The misty ruins of Odiham castle looked especially mythical this month as an “anticyclonic gloom” descended blocking out the sun.
The Hampshire village, home to around 4,400 people, recorded just 12 minutes of sunshine in the past 11 days, according to the Met Office.
November has been shrouded in fog thanks to a high-pressure system typically associated with summer months.
As high pressure comes with light winds, the fog has proven stubborn to clear, causing daytime mist and endless grey skies – described by meteologists as an “anticyclonic gloom”.
Odiham locals have spoken of the seemingly neverending gloom that descended on the village best known for its RAF base, canal trips and the ruins of a 13th-century castle where King John rode on his way to sign the Magna Carta.
One resident told The Independent: “It’s always like this. It’s just been dark and dull, really gloomy.
“I’m stuck in the office but it’s really not been very nice when I get a break.”
As forecasters predicted the windless, rainless, sunless murk which has enveloped much of the country to lift this week said the village had finally experienced a welcome break in the clouds.
She added: “We have had a crack of sunshine today which has been fabulous - it just lifts your mood.”
Lorraine Dior said: “The lack of sun definitely affects my mood. I hate it when it’s gloomy, grey and drizzling. Thankfully we had a bit of sunshine today.”
Another added, optimistically: “It’s just made it a little warmer and it has kept away the frosty nights.”
One local said: “I thought I was hallucinating this morning when I saw that bright orange thing in the sky.
“Me and my dog enjoyed a few minutes of the beautiful sunshine in the garden. No need to take vitamin D today.”
The Met Office says the “anticyclonic” phenomenon led to the UK experiencing, on average, only three hours of sunshine in the seven days up to Thursday.
In Rostherne, Cheshire, the clouds have parted for a mere 24 minutes.
And, with Scotland and the far north of England seeing slightly more of the sun than the rest of the country, people living in the south of England have seen just one hour of sunshine, on average, since the month started, Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said.
Mr Dixon said “atmospheric gloom” is when “high pressure traps a layer of moisture near to the earth’s surface and that brings a prolonged period of dull and cloudy weather, but with pockets of mist and fog as well”.
He said: “We’ve been locked into this weather pattern for a few days now and we’ve got a bit more of it to come. However, there is a change on the way, with brighter skies early next week.”
Mr Dixon said the “atmospheric gloom” is “unusual but not unheard of”, but has meant that the UK has so-far had only 5 per cent of the sunshine expected for the month of November by the end of last week.
