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I think it's too early to write off August yet. There's been a gradual downgrade of the rainfall and upgrade of the temperatures expected recently. GFS 12z has us here with 21C or above everyday and only 14mm between now and the 19th. I think by the end it'll be respectable.

This is how the memory plays tricks though. In 1975, 1983 and 1995 the Junes all had a CET of 14.7C or below. In the cases of 1983 and 1995 they were actually pretty average overall temperature-wise. They also came after close to average or cold Mays (9.9C, 10.3C and 11.6C) Its extremely rare for heat to last much longer than 7-8 weeks through a summer in the UK, which is why 1976 is so highly rated. Even so, despite the more changeable outlook, its very likely August 2018 will still be quite a way above average by the end, which would ensure 2018 finishes in the tops ranks of summers.

I can assure you, it wasn't 70F on the last weekend of September 1969. The last weekend in October (as I mentioned before) however: October 1969 was the warmest in the CET series until 2001. Whether you're interested in stats or not is irrelevant, that's what happened.

After a cloudy and muggy night it was a sunny day with variable amounts of cloud. The max temp of 29.1C was the warmest in August here since 2001. The sunshine total for the month is now 67 hours already. Max Temp: 29.1C Min Temp: 16.7C Mean Wind: 10mph SW Max Gust: 16mph Sunshine: 12.0hrs Rainfall: None Currently mostly cloudy with a temp of 19.7C and 72% humidity.

I think you must be thinking of the end of October 1969 into November, as October that year was exceptionally warm (13.0C CET), with a very warm spell at the end, followed by a cold November (5.4C CET).

Up to a total of 831hrs of sunshine since 1st May here now - pretty much 8½hrs of sunshine a day over a 3 month period. Exceptional.

I've added in the rough figures for you. I used the graph so they might be 0.1C out or so.

Summer 1995 didn't get going until July though. June 1995 was cool, it only reached 20C here on 5 days and had nearly as much as rainfall as the entire summer of 2018 so far. This year its been very good right from the start of May.

Regardless of how August turns out (and lets be honest it isn't looking bad at the moment), this summer will definitely go down as one of, if not the best, especially if you include how May turned out beforehand. So far we've had (using the Metoffice UK-wide figure): May - sunniest on record, 23rd driest, 2nd warmest June - 6th sunniest, 9th driest, 3rd warmest July - 7th sunniest, 19th driest, 2nd warmest To get such consistent warm, dry and sunny weather for three consecutive months in this country is exceptional. If people aren't satisfied with this summer then nothing will ever measure up.

A hot and dry day with long periods of sunshine, especially mid-afternoon onwards. The maximum temperature of 28.5C was the warmest in August since 2001 and 4th warmest since 1980. The sunshine total from 1st May - 2nd August stands at 796hrs compared to the long-term average of 591hrs. Max Temp: 28.5C Min Temp: 16.8C Mean Wind: 10mph W Max Gust: 18mph Sunshine: 9.3hrs Rainfall: None Currently mostly clear and very warm with the temperature still at 24.2C.

We reached 28.5C in the end, making it the warmest August day since 2001 and the 4th warmest on record going back to 1980.

Very warm today, up to 27.2C so far. That makes it the warmest August day since 2007 and 7th warmest in the last 21 years, which says a lot about how very warm days have been rare in recent years in August.

So we've had: April - 24th warmest May - 18th warmest June - 18th warmest July - 3rd warmest Bearing in mind we're talking over a period 360 years, that's a pretty prolonged warm run. If we can muster an 18.2C August (7th or 8th warmest) then we'll have the warmest summer on record, beating 1976.

On Wetterzentrale, the max is 51C that day in Portugal! The previous record temp set there in 2003 was 47.4C for reference. The European record is 48.0C aswell. If that's accurate and taking into account GFS often underdoes temperatures, its going to blow the previous record out of the water. Its very dangerous heat too.

If we got to that point by the 10th, assuming July finishes on 19.0C after corrections, we'd only need the remaining 21 days of August to average 17.2C for 2018 to be the warmest summer on record.

Warmer and drier than average: 17.7C and 50mm

An outside chance of 40C according to the high-res GFS min/max temp chart. I don't think I've ever seen a 38C on these charts before: It would be interesting for sure, but I'd be happier if temperatures like that vanished on the next run!

It is pure luck as you say. I've an ISS board that is still going strong after 8½ years, but another that died in under a year. Same with the anemometers - one had a failed reed switch in under 18 months, another has been going strong for over 7 years now. I think the current ISS board that is 8½ years old and the 7½ year old anemometer are probably on borrowed time now though. The ISS board even survived water ingress, living on after being blow-dried to get rid of the moisture. The FARS fans are garbage however, never had one last longer than 200 days, whereas my 12v custom fan I added has run 24/7 for 3½ years now.

Big losses in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas coming over the next week or so. This is the area that looks on shaky ground now. All of the easy losses have melted out on this side of the cap, with quite a well defined ice-edge now.

Today is just what the doctor ordered. 21.1C with 44% humidity and a keen breeze so you can have all the windows open and blow that awful stagnant heat of the last two weeks out of the house. Instead of 28C+ inside its now down to 24C already. Lovely!

Definitely the best storm I've seen since August 2012, it was almost like night. It passed just to the east of Hedon but fortunately I'm not at home and actually right under it.

This is amazing!!

It's like night here at the moment, very dark with lots of thunder and lightning to the west. The radar is a mess of anaprop at the moment though, so no idea if we'll get a hit.

This is by far the worst day so far. Its 25.2C at the moment but with a 21.0C dewpoint. Its disgusting.

Another exceptionally warm night with the record minimum temperature being broken for the third time this month. This time the low was 19.1C. It was mostly cloudy for the first half of the night before thunderstorms arrived early in the morning. These mostly missed us but we still managed 4.0mm of rain. Currently overcast with bright spells, a temp of 21.5C and extremely humid with a dewpoint of 19.7C