SimonR

You come from Hounslow and you think we haven't had any good Augusts in London since 2003?! Blimey, you must be a hard person to please. 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2013 all had way above average daytime temperatures, no little sunshine (especially 2013), and apart from 2004 (which mostly came in the form of thunderstorms), were pretty dry IIRC, again 2013 especially. I don't remember 2012 being particularly special, apart from a spell during the Olympics, for me it was comparable at best to 2009.

Wasn't August the warmest (at least daytime-wise) since 2003? That to me makes the summer a bit better than "not anything special", even discounting the long heatwave in July. True, June wasn't spectacular, but people seem to forget that June 1995 wasn't particularly great either, pretty much entirely down to its abysmally cold and dull first half (though I'm aware that it may have been better in other parts of the country). And while 1995 may have been more consistent in terms of sunshine, I don't think temperature-wise it was that far removed from 2013, with this year's July being even warmer. Here's how I'd rank the top 5 summers in my lifetime (I was born in 1976): 2006 2003 1995 1983 2013 And if we have a September that comes close to rivalling that of 2006 or 2003, then 2013 may turn out even better than 1995 (which, along with 1983 had a much cooler September than those above years did).

Still on course to be the coolest June since 1998 I imagine?

Well it was statistically the worst summer in my lifetime (1977-)! But then according to the below stats, 1972 was even worse and 2007 and 2008 (personally two of my least favourite summers in living memory) are comfortably in midtable, so it just goes to show you can't judge summers alone by temperatures. Summer CETs (June-August averages): 190713.6192213.7190913.93333192014.03333195414.06667195614.13333197214.16667190314.2191214.3190214.3196214.43333197714.43333192414.43333191614.5197814.5198514.5196514.53333191914.63333191014.7191314.7194614.7193114.7192714.73333191514.76667192814.76667197414.76667198814.76667198714.76667194814.8198014.8196314.8198614.8190814.9192914.9199314.93333191814.93333197114.96667198114.96667196115197915196615.03333195115.03333192315.06667196815.06667196415.13333190415.16667199815.2200715.23333195815.26667193815.3193915.36667195315.36667193615.36667193015.4196015.4200815.43333196715.46667191415.46667194215.5199115.5190515.53333191715.53333190615.6194315.63333195715.63333197315.63333192615.63333194415.66667195215.66667194115.7193715.7194015.7196915.7194515.73333192515.73333199215.73333200015.73333193215.76667199615.8200215.8190015.83333190115.83333200915.83333197015.86667201015.86667195015.9198215.9199915.9200116.1193416.16667199016.16667199416.16667192116.2200516.2200416.23333193516.26667198416.33333198916.46667194916.5195516.53333195916.56667199716.56667197516.93333191116.96667193317194717.03333198317.06667200617.23333200317.33333199517.36667197617.76667 EDIT: sorry can't get list up for some reason... You mean 1973?

I'm not sure how a sunny and above average temperage-wise June, a July that was at worse only a little below average and a very warm August to mid-September (when 30+C was recorded in many places as late as 5 Sept - only in 1999 has this again happened) in 1973 constitutes an "awful summer"? Even 1971 despite a poor June and August had the warmest month in July between 1959 and 1975 (not saying a lot I know) and had plenty of fine summer-like warmth post-August that extended well into October, and 1972 was reasonably sunny and dry from mid-July to the end of August if lacking any outstanding hot spells. 1974, 1977-1980 (July 1979 apart) were all very poor I'll give you that, and 1981 didn't start to click until the last week of July (although August 1981 did start a sequence of very fine summers up until end of August 84 that wasn't matched/exceeded until 2003-06, although 89-91 and 94-96 came close).

Maybe it was quite different in your neck of the woods, but I seem to remember that "famously bad June" actually being really good for the first two weeks (I was just finishing my first year at Manchester Uni during then so if it was good there, it must have been pretty fine for the rest of the UK!) - I think we all pretty much agree the rest of the month was awful everywhere. July was good enough in London after June's decline continued into the first week, if a bit bland and being a slightly less sunny retread of July 96 without that month's hot spells, but it was at least warm and dry for the most part, mostly low to mid 20s. August was the second hottest on record, with plenty of hot days exceeding 25C and a few surpassing 30C well into the second half (when we usually expect things to cool down), with no shortage of sunshine and I certainly don't remember much rain either, so I'm not sure how you could compare it to 2004. And if you're including months that have summery spells (and some years have actually been warmer than some if not all of the so-called summer months), September was very decent, dry, settled and sunny, which after a series of distinctly cool and/or patchy Septembers was a precursor to the Septembers we have been spoilt with practically every year in the last decade (in fact since then I only remember 2000 being distinctly sub-par). So all in all, that to me constitutes a pretty decent if inconsistent summer at least in the SE, although in comparing it to other good "non-classic" summers in the 90s, 1994 and 1996 fare better. Incidentally, whilst we're comparing past Aprils to summers can anyone remember the stats/overall feel for April 1990? I remember it being pretty poor during on a fortnight trip to the Lakes a week before and after Easter (I think it even snowed around the 17th/18th on the ascent to Stickle Tarn) but then April 1984 seems to have been better than I remembered based on similar circumstances.