Arctic Hare

I sometimes feel as though things have moved a month earlier than they "should" be, in that May now often seems to produce the best weather of the entire year. Yes, this year's May was record-breaking in sunshine terms, but in many years now I seem to find myself spending more time outdoors in May than in any other month. Part of that is because you don't get the humidity of late summer (or the wasps!) and perhaps I'm imagining things a bit, but I really do feel like May is a better bet than any "true" summer month quite often now. On topic, I do have some hopes for September. I can't say this is any more than a hunch, but I reckon we could be in for a fairly benign month with a decent amount of dry and moderately warm weather. Even if there's nothing special heat-wise, I'd be pretty OK with being able to sit outdoors at cafes etc for another few weeks.

Carole King's "It Might As Well Rain Until September" comes to mind...

Thankfully the rain stayed to the south this morning, so I was able to go out for breakfast and sit outside. Actually quite pleasant, and the sun is out now. Tomorrow does look a disaster area admittedly, but Wednesday seems reasonable at this point. After that... well, "unsettled" seems the order of the day for these parts. Not going to be one of the great hot Bank Holidays!

I could name it a few things... but I wouldn't be on this forum very long if I did that!

I think (as of now) I'd rate summer 2020 as slightly below average. Certainly some good parts, but a distinct lack of an extended period of sunny, warm (but not stupidly hot) weather. I'm only mildly interested in storms, so I'd rather have had more sunshine. OK it's probably true that I'm remembering the spectacular spring and perhaps judging summer a little harshly -- but I still don't think it's been great. July was especially poor, and the second half of August looks meh at best. The extended summer benefits from the amazing May, so if there's a good September then extended summer 2020 could end up above average. But barring a miracle in the next 10 days, the June/July/Aug period does not.

It's all personal preference of course! I quite like that sound of rain on the window... if it then clears to a bright, sunny, breezy day. That kind of autumn day is very much one I can get on with. But one like today, with hours and hours of non-stop rain and it never really getting light... you're welcome to as much as you want of that!

Slightly annoying day today. About 80% of it was very pleasant: max 22.4 °C, plenty of sunshine, light winds. But in early afternoon there were a couple of fairly ferocious downpours. A good job I didn't trust last night's forecast of it being likely to remain dry all day, and go for a long walk in the country! Tomorrow looks a bit of a pain (rain), then Thursday OK, then Friday a pain again (winds) then Saturday OK again. At least it won't be the same old same old every day!

A very meh day here in Worcs too. Far cloudier, cooler and (non-stormy) wetter than was forecast. Thankfully dry now and 21 °C isn't exactly disastrous, but still overcast. Certainly a day nothing like what I expected. The storms last night continued for a couple of hours after midnight, too!

Very similar here. I also wore shorts today thinking it would at least be nicely warm, but no. Apart from a brief spell of sunshine in late morning, it's barely broken 20 °C all day here in N Worcs and there was a lot of rain around lunchtime. The MetO forecast (text, not just symbolic) was way out for last night -- storms dying out by midnight? Er... no -- and is way out again today -- is anywhere in the W Mids going to get anywhere near 26 °C? I'd be surprised. Now the rain has stopped it's not a terrible day. Certainly not as miserable and gloomy as those horrible days in July. But it's quite a big disappointment considering what was forecast even yesterday evening.

Now throwing it down here in Bewdley. Just rain, no hail, and winds nothing special. No thunder especially close atm.

Meanwhile, down the road from Dudley in Bewdley, it's still dry. A few spots earlier and lots of rumbling in the distance, plus the sky is grey and threatening... but no rain and no lightning seen. (I can see over towards Clent from here.) Shows how hit and miss this stuff is!

Nudged up to 32.2 °C at most, which is exactly 90 °F. And sheesh, doesn't it feel it. Currently a "mere" 31.3 °C, but with 49% humidity it's pretty uncomfortable. No storms currently, though it does now feel a bit thundery and radar shows some pretty beefy stuff not far away, notably in the Wolverhampton area.

Some rumbling in the middle distance, but nothing startling at the moment and the radar suggests the rain will miss here to the west.

Just nudged up to 30 °C here in Bewdley in the last few minutes, though in terms of feel it's probably the hottest-feeling day of the summer due to the humidity. (I make the dew point here 19 °C.) It doesn't feel as oppressive as yesterday -- almost no cloud and certainly no rain within miles. But go for a walk at any pace at all and you need a shower when you get back!

Just hit 30 °C. The sun is out, but the humidity really is a killer. Impossible to walk at more than stroll pace without ending up dripping in sweat.

It's been a mixture here, as you'd expect. Made it up above 90 °F in the last hot spell before this one, and that doesn't happen very often. And it's been 28 °C and very humid today -- one heavy shower that just missed me (splattered parts of Kidderminster apparently) but otherwise dry but close. Not much sunshine. At the moment this is probably shaping up to be an average-to-good August in Worcs, and I'd take that after what most of the last decade has provided.

Pretty similar down the road from you here in Bewdley. I'd decided to take my (sandwich) lunch outside... and had to put a jumper on! That afternoon spell was nice, though. Around here it was still pleasant enough to read in the garden at 8 pm.

A truly superb evening here in Bewdley. 23 °C, almost clear skies, warm air but a gentle breeze taking the edge off it. Probably about as close to a perfect August evening as you can get in these parts. It's been a long time coming this year, but my goodness it's welcome!

Just ticked up to 26 °C here in Bewdley. Not horribly humid so it's quite nice outdoors in shorts and T-shirt. A bit on the hot side inside though. And yes, I'm in the "Heathrow is welcome to the 32 °C+" club too!

A decent day in the end here, although not as much sunshine as would have been nice. One extremely light shower in mid-morning, literally just a few big drops of rain, but otherwise dry and warm throughout. Maxed at 29.5 °C during an extended sunny spell around 3pm. Nothing exciting, certainly no sign of any storms -- that risk comes along after the weekend, I'm aware!

Sometimes I get fed up with the SE getting all the heat, especially when the national (London-based) media then go on and on and on about it as though 90% of the country had seen it instead of 20%! But on this occasion... yeah. I think you guys in the SE corner are welcome to mid-30s days, 20 °C nights and high humidity. The mid-high 20s that seem likely IMBY sound a lot more appealing!

As usual, here in the Midlands we're sort of in the middle. Nothing like SE England, but nothing like the NW either. Moderately warm today (23 °C), nothing special, a bit of sunshine earlier but also an annoying gusty wind, then a gloomy, dull afternoon. I'm not bothered about the likely lack of 30+ temperatures this weekend, though. Especially if it's going to be humid and stormy, mid-20s (occasionally high 20s) is more than enough for me. Would like more sunshine than seems likely, though.

The sun is out now, but the wind is quite fresh and gusty so it's by no means a "sit in the garden with an iced drink" afternoon. Hopefully at least a couple of those will be along later in the week. I'd expect very high 20s as the max here on Friday, rather than anything earth-shattering, but honestly that's OK by me. London is welcome to the 37!

A disappointing morning here. Overcast, quite gloomy and occasional light rain. The radar has more on the way, so not a particularly pleasant day in prospect. We've had too many of these this summer, not always particularly well forecast by the MetO either. I've said this before, but there seems to be a systemic issue with under/non-forecasting of this kind of light, nuisance-value rain. I did keep notes at one point last year and it wasn't just imagination -- it was significantly worse in this direction than in the "drier than forecast" direction.

Now overcast, windy and spotting with rain here in Bewdley, with the temp having fallen to 27.5 °C. Topped out at 32.6 °C in the end. Heatwave over!