The good news is that the new EASA licence is likely to allow the standard VFR on to as per the rest of the world. For those that think this is a bad thing, I would point out that this is allowed almost every ware else and provided you check met and have a good diversion plan / plenty of fuel it works.
Rod1
It is often not realised that the old UK PPL and JAA PPL, as issued in the UK, permits flight in IMC as long as the ground is still in sight and a minimum 'flight visibility', which changes with altitude, is maintained.
The NPPL is different - it is a VMC licence so, for example, above 3000' a pilot must be 1000' vertically from cloud and 1500 metres horizontally away from it.
The EASA proposals are vague in this area and in responding to this consultation organisations such as the BGA have assumed that EASA is a VMC only licence with the lesser privileges of the present NPPL.
This is a serious limitation for gliders as the best lift is often less than 1000' below cloud base.
The consultation seems to specifically exclude any flight by PPLs in IMC as indicated in the extract below...
48. Finally, the Agency considers it necessary to refer here to the more general issue of the qualifications required for flying an aircraft in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC). This issue was raised several times during the development of the implementing rules, both by members of the FCL.001 rulemaking group and by stakeholders contacting the Agency independently. In this context, the most controversial issue was the future of the UK IMC rating, which allows the holder of such a rating to fly in IMC in certain UK airspace categories without having an instrument rating. After discussions with the FCL.001 rulemaking group, the Agency has decided to initiate a new rulemaking task on this issue, which has already been included in the Agency’s Advance Planning
68 and will be started after the summer. The working group for this task will review the existing instrument rating requirements and the training syllabus of the UK IMC rating. The Agency decided furthermore not to develop a specific cloud flying rating for sailplanes, which exists in several Member States to allow its holder to enter clouds with sailplanes and fly in IMC conditions. It is envisaged to include this issue when drafting the ToR for the new task mentioned here above.
The impact of the EASA PPL being pure VMC will leave holders of the JAA and UK PPL in a worse position than now and in the same position as the NPPL holders. Back to the point - if you are flying over broken cloud with the tops above 3000' there will need to be a very large holes for you to climb up through, or descend down, without going within 1000' vertically of the cloud, or 1500 metres horizontally.