Milhouse

Well i'd say we are in interesting times at the moment. Whats interesting me is the possibility of ending up with a month with record low rainfall or one of the driest in a long time. Add to that the endless posibilities for enjoying the outdoors its been a great month and goes a long way to compensate for the poor summer.

Here the grass in the back garden is taking on a yellow/brown look in places, bringing back memories of 2003.

What a lovely day its been. A max of 18.4c but at times it felt warmer than yesterday with a max 6c higher. Down to a quite chilly 13.4c now.

Last Christmas may not have been statistically a mild one but i remember christmas shopping on Christmas eve and being astonished at how mild it was. It seemed so strange that the next day was Christmas day, the day that in tradition is accompanied by ideas of frost and snow yet it felt almost Spring-like.

Currently 24.4 in a strong southerly breeze. Feeling very pleasant but i'm looking forward to much lighter winds from tomorrow onwards.

Just had a very heavy shower pass over with some impressive lightning as well. Still raining but a lot lighter and the temperature has fallen to 12.1c. Sadly it cut short my cricket practice in the nets

Despite recording the warmest August in over 10 years i was really disapointed by the lack of any quiet anticyclonic conditions. There always seemed to be a breeze which may have been welcome on the hotter days but ended up being quite annoying.

Very warm and sunny, 25.2c.

An acceptable June, a disappointing July and a wonderful August is how i'd describe the summer here. What has been very noticeable is the amount of average days temperature wise, especially during July. With the exception of a few days the temperature exceeded 20c on every day of the month but never more than 24c with the exception of the 5th. August saw more hot days with the highest temperature of the month being 25.6c which was also the highest of the summer. Overall a decent summer but could do better.

For me, if its too early in the season to get snow or a decent frost then i will continue to look for warmth which means right until the end of October i will be hoping for quiet anticyclonic conditions with pleasant daytime warmth. With the shorter days and the possibility of 16+ degrees all but gone i wont mind some gales and heavy rain. However i would really despise a wet and cold winter. A drier than average one would be great with some good snowfall thrown in and the odd milder day here and there.

Been largely cloudy so far today but with no rain yet. Some glimpses of sunshine lifted the temperature to 21.5c. Currently 20.5 and hardly a breath of wind.

I do love that still, humid feel to things and thats exactly what its like at the moment. 22.4c now after a joint highest max of the summer at 25.6c. Rather windy earlier on though.

Looks like today will be a repeat of last Wednesday but a few degrees cooler. Already 20.3c and rising fast. Clear blue skies and a moderate breeze.

We've been having wasp problems round here too and much worse than i can remember in previous years. I hear that the cause of the rise in the amount of wasps this year is the run of mild winters so less of them are getting killed off but i thought last winter was the coldest for a decade. If so then i will settle for a cold and dry winter with occasional snow as apposed to a rather mild one that i was innitially hoping for. Thats the only thing i dislike about the second half of summer is the flies. They are really out in force and i've got some bite marks on my leg to proove it after only being out in the garden for 15-20mins. Its a pity the best weather this summer has coincided with the period of greater numbers of flies/wasps so i'm hoping for a lovely May-July next year and August can probably be cool and wet and i wont be too disappointed. However i was thinking on Wednesday that there really should have been more days like this. The temperature peaked at 25c but it really could have got up to 30c and it would still have been pleasant as there was the most refreshing breeze. It really was the most perfect of Summer days but also when you could play football or do strenuous excersise without feeling too hot.

A prime example is 2004, the year i was doing my GCSEs. We had such a great start to June which sadly coincided with the exam period so for those who really put in some hard studying (i wasnt one of them) they missed the best part of the summer. From the middle of June it all went downhill which ruined my extended summer holiday. 2006 however, just after my A level exams in May/June, was superb. Not sure i would alter the summer holidays though but even though i've left school i still associate the kids going back to school with the nights drawing in and the impending arrival of Winter. Something i'd rather not think about.

Hopefully the rain will cease from making the headlines from this weekend onwards as i've heard too much of it of late. A moderate shower has just passed through here but before that the sun came out for an hour or two and the temperatures rose to 20.6c. I like having my window open on humid nights like what were getting at the moment but dont think i will be able to sleep with the rain thats forecast tonight. I look to be right in the path of the very heavy stuff.

The ecm12z is probably the closest we've come to a sustained settled spell in the last 3 summers. Apart from low pressure grazing the north of Scotland it is very much a run dominated by high pressure as apposed to low pressure close by which ruined most of July.

But theres been very little to get excited about with the exception of late June/early July so i still am very much looking for a decent August and maybe September. If i get my wish then i will enjoy winter more but if the summer peters out into a damp squib then i will spend most of winter reminiscing about past summers wondering if 2010 will at last be the year to bring us a hot one.

We are due a lengthy warm spell so i'll have 17.2 please.

It is looking increasingly warm by day towards the weekend and into next week. If we do see a gradual fall through the rest of the week it will be cancelled out by next week, before ending up slightly above where it is at present. Thats my prediction anyway.

Quite remarkable here now considering what was forecast. 20.4c the high so far and remaining dry with broken cloud.

Sunny spells, 18.7c.

Mostly blue skies with some wispy cirrus, 18.5c.

Rather cloudy with occasional sunshine, 20.9c. High of 21.4c

Summery weather does not always come courtesy of a huge HP stuck right over us. So what if there are a few showers now and again this week. I will certainly enjoy the promised sunshine inbetween and above average temperatures that are forecast for the south and east. 25c in the SE tomorrow is not to be sniffed at and, ignoring the 168h chart, the ECM does also indicate more settled weather and higher temperatures later on in the week.