Moans, ramps and banter

[In Absence of True Seasons]

I've genuinely resigned myself to the cloud and rain now. 

Since July 2023 this is what we have predominantly endured. With only brief spells of dry / clear weather as a respite (Sept 2023 warm spell, and the Jan 2024 cold spell, primarily).

Everything is sodden. Took a walk over a local park yesterday to make use of the sunny day, and the ground was like sponge. Never known anything like it other than when I was hiking in Iceland.

We get 1 day or half a day with no rain (wooptie doo), then plunged back into multiple days of endless drizzle once again...so nothing actually gets a chance to dry out by any meaningful measure/degree and return to its natural, healthy state. 

It's a little surprising (or rather, not surprising at all, actually) how quiet the media, the Met office etc have been about this. Above average rainfall for nearly 8 months solid? Some of the wettest months ever recorded for certain regions of the UK, and in top 5 wettest overall? Why are the BBC/Met etc not doing the analysis posts (e.g. on their Twitter) like they do when there's prolonged dry, sunny and warm spells? 

Climate change is quite evidently making our country milder but also wetter, predominantly in the Autumn to Spring months. It's also quite evidently making our country capable of getting more extreme temps from May to Sept. Only one of these things is the focus though, and it's really frustrating to see very notable events like the July to present wet spell more-or-less ignored, but any anomalous warmth/heat/dryness in summer gets dissected and discussed until the cows come home. 

Rant over.

Hope everyone is enjoying more rain. We'll have it tomorrow as well. And the day after, looks like.

Edited February 13 by In Absence of True Seasons

[*Stormforce~beka*]

 SunSean 15c!? It's only 9c here ...

 In Absence of True Seasons July?! It has been since last March here! Clagshire!

[CharlieBear9]

 In Absence of True Seasons At least it's getting milder all the time.  A lot of people like that.

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 *Stormforce~beka* Yeah true, last Spring was very wet as well. I sort of discounted it because the 3/4 warm and dry spell from end of May to late June was lengthy enough in my eyes to feel like a "break' from the wet, cloudy conditions. 

But it's quite remarkable when you actually look at the past 12 months in totality. The only properly dry (or dry-ish) and sunny spells have been:

- Much of Feb 2023

- 3 weeks in June 2023

- The heatwave in Sept 2023

- The cold spell in Jan 2024

So, what, maybe 10 weeks out of an entire 12 months. Really, really poor going for those who like A) usable weather, and B) proper seasonality.

 

[In Absence of True Seasons]

 CharlieBear9 lol...yes. save that £ on never needing a winter coat.

Black Mould removal might become a solid career path too. Perks of living in what's basically a swamp - mild and moist.

Can't wait.

[kold weather]

This winter already into the top 60 wettest ever across the EWP zone upto 11th, so several weeks left and whilst perhaps mot thar stormy looking, there are a few weak-moderate fronts looking baked into the next 10 days.

Basically this winter has just been extended autumn, mild, borderline exceptionally wet, and at times windy, without being *really* windy for most..

[CharlieBear9]

 In Absence of True SeasonsI've been waiting for the river levels to fall so I can go fishing since about mid-October. The season ends in four weeks so I think I may as well forget it now. 

[Tom Montalbano]

But never fear fellow Coldies, help is at hand.. 

UK weather: Warning Beast from the East return with late-winter snow to cover Britain

Story by Nathan Rao • 2h

Our old friend, Nathan Rao has spoken and just to emphasise the depth of cold we'll experience, comes the following bone chilling chart!!:

Not sure that will "cut the ice" for us Coldies Nathan, even if there is any ice about to cut!!

Regards,

Tom Q. 

Edited February 13 by Tom Quintavalle

[Summer8906]

2024 is the year that makes even 2023 look good, so far.

It just seems to get worse, and worse, and worse.

