I'm from Canada and fly DAY VFR only, in the rain, snow, and since it's in the North, there is always deterioting visibility. I have the requisite 10 hrs with the bucket on my head and that taught me one very important detail...I CAN'T FLY IF I CAN"T SEE. And neither can any of you under the same details.
After we've made every student go through every conceivable decision making course (educational and the graphic, scare the pants off you pictorials) we should mandate that each pilot carry a lighter, some weiners , fishing rod and a sleeping bag. That way they have the option of a picnic which they would much rather do than face the ops manager or customer because they decided not to fly due to weather. For those of you in the UK ( which is so small yet similar weather conditions) you should carry a detailed map with all of the better pubs listed. That way you can ask yourselves "do I want to push this, scare the s##t out of myself (and that's only if I make it!) or do I want to go have a nice good mug of barreled beer and ground myself and solve this problem pronto!" Hey I've actually been to the UK and the beer is GOOD!
I've been there...I now carry weiners, and if it was the UK I would carry the map!! Keeps it simple for those of us who have read all that thick reading above but can't translate it in our thick skulls (we are after all wearing helmets right!) when it comes to crunch time.
A rather sarcastic reply but with a hinge truth, take it for what you will.
Fly safe all
BWB