Arctic Hare

Maybe they will. But here, of all threads, is actually a reasonable place to do that. It has "Moans" is after all the very first word of its title! Personally I'd prefer a lengthy spell in the low 20s with plenty of sunshine, but to each their own of course! Today I met a few friends in a nearby park. What was it like? Well... before we met up, I wandered around town trying to find a pair of cheap gloves. Quite seriously, I needed them! But as it's now May all the shops are in "summer mode" and have cleared away most of the gloves. I eventually found some at a market stall. And I wore them, too! All that said, I think given the exceptional social circumstances of this spring, most pub/cafe owners would strongly prefer the April we've just had to a mild and wet one. Even with tents, my experience is that far fewer people want to go out for a bite/pint in the rain than in chilly sunshine.

Disappointing start today. Currently, both MetO and BBC text forecasts say something along the lines of "bright to start with sunny spells" but here at least that's already wrong. It's completely overcast. Bank Holiday weather is here, it seems! At least it's not currently raining....

Notable today that there's still a distinct nip in the air even in direct sunlight. A week or two ago, that wasn't the case. I was outdoors with a few friends a couple of weekends ago and it felt very pleasant in the sun. With a noticeable breeze as well today, I'd want at least a jumper and possibly even a coat today in the same circs. Currently 8.9 °C, despite bright sunshine, on the last day of April. That is plain old cold.

I have a hunch, and I freely admit that a hunch is all it is, that this could be one of those summers with huge regional differences even within England. I remember even 2007 was like that to an extent - I spent a week or two that summer exploring SW England, and I think there was only one washout in about 8 days of travelling. If I'd been here in the Midlands it would have been far worse.

A seriously grotty morning here atm, 4.7 °C and raining. Really feeling cold outside. Not particularly surprised to hear of sleetiness a bit further north. Looks a little bit better tomorrow, but the less said about Monday the better!

I was rather dreading today, especially when I looked outside at breakfast time and saw nothing but rain and greyness. But in fact it was mostly dry after late morning, and out of the wind it felt really quite decent. Even without the sun, which surprised me slightly. This weekend will be interesting. Heavy showers but also sunshine in between. (Proper April weather... just as we go into May!) The general feel of the weather will see-saw wildly, I suspect. In the rain it'll feel like March, when the sun comes out almost as warm as summer. I do feel for the pub/cafe trade over the BH, though. Completely impossible to predict even 24 hours out whether your particular location will be dry, and that'll put loads of people off booking tables.

The outlook really is absolutely miserable today. Cold, unsettled and absolutely no sign of even average temperatures well into May. I'm going to predict that even most of those who are looking for rain for the gardens etc will be thoroughly fed up with it in 10 days time. Better make the most of today's last nice day!

The one in early May 1997 sticks in my memory. Election Day a few days earlier had been warm and sunny, so it was a bit of a shock to the system less than a week later to see snow settling for an hour or so! Obviously it melted in minutes once the sun returned, but I really didn't see it coming in those days of much less up to date info.

Thanks! Looking at Trevor Harley's site (don't know why I didn't do that earlier) it seems nationwide it was 25th May (20.3 °C at Weymouth). And two months later we had the hottest July ever recorded, until 2006 came along. Just goes to show, all things are possible!

What's the latest date 20 °C has first officially been reached in the UK? Wondering what the odds are that, if we hadn't had that brief warm patch in late March, we could rival that record this year.

Yeesh. We've now had 2 successive very wet, flooding winters here, so we don't need the rain nearly as much as some other parts of the UK. The back lawn is still pretty green despite all the sunshine. As such this is not an outlook that fills me with joy! If at some point in May we suddenly get 25 °C it's going to feel like a furnace!

It won't be quite so bad if it's showery, we'll probably at least get people who live here popping in for takeaways in that case. Will still be bad, just probably not an utter disaster. (The Sunday would be the "best" day for any real rain as that's usually the quietest day on a BH weekend.) The timing is unfortunate though. Easter was before cafe tables were open anyway, and hopefully the late May BH will have an indoor option. So this coming BH is the one where the weather is the most important of all!

