B87

Average temperatures with below average sunshine. Only 2013 and 2014 had anything like average sun (2013 exactly average and 2014 about 20 hours sunnier for the season). The third sunniest summer since 2006 was 2015, with 100 hours below average. I'd like an actual normal summer where May-Aug all get 200 hours with average temps. Obviously the warmer and sunnier the better. 2002 was sunnier than any summer since 2006 (exclusing 13/14), yet was itself cloudier than normal. August 2014 and 2015 were both cool and very cloudy, 2014 especially. 2016 had the cloudiest June ever recorded (beating 2012). August 2016 was the best August since 2005, yet was still slightly cloudier than average with 201 hours at Heathrow. June 2017 had temperatures like a typical July, with exactly average sunshine. Even the abnormally cool and cloudy 1960s had more 200+ hour summer months than we have seen since August 2006!

Forecast for next week looks amazing; 26c and sunny in London on Wed/Thu. Could be the first 80F let alone the first 70F of the year. Now we just need to up the sunshine a bit so the month at least makes it to average, because at the moment we are still on course to record the cloudiest April in history.

I've said time and time again, I would be happy with an average summer. Nobody seems to listen. Even 2002 would be sunny compared to any of the recent summers, and that was quite poor here.

What is everyone predicting for summer in your location? For London I will have a random guess at a cool, wet and very cloudy summer (continuing the recent theme), but with a decent heatwave at some point, maybe a 5 day spell of 30c temps. June Av max: 21.9c Av min: 12.5c Rainfall: 30.0mm Wet days: 7 Sun hours: 195 July Av max: 22.7c Av min: 14.0c Rainfall: 65mm Wet days: 10 Sun hours: 170 August Av max: 22.0c Av min: 13.5c Rainfall: 80mm Wet days: 12 Sun hours: 150

Exactly, I'd be happy with an average summer here (23-24c and partly cloudy, with a handful of days above 30c. Sunshine 200-220 hours and 6-8 wet days per month)

Also to add, if the average April high is 14c, would that also make days of 10c equally unrealistic?

I'd happily take an average summer if it also had average sunshine. Something like 2001 at my location.

What is unrealistic about 18c in April? My location averages 3 days above 20c and peaks at about 22c in a typical April.

And I'd bet on April 1986 being sunnier than April 2018. It managed around 140 hours or so; still poor, but nothing like as bad as our forecast is showing. We won't even reach 50 hours by the 20th if it to be believed.

The latest 21c day on record was 31st May in 1983! The average first 21c is usually in early to mid April.

I was looking at Heathrow which only made it to 16.6c. The average warmest day of March is 17.5c so 16c should've been seen several times by now.

Nothing above 18c on the 14 day weatheronline forecast, combined with extreme cloudiness. We have never in history made it to May without seeing 18c, but that could happen this year. We could also have a chance of seeing the cloudiest spring on record.

August 2016 was warmer and sunnier than August 2013 in London. August 2009 was the coolest and cloudiest of the 3. All of them had below average sunshine at Heathrow.

I'd put 2010 ahead of 2016, but otherwise the same here.

Very different to here. 2007: cool, cloudy 2009: average, very cloudy 2012: average, cloudy 2013: warm, cloudy 2015: cool, very cloudy 2016: warm, average sunshine 2017: cool, very cloudy

Anyone know how WeatherOnline forecasts daily sunshine hours on their forecasts? Looking at the 2 week trend for London, I don't think I could cope with such a cloudy April, after a near record-breaking cloudy March! They have us with under 55 hours up to the 18th!

Hopefully this run of dull summers will end soon, and we get a return to something more normal, or even a run of sunny summers. The years between 1997-2006 were pretty normal, sunshine-wise. It was the early and mid 90s that were very sunny.

There have been plenty of absolute shocking summer months in the last decade or so, at least in the London area. June 2012 and 2016 are the 2 cloudiest Junes on record. July 2007 didn't get above 24c all month! Something like 1 day average or above. July 2012 was just as bad. August hasn't seen sunshine at average or above since 2005 (even 2016 only had 98% here). In 2008 it was duller than February! Infact August 08 and 10 were 2nd and 3rd cloudiest on record, only 1954 was cloudier! In the last decade the average highs have also been 1c below the long term average. Something like 4 summer months since August 2006 have had above average sun hours (Jun 10, Jul 13, Jun/Jul 14, with 1 average (Jun 17), and 2 very close to average (Jun 08 and Aug 16). The 3rd sunniest year since 2006 was 2015, with 1540 hours (that's 100 hours below average, and that was among the sunniest)!

1976, 1983, 1989, 2006 and 2013 all had horror starts to spring, in some cases with winter extending into March or even April. They all had warm/hot, and in most cases sunnier than average summers.

Kew and St James's Park both hit 30c in 2008. In 2007 the only place to hit 30c was Cambridge; nowhere in London managed it for the first time since 1993!

Probably 2019 for a sunnier than average summer month.

Just thinking about the thread title for a second and checking out the summers of the 80s, it didn't look like there were any 'normal' summers at all; they were either bad or good. Based on the average temps and sun hours, 1984 seemed like the most normal one in London.

Yeah, June 2013 was cool and extremely cloudy here, while June 2014 was warm with above average sun. July was warm or hot and sunny in both years. August was warm and cloudy in 2013, cool and extremely cloudy in 2014. July 2013 had an average max of 27.0c, which puts it in 3rd place after 2006 (28.2c), and 1983 (27.6c).

Average summers in London get about a month's worth of days above 25c, and 4-5 days above 30c, so that is to be expected.

Most people seem to forget that summer 2013 only had average sunshine. June was cool and generally terrible, July was the 3rd hottest on record here, and August was slightly above average but cloudy. 2014 was very slightly sunnier, but had one of the worst Augusts I've ever experienced, up there with 2008 and 2010. 1996 and 2004 both had average temps here.