No one told me this, this has been a huge culture shock,” she said in a video.

British expat: These are the ten realities of moving to Australia

  1. You need to open a bank account and get a tax code, which can take a while before you can get a job
  2. Most jobs require you to pay to take a course e.g. RSA, white card etc
  3. Everything is so expensive and it’s hard to balance working and exploring because you don’t want to overspend
  4. Renting can be quite difficult as sometimes you need the renter’s history or huge down payments
  5. Australia is so far away from family with huge time differences
  6. Australia is huge and it’s hard to see everything
  7. The housing crisis has been the ultimate pain! There is no place to live! Finding places is so hard and there are so many scammers
  8. Greyhound buses get booked up quickly, so you should plan trips in advance
  9. Jobs are so oversaturated and hard to find! Even if you have good experience, you can still have a hard time
  10. It’s quite hard to make friends when you’re not partying and staying in hostels

“I’ve been here for a month now, I didn’t really research where I was going. I was only told by my agency ‘this is a job, this is how much they pay you,'” she added.

The staffing agency’s nurse, who has also lived in New Zealand, said she saw “dollar signs” and “ran” to the job.

“I didn’t do much research into the city I’d be in or anything like that.

“When I landed I was like ‘why is it cold?'”

‘I know you have winter, but I assume it won’t be cold.

“I know it’s stupid, but when you hear about Australia, you hear about bushfires, snakes, the extreme heat, the drought.

“Nobody ever tells you it’s cold,” she added in the TikTok video.

Tembie also explained that she “had to go buy a coat” because she was “so cold” at 9 degrees.

Many comments told her that Australia was “huge” with different parts with different climates.

While others warned that it was still autumn and would get much colder.

“We’re not in winter yet, so buckle up,” one wrote.

“Make the best of it, because in six months you will be singing a different song,” said another.

“It may not snow in the suburbs, cities, but the wind is coming from Antarctica, so it’s freezing,” a third commented.

“Honestly, even being from New Zealand I was still shocked by how cold it gets here in Australia,” added another.

“There is more snow in the Australian Alps than in the Swedish Alps,” another inquired.

‘I live in Albury and it’s getting colder, we’re only an hour away from the snow!’

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