Milhouse

That is true. The Max temp anomaly chart shows it was average or slightly above for most of England and Wales. For July it was only the east of England where the max was above average but i cant help thinking that the overall CET was influenced by the poor July experienced by the NW. There should be another CET station the other side of the Pennines to even things up.

This summer can be broken down into some quite distinct parts. June (up until the final 5 days) was almost always cool but at least it was on the dry side. When the Azores high looked like it was approaching it would always get pulled back west followed by northwesterlies. Then came a big change and from Late June to about 2/3 of the way through July it was decent with some stand out days producing some very warm conditions especially around the turn of the month. The last 3rd of July took a huge nosedive and was a throwback to 2007/2012 with some exceptionally cool and wet conditions. But from then on it has drastically improved again with minimal rainfall and temperatures consistently in the range 19-25c.

The garden is still looking at its best here, despite the familiar countryside scenes typical of late summer. Harvesting, ploughing etc. It really has been a great last 7 days here. The only daytime rain came from a brief shower on Tuesday evening. Apart from that its been consistently warm with plenty of sunshine.

And closer to the present day, Saturday is looking a peach of a day for much of the UK. Plenty of scope for warmth in the near, middle, and longer term.

With the GFS looking like this, i would be very suprised if we didnt get another warm spell lateer on this month. The set up is ideal for further areas of high pressure to push up from the SW. Both the GFS and UKMO looking very warm at t+144

The highest temperatures today seem to be concentrated around the East Midlands and East Yorkshire today. I can only assume the sun isnt out around the London area as temps down there are a couple of degrees down on those up here.

Im very content with the models too. Plenty of weather to get outdoors in without having to go out prepared for rain. Temps in the low 20s for my area will suit me fine. Milder nights than late July as well,

Once again its a decent summers day here. Certainly no cool feel to things with temperatures up to 21c. Despite rather a lot of cloud around theres some sunny breaks too so not too bad. One noticeble thing recently compared to the end of July has been how warm it has felt in the evening too.

That would bring a rapid turnaround in fortunes for the north west. 10C upper temperatures sat over southern England for much of the time, rising towards 15c as winds turn southerly at the end of the run. It really is a cracking run.

The Azores high still set to push in for the weekend

A ridge building across southern Britan on the UKMO. Close enough to deliver a lot of dry and warm/very warm condtions under 10c 850hps air.

It will be the first time this summer that we have seen a proper Azores high ridging across the UK if it ends up anything like the 6Z. A deep low passing across Iceland dragging in some very warm uppers from the SW under a very strong ridge of high pressure. Its almost the perfect example of the Azores high ridging across the UK.

Thankfully the outlook looks more summery with temperatures back in the low to mid 20s. A warm month is needed really to get this summer back up to average.

I must say, signs of high pressure ridging across the southern half of the UK and low pressure retreating back northwards towards Greenland are most encouraging. Despite not looking overly dry, its looking like a vast improvement over the dross of late July. Maybe August can rescue the summer this year?

Settled?

The last week was the coldest for 80 years though wasnt it.

And the mean, as you would expect, suggests something inbetween

It was only on the radio earlier that we arent gettting enough essential vitamin D from sunlight, but of course there are exceptions.

The 12z doesnt show as settled a picture for next weekend as the 6z showed. But the consistent signal emerging is for lower pressure to become established over Greenland.

Last week was like winter, getting into a cold bed having to huddle up to the covers to keep warm. Now i like that in winter, but in summer its an unwanted reminder that the house has cooled to such an extent due to the abnormally cool temperatures and lack of solar input.

The window of warm and sunny weather is only really 4 months of the year anyway. It never gets properly warm enough in April to still be in a tshirt in the evening, and by September it just isnt the same as it is in June and July. So i dont get what all the moaning is about.

The sun is out here Eugene, which couldnt be said for last week. The coldest last week of July since 1920 and also incredibly dull.

It felt like it as well, considering it should be one of the warmest weeks of the year.

Fair enough there will be some rain around this coming week but the way some people are talking about current prospects its like there hasnt been a pattern change at all. Gone is the cool, showery, autumnal conditions and its a much warmer and humid outlook, which i know itsnt to everyones tastes. But i just get the impression that unless we have a big fat high over us then we are somehow in an unsettled regime. Maybe those protesting that its unsettled can put a bit of meat on the bones of their summaries and say where and when its most likely to rain. We need a buzz word for the summer. Anyone remember last winters 'building blocks'

Im wondering if were set for a 2009 type August. The kind of set up that favours the SE with repeated ridging of the azores high across southern England and the proximity to the heat across the channel. But not to good for those in the NW. I would take an august like 2009 as it was quite dry around these parts.