sarahng

Yes, thick, grey cloud here this morning and no breaks visible! My patio baskets and troughs seem to have just given up and I would put them in the garden waste recycling bin IF it hadn't been suspended because so many operatives are off sick!! Normally the flowers go on until late September at least - yet another wonderful thing about this summer!

I particularly remember August 99 as that was the year of the total eclipse visible from the UK. I think it was on the 11th? The weather was not good leading up to the date, and the day itself was very cloudy and we didn't see anything of the eclipse in my location - such a shame! It was very eerie though as it got very dark for an hour or so and all the birds stopped singing.

But here on the South Coast, it has been unremittingly horrible, apart from those few days in July. Everywhere you go, it is THE topic of conversation, and yes we are moaning about the weather, because it just has not been a proper summer for us. We do after all have months and months of dark, gloom, rain, wind and all the other horrors, but cannot seem to have a few decent weeks of warm, bright, blue-skied weather in the 'summer'.

I think countdown to the horrible shortest day starts now - and then it all gets (hopefully) better again. This year has been horrendous.

So, so dark this morning. We have those nightlights which come on when a certain low level of light is reached and vice versa in the morning. Today they have only just gone off - at 8 am in August!!! Every single morning (except last Saturday) seems the same with heavy, thick cloud which only clears towards evening. And not even a holiday to look forward to!!

Yes, it's really depressing. I found myself shouting at the sky this morning - 'where's the sunshine gone'!!! Trouble is, it will be cloudy and threatening rain all day until about 5pm when the sky will start to clear and then it'll be cloud-free by 8pm when it's too late to be outside!!

I absolutely dread the dark mornings and evenings - it feels very claustrophobic to me. I like it light and bright - Northern Finland in summer would be perfect for me. However, in an effort to understand others' preferences, could somebody perhaps explain to me just what it is you like about it being pitch dark for 16 hours a day for several months running?

Meanwhile, in Northern Finland it's 19 degrees with blue skies and sun!

I know, awful, isn't it? My heating is on as I write so must be chilly. What's the betting that the weather will suddenly improve in September when it's too late to enjoy lovely light evenings outside?

I honestly thought I had woken up in November this morning! So, so dark, howling wind and heavy rain on and off. Early August??? Tried to sit out with a glass of wine half an hour ago and the wind was blowing everything off the table. Fed up with it!

5th August and it's like a day in October here. So dark at 1945, windy and drizzle. We are only halfway through 'proper' summer and it feels like autumn already. I want to go and live anywhere where you are guaranteed a proper summer.

Does anyone else feel that summer is being 'squeezed' both ways in recent years? Warm weather seems to come later and is nearly always over by the time August arrives. The exception to this being Spring 2020 of course!

Really chilly feel to the morning here today; the sky (when you can see it) seems to have lost that deep summer blue already. Feeling very melancholy about it all. I had a whole 10 days of wearing flip flops - now back to the socks and dog walking sensible lace-ups!

AND my heating clicked on three time this afternoon and evening - it's only set to 19!

Well, it's all back to the autumnal rubbish today - cloudy, grey skies, rain in abundance and not a ray of sunshine all day. God, I hate it. We had literally 2 weeks of good weather in this locality this summer - 2 weeks! How absolutely stupid is that? I have always hated August as it always seemed as if summer was dying and nothing to look forward to but dark, rain and cold for the foreseeable, but this year seems worse. Even my courgettes, cucumbers, tomatoes and hanging baskets has given up after being deluged with rain in recent days.

I have just been looking at a metcheck forecast who are predicting Thundersnow on Thursday early morning! I have never heard of this before! Could someone explain what it is please?

Gosh it's hot! I'm not one to perspire much, buy my forehead is dripping!!! I love the heat but it always seems to go one step too far in the UK!

Oh well - only just over 5 months until we turn towards the good part of the year! Love, love light mornings!

I can't believe how quickly this year has sped by, but without any long, warm, sunny evenings to enjoy the garden. We haven't eaten outside once this summer - maybe this weekend! Anyway, I have finally realised that it's not really the type of weather we get in the autumn/winter which gets me down, although I detest wind and gales, it is the unremitting darkness. Dark in the evening, dark in the morning - just horrible and depressing. I love light and warmth!

Looks like Monday is going to be another delightful day in this area! I have almost stopped caring - my local Garden Centre will be closing down the summer furniture area ready for their Christmas display next month. This year has just sped by with awful nothingness!

What an utterly depressing day! I was just in the garden talking to the gardener and the wind was blowing right through me (as they say!). It is cloudy yet again, and the rain clouds are gathering. I've just about given up with my hanging baskets as each time I deadhead them and make them tidy, it rains again and saturates the flowers. Whatever happened to those beautiful summer mornings we used to have when I'd leave for work and there was that wonderful summery smell on the air? I don't think I have smelled that for a good 10 years!

What a thoroughly miserable day! Windy, cold and drizzle. We were going to make a return to the pub for the first time since last February tonight, but I don't think we'll bother as I would only sit outside! I follow a webcam on Levi, Finland - it's currently 30C there with brilliant blue skies and a gentle breeze. How come they can get this lovely weather when we are stuck with this lot?

I can beat that! Only 13C here and a miserable weekend to come, it seems!

Another glorious summer day on the South Coast (not) - just 12 degrees again! My husband has just been speaking to a colleague in South Africa who was complaining that it was 'freezing' and he was wearing his overcoat - this is in a temperature of 20 degrees! Even that would be better than this lot!

I'm not far from you and it really has been one of the most miserable June days I can ever remember! So cold that I put the heating on around 11 am and it's still clicking on and off now! I hate the weather in this country.