SenlacJack

For goodness sake, that's the 2nd time this month I've been asleep and missed a nearby t/storm.

Currently 22.1c here making it the 2nd warmest day of the month so far but with mostly cloudy skies I doubt it will beat the 22.6c recorded on August 14th. I've just gone through my daily 'ratings out of 10' for August and up to and including yesterday my index stands at 5.26/10. About as close to 'average' as it can get !

Meanwhile, here on the supposedly sunny south coast it's been overcast all day and I'm thankfull the stiff breeze of recent days has finally relented. Not asking for or expecting a heatwave but something above todays Tmax of 19.1c wouldn't go amiss.

Today got off to a slow start with cloud cover for most of the morning but no complaints once it cleared, leading to a bright and mostly sunny afternoon and evening. Tmax here 21.1c. The last few days have scored quite well here on my personal and totally unscientific index and a definate improvement on the first 10 days of August. Rating today as a 7/10, thats three 7's and three 8's out of 10 in the last 6 days. To cap it off a Spitfire gave a low fly past over the seafront today, the 2nd time this week, so assuming it's preparation for The Eastbourne Airshow which begins tomorrow and runs through until Sunday. Fingers crossed the weather plays ball.

Absolutely gutted, despite leaving the bedroom window and curtains open I slept right through this

I did wonder about that Alexis but I've since heard several first hand reports from folk in my local area and reports from further along the coast in Eastbourne which all seem to confirm that storm made it ashore here in East Sussex at least. Still annoyed I slept right through it ! It turned out to be a very pleasant summer day here once it moved through. Nothing special temperature wise with a max of 21.9c but clear blue skies right on the seafront with some impressive looking convective clouds bubbling up just inland all afternoon.

My next door neighbour has just confirmed we had a thunderstorm here around 4am this morning. Knowing it was a possibility from the forecast I left the bedroom window and curtains open overnight, but still slept right through it.

Watching the athletics on tv now and reading the reports here and elsewhere it seems i've been incredibly lucky so far today. It was bright sunshine all morning and up until around 2pm this afternoon when the skies really did look threatening, but delivered just light rain for half an hour. Tmax of 18.6c so not particularly warm for the time of year but it could have been far worse by all accounts.

Stifling .....are you in a hot tub by any chance ? It's only 16c across most of East Anglia at the moment

Now that I'm all but retired and have time to spare I thought I would put some of it to use and conduct my own totally unscientific take on the weather for my local area here on the south coast for what is generally accepted as being the 'meteorological summer.' I have been scoring each day out of 10 since June 1st based on nothing more than local obs and my own eyes and ears and of course weather is subjective so these are just my own thoughts. My scores are based on 5 being an average for the region and take into consideration maximum temperatures, sunshine hours and rainfall. This is just a way of passing the time for me so please don't take it too seriously but I would be interested to know how it compares with your own thoughts of this summer. JUNE 1st - 7th......... 6.29/10 JUNE 8th - 14th........7.07/10 JUNE 15th - 21st......9.57/10 ( What a week that was ) JUNE 22nd - 30th.....4.16/10 ( After the lord mayors show ) JULY 1st - 7th...........7.78/10 JULY 8th - 14th.........6.29/10 JULY 15th - 21st.......5.21/10 JULY 22nd - 31st......3.60/10 AUG 1st - 7th............3.05/10 My personal ratings do seem to reflect the general view that here in the south east at least , a summer which got off to such a promising start has deteriorated quite noticably since mid to late July. Very dissapointing.

Indeed, what appears to be a confirmed sighting just reported on UKww by a regular poster there. Meanwhile sunny and warm here just along the coast.

Some breaks in the cloud pushing the temperature up to 19.5c here, looking and feeling quite sultry out.

You are surely joking, that said I see you aren't actualy in the South East ?! We have had plenty of rain in my neck of the woods in the last few weeks and an absolute soaking at peak holiday time down here on the South Coast is the last thing that is needed. The summer which started off so well here has deteriorated into a soggy wet cloud covered mess of tepid temperatures and many an outdoor event ruined.

It's been raining more or less non stop here since 2pm and 17.1mm recorded locally so far. Currently tipping it down again so that total will rise. Nearby Herstmonceux reported a temp of just 14.8c at 1pm this afternoon. I cannot find the words to adequately describe how much I despise this weather.

Never mind this evening, it's been like that for much of the last 2 weeks here and no end in sight. It seems we really are being punished for that decent start to summer.

Complete and utter dross down here on this part of the south coast today. A dull grey blanket of cloud throughout, frequent drizzle and light rain which was often blown sideways by gusty winds and a max of 17.6c. The decent start to summer is just a dim and distant memory now.

Totally agree with you Dub, particularly the bolded comments. Apart from a fleeting glimpse of the sun for 20 minutes around 1pm it's been dismal down here on the south coast. Drizzle, then rain, then more drizzle. Sullen grey skies and a maximum temp of just 16.9c so far today. The weekend wasn't much better either. Depressing.

Could you please put your location in your profile, it helps when trying to track weather events. Cheers.

Which is exactly what most of us have been doing for much of the day already ;-)

Sorry, no offence intended