Thursday in particular sounds like it could be quite possibly the worst late winter day I've ever experienced. Is oppressive humidity, dullness, heavy rain and temps in the high teens really typical February weather? Perhaps in the far south of New Zealand, yes. In somewhere like the UK it feels utterly unnatural and is probably as big an aberration from the norm as the typical conditions during winter 1963. Max temps ought to be around 7 or 8 this time of year.

February 2024 will certainly end up in my list of 5 most hated weather months of any name (any season), that's for sure. Not only because of it's endless dark, damp, dreary dull mildness but also that the endless mildness threatens to wreck spring flowering unless it turns cold fairly soon. But we are going through a sustained spell of mild, and mostly rather dull and damp, Februaries (recognising that 2019 and 2023 were dry). The last February that actually felt like a late winter month was 2018.

After 8 months of weather misery we are now threatened with a "spring" with everything flowering weeks ahead of schedule and potentially a spartan May, unless March and/or April are cold. I know I've banged on about this before, but really, give us a break! After a miserable summer, autumn and winter, last thing we need is a spring devoid of its usual natural beauty.

IMO we need a sustained period of cold weather now to save spring. Sorry to say it but I think what we need more than anything is a repeat of March 2013. Controversial I know but only sustained cold will knock back nature to how it should be. Then we can have an average April and May for temp, but dry and sunny.

Met Office still doing their "cold at days 14-28" theme in their outlook. Not sure whether to believe it though, and it continues to suggest the S and W are at threat of further wet weather. Will March be yet another mild, wet, dull month or will something change soon? This is really becoming a spell of historical significance, never before can I remember 8 months of mild, dull and wet on the trot.

Sorry, another protracted moan - but - we need a break!

Edited February 13 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

 In Absence of True Seasons absolutely agree. The main feature of late-2010s and 2020s UK climate is how utterly, utterly bland it is.

Mild damp dull winters.

Mostly fine springs (I will admit that) but spoiled by early flowering brought on by mild winters which makes even spring blander than it was. Springs were more beautiful when we had actual winter weather in winter.

Dull damp summers with warm nights and mostly coolish days (with occasional ridiculous heat spikes)

Mild dull damp autumns.

Very little going for it at all, except that we normally get a two-month period of fine weather sometime from March to June.

 

Edited February 13 by Summer8906

[raz.org.rain]

 Tom Quintavalle Nathan Rao I don't think he has a good reputation on these forums.

[78/79]

 Tom Quintavalle  Believe it when I see it,  the way things have panned out this year , I think I've got more chance of seeing Lord Lucan ride by on Shergar.

[Summer8906]

7 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Scotland often fares better than much of England in mid-late Spring and even early summer. 

Plus winter of course. I wouldn't like the 3.30pm sunsets that Scotland endures, but at least it would be actually wintry from time to time and might actually snow.

[Summer8906]

9 hours ago, cobbett said:

Thought we may have a decent cold  and snowy spell mid month onwards but please not a northerly - anything but that for down here

Northerlies in Hampshire in late winter? They're lovely IMO. Bright, sunny and cold.

Unlikely to happen knowing this winter but I'd welcome a long sustained northerly with open arms, ideally until around Easter.

 

Edited February 13 by Summer8906

[Methuselah]

 raz.org.rain I used to think he was a tosseur, now I know he's a tosseur! 

Edited February 13 by Methuselah

[Methuselah]

 78/79 Meanwhile I'm drinking cocktails with Elvis and JFK!

[WYorksWeather]

 Summer8906 The warm nights in summer thing is a bit exaggerated, to be honest. It is a general trend with CC that nights warm faster than days, but it's unarguable that summer temperatures have risen by day as well, and quite substantially. Almost every period from May to September now contains at least one heatwave where temperatures are widely into the 30s in the warmest counties, and upper 20s across much of the country for several days. Historically that was really not the case. Even a fairly poor modern summer like 2023 had the June and early September heatwaves. This was without any ridiculous heat spikes as well - we didn't see a spike into the upper 30s.

I agree though that if you like seasonal weather, both December and February in particular have really gone down the tubes in recent years. As I have mentioned a few times, February is now slightly milder than a 1961-1990 March based on the last 10 years, and this year is only going to continue that trend.

[stainesbloke]

 In Absence of True Seasons

Yucky period of weather in Central Europe too, loads of cloud and rain and unseasonably mild, too. Flood warnings again. Just horrible. Thank goodness we actually get proper summers here

[East Lancs Rain]

A lot of rain here over the next few days, but… Oh well, as usual, at least it will be mild! ️

16 hours ago, SunSean said:

What's the point in having 14/15 degrees if it's gonna be overcast. What a waste!

I would be happy with 14°C and overcast if it is dry with it. At least it would still feel pleasant. However in my location it is forecast to be 14°C but with heavy rain on Thursday… Now I do consider that a waste.

[raz.org.rain]

38 minutes ago, East Lancs Rain said:

However in my location it is forecast to be 14°C but with heavy rain on Thursday… Now I do consider that a waste

I don't think any mild fan would be happy with that, it's totally useless weather. Like I say, mild and rainy in winter is just a different kind of cold.

[baddie]

 Summer8906 This year so far is quite similar to 2017 so far. A lengthy dry spell in January with only a small sprinkling of snow. And a mild and dull February. I wouldnt mind a 2017 repeat, but with a better August and September

[East Lancs Rain]

 raz.org.rain I’m not sure, I reckon there’s a couple on here who might be happy with those conditions…

 

But 14C in winter even if raining is far from cold. Probably a bit too warm for a winter coat if anything. In summer I’d agree that temp feels a bit chilly but not in winter… After all, I remember plenty of evenings in July 2023 here where it was around 13-15°C, overcast and damp.

 

In fact Thursdays weather will not be much different from Julys weather at all as I took a screenshot of the weather forecast one day… High of 16°C and heavy rain was forecast on both Saturday and Sunday one weekend…

 

I read a comment in here about a couple of pages back saying how we should have called the country a different name like great  squelchdon or something. How about instead of England… Rainland. That seems like a more suitable name, especially at the moment.

 

I agree with the comments above that our climate, esspecially over the past 8 months, has become milder, damper, duller and wetter, with the temperature difference between seasons and day and night narrowing. The last 8 months in particular have felt very samey. The only difference is it’s EVEN duller and wetter than it was in July and instead of being predominantly 15-18°C, overcast and rainy, it is now predominantly 7-11°C, overcast and rainy…

 

It kind of feels like the UK has adopted the same climate of Ireland, which has an even more maritime climate than the UK. For example check out the climate of Cork for example (see screenshot below) which has average summer high of 17-19°C, average winter highs of 8-9°C, average winter lows of 3°C, with 204 days of year with more than 0.2 mm of rain, over 1200 mm of rain a year and a whopping 1427 hours of sunshine a year.. And it is one of the sunniest cities in Ireland apparently…

 

Imagine if the UK had a year where we had a repeat of January and February 2020, March 2023, April 2012, May 2021, June 2012, July 2023, August 2008, September 2017, October 2020, and November and December 2015! It would be an absolute nightmare and probably would the the dullest and wettest year ever, as well as being totally seasonless.

Edited February 14 by East Lancs Rain

[East Lancs Rain]

 stainesbloke Just out of curiosity, if you had to choose between having a Finland winter but with a Southern England summer, or a Spanish summer but with an Irish winter, which would you pick?

[Frigid]

 East Lancs Rain First option.. no questions asked. Possibly the perfect climate imo.

[Matty88]

Let's face it the persistant Iberian Heights have been the primary winter killer for most in Southern Britain - is this a by-product of El Nino? You suspect so.... 

If it wasn't for the Iberian High the cold could have dived much further South....   

Edited February 14 by Matty88