Worst possible weather for this town for next weekend would be an old fashioned BH washout. Would be bordering on catastrophic for a lot of the small cafes here, as quite a few have outdoor tables squeezed in along the sides of pavements/roads where there just isn't room for tents. They'd basically have no custom at all, as plenty of people are prepared to sit outdoors in coats if it's just chilly but most won't come into town in the first place if it's wet. So much as I dislike the 11 °C easterly greyness we've had so much this spring, that wouldn't be the worst weather over the BH. Lots of rain would be worse, by a mile. From the Tuesday after the BH it's not such a big deal, for the BH weekend itself it's a massive deal. So it'll doubtless pour down!

That's well put. Yesterday it didn't even get to 15 °C here, yet because of the sun it was completely comfortable sitting outside in shirtsleeves. The problem comes when the sun disappears and the wind gets up. Then you really notice how chilly it is. Early next week I suspect will bring that feeling back. By Wednesday it's forecast to be 11 °C and overcast with a noticeable NNE'ly. That will not feel comfortable sitting outside in shirtsleeves!

Lovely day today. Only got up to about 14 °C, but with light winds and non-stop sunshine it felt very pleasant even in a T-shirt. And with the clear air and low humidity it was a fantastic day for walking, so I did a fairly large circuit outside Bewdley. Lots of people doing the same. Honestly, most of the time I'd prefer this to 32 °C and August stickiness. Only really interested in really hot weather if it's so hot that records are possible.

I think wet and windy would be worse for the BH this year than northerly mainly dry cold. Bit of a disaster for pubs etc if the weather's too bad to sit outdoors, and I at least would rather sit outside wrapped up against dry cold than in the rain. Would certainly like to see some warmth again, preferably lasting more than 48 hours. But here in Worcs we're not yet desperate for rain so I think I'd prefer it held off a little longer.

Interesting snippet from the 26/4 to 2/5 section of that latest update: "We are leaning a bit more on the historical analogues given the recent very poor performance from the computer models."

Rain here too, still a few drizzly drops falling as I type. A bit of "gardener's rain" overnight and then drying out through the morning and sunny (I hope) in the afternoon is probably the perfect weather combination for me right now!

Today in N Worcs was superb until mid-afternoon, with temps around 16 °C and bucketloads of sun. A very nice day to be out and about, especially since at this time of year warmth doesn't usually come with sticky humidity. The grass in these parts is still pretty green so I don't think we need rain just yet. Though there is a bank holiday weekend coming up...!

An excellent day today, and it felt warmer than the 15 °C it was, once you were out of the breeze that is. Sun > mercury at this time of year! To be fair, the immediate outlook isn't terrible by any means. Just not very warm on the days cloud dominates, Wednesday in particular in these parts looks chilly and grey. Just need a dry and moderately warm bank holiday weekend now...

A big improvement here this weekend. Both days have felt much warmer, largely due to considerably more sunshine and afternoons that didn't get grey and chilly. Sitting outside this afternoon I was actually a little too hot in the sun for the first time in quite a while. Still only 15 °C but with the sun and without the wind that's absolutely fine for sitting out and doing nothing.

Just for fun... if you type in "Mull annual rainfall" into Google, the first result that comes up is... 390 mm! So there you have it, clearly an island in the Hebrides is drier than London. (I'm not sure what the real figure is as all the sources I can find disagree, but this weather station at Corran Ferry near Fort William recorded over 2,200 mm in 2018. As anyone who's been there will know, western Scotland sees plenty of rain!)

Going to admit that today was really quite pleasant. I went to Worcester to see a few friends, and of course we were a bit nervous about the weather since we had to stay outdoors. Turned out to be very comfortable sitting in the park in the sunshine. For once it didn't get overcast and chilly after lunch, and that made all the difference even though it was only 13 °C. Tomorrow doesn't look quite so good, admittedly!

I suppose it could be worse. We might have ended up with a very warm, humid late April - and stormy weather is not ideal if you can't dash inside when you're at the cafe or pub! Still getting fed up with the chill, though. Cold is great in January if there's snow to be had. Cold is not great in the second half of April, definitely not when there's even more of it stretching away for some time to come yet.

Another day like several before it here: fairly chilly when the sun goes in and you're exposed to that nagging easterly. But pleasant if you can find a sunny spot that's sheltered. Air is still cold, though, and the sunshine doesn't feel as warm on your face even in full sun as it did 3 weeks ago despite the stronger sun now. Max 12 °C and no real sign of getting above (if we're really lucky) 15 °C any time soon now the warmish spell next week has been moderated virtually out of existence. I mean yes, this is better than rain, especially when your town has had two successive severe flooding winters. But it's not as good as warm sunshine! Hopefully May will come up with something.