I was trying to think of circumstances where the bad weather circuit is useful with the implicit assumption that you are not IR rated.
If you fly enough there are going to be occasions where the weather at your destination is beginning to worsen. So perhaps one scenario is staying below an overcast knowing you have a good escape route behind, but with the bad weather circuit enabling you to get to your destination. Another is with coastal strips. I can recall a few trips to Maypole when the Ha was coming in off the estuary and normal finals would have put me well and truly in the soup.
All that said you are often better not flying the whole circuit. If you are "sneeking" in under a low cloud base and competent enough to be doing so, then a join straight into downwind or even on one of the base legs is often more attractive - a sort of abbreviated bad weather circuit I suppose.
Of course some will say it is a recipe to get you into jail and some out of jail!
Finally, always remember when I had just learnt to fly - my then meantor, suggested on one particular day we have a look at the weather and see if a short fly in the local area was possible. Cloudbase looked horrible to me and I wouldnt have contemplated aviating. Up we went, and it was horrible in all directions. My meantor with IR, ATPL, ex RAF the full works wasnt going to fly on instruments that day. He was straight into a low level circuit, reamaining VMC of course the whole time, and back into land. Scarred me to death at the time, but just run of the mill for him
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