No. The Gulf stream gives us warmer weather overall, at least in the western parts of Europe. I'm not sure how far east its impact reaches.
Dark winters and light summers are connected to latitude. The farther north you go (or south in the southern hemisphere), the bigger the difference is between summer and winter when it comes to hours of daylight.
Right on the equator day and night are exactly the same length all year round.
Oh, sorry, I worded that clumsily. I know how daylight length works. In fact, within Minnesota alone you can see a clear difference in midsummer between the length of days in the north compared to closer to the southern border, where I am.
I love the long summer days but can't stand the short winter ones. When I lived in Louisiana, which according to that map I posted is the latitudinal equivalent of northern Libya and Egypt, I never suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder. In fact, I didn't even know I had it until I moved back to Minnesota.
That's why Chrissi and I invented the holiday of Longerdays, celebrated on Dec. 22.
I'm not sure how I'd feel about the equatorial half and half. I'd love it in the winter, of course! But then I might as well go all the way to the southern hemisphere and visit Sheyne!
I've heard that climate change will eventually, or maybe even soon -- my kids' lifetimes, maybe -- will make the area around the equator uninhabitable.