East Duckling

As far as I can see it really depends on where you live as to how you viewed Summer 2021 as we head in to Autum. If you live in East Anglia or the SE then it has been trully appaling with most of August Completely Cloudy with rain (Mostly light drizzle that stops you doing anything but doesn't amount to anything in rainfall totals so weather people with gauges go "Not above Average" ) July we had 1 hot week the rest the same cloud cover with occasional Sun. As for May it was more like March temperature wise. Not proffesional measurements but as a guide, Air-Conditioning Unit in South Facing "Office" (It was a bedroom but having moved from a 3 bed house to a 1 bed house/2 offices building !) only switched on 4 times this year. (Compared to 2020 when it was 5 or 6 weeks). Temp in Ipswich not above 23 Degrees for the whole of August and most days not above 20. Limited watering of plant pots on patio from every day to once a week. Trees in Garden turning on 1st Sept rather than 20th ish of October. Tomatoe plants at least 4 weeks behind to rippening. Grass, field edges green for the whole of summer and wheat harvest not complete until last week of August when normally complete by the 1st week. And to cap it all as a Ginger I've only had to put sun block on twice this summer. I think if you lived in the North and especially NW your year has probably been better than average because your average and thus expectations are so much lower than EA/SE. But 2021 has definately been the year of no summer in the South. The only hope is this Easterly/Northerly flows set up in December/January and we have a decent snow season. It really does feel that the weather is settling in the British Isles in to a yucky grey cludy rut of temps 10 to 20 degrees all year round. Not asking for weeks of 35 degrees or in the other extreme -20 for weeks in winter. But some variation so I can top up my vitamin D levels in the summer would be nice

Another terrible day in the East, rain, cold jumpers on, heavy cloud, no Garden work done today it’s already November. Worst Summer on record period.

Another "wonderful" day in the East. Grey Cloud, might rain, no sun again. Afer being in the "City" for a Cricket Game yesterday when we had torrential rain at 5:30pm that finished the game off, I now look at the Netweather 14day forecast to see more of the same and it getting colder in to September. 2021 the year with no sunshine in East Anglia, absoloutly the worst Summer I can remember in 50yrs. If somone else comes on the TV saying "Europe cooked this summer" or my other favourite "Global Warming means we will have more summers this hot" well they don't live in East Anglia & I might just throw something at the TV. Wheat still uncut in fields (Yes bread prices definately going up this year !) and tomatoe plants that show no sign of rippening unless you have a daylight sunlamp on them in greenhouses. Then I read Daily Mail Headline (I know shouldn't read it, but its free) 81 degrees at the end of the week, summer on its way only to go to the Netweather 14day forecst (Which I trust !) to see 22 centigrade at best and at least 70% clous for most of the days. So as we turn towards winter the question is, if this persists what does it mean for winter ? Because having put up with this rubbish summer at least the weather gods could be nice and give us a snowy couple of months, or are we just going to continue with the grey but temperatures at 8 or 9 instead ?

Yes agree its a decaying front, sorry I didn't make that clear. But the last few years we seem to be getting a lot of Easterly breezers drifting cloud in duign the day, cloud building overnight and not clearing, "dirty" Highs etc all in the Summer which we never used to get. Far to many days lost this summer where stuff has just lingered. Not forecast and lots of sunshine on the charts on the forecasts, you wake up see the thick cloud cover and know you won't be seeing the sun today as promised. Think I just must be getting old !

It just goes to show how blighted East Anglia can be by drifting cloud of the North Sea, Northerlies etc. Today is 100% cloud, odd spot of rain, not warm and debatable if you were standing outside rather than walking/working if you'd want a light jumper/hoody on. It's the problem with TV weather forecasts that stop at a line from NW London via Cambridge to the Wash and then up the "East Coast" if I here the term "Clearing early from the East" which actually means clearing the Lincolnshire Coast at 8am, but not going of into the North Sea at Felixstowe/Lowerstoft until 8pm one more time. It also shows how massively variable the the weather can be over some very short distances can be in the UK. As you say only in "world" terms a very short distance between Lincs and SE Suffolk. Even between Norwich and Ipswich you can get a 3 or 4 degree difference and a different day as we tend to be more affected by say a SE'ly, whilst Norwich is only 20 miles from a Northerly whilst Ipswich in effect is 70miles so well inland. Yet as per Nick F above East Suffolk/NE Essex have had a very poor summer. (Yes we had a few hot days in July and a week at the end of May) but I think we can count the number of days above 25 Degrees on one hand. Maybe we have just got used to better weather in the Summer than we are really due.

Have to say this is the year with no Summer. Here in East Anglia must be the cludiest, dullest and wettest (Maybe not in totals but in consistantly having rain everyday which stops you doing anything outside) with a complete lack of a consistant period of warm sunshine. No release of that heat over Southern Europe is the reason and it looks unlikely we are going to get one. Have to say this period from 1st May to 31st Aug has to be the most disapointing I can remember in 50yrs.

Question is, if further east will it stall over East Suffolk/Essex as modelled or has it lost it's intensity ? We only have a dusting in W Ipswich. So question for everybody out there is do you think the extra kick in the NW and Midlands means it's going to dye out before the east coast ?

Have to say so far biggest disappointment/let down/miss forecast. Not a sniff with it looking like it's dying in intensity just as the cloud reaches us. Been nailed on for the last 2 days !! Think big debrief and rethink needed. As Ipswich, as pointed out above hasn't had enough snow above 3cm's for 17yrs. Sadly last time it was deep enough to snow was when the not so nipper was a nipper. Snowed on the Rugby League even though the NW was not supposed to get anything ! Not that I begrudge them some snow, just would like my 15cm's pleaseeeeeeee. Rant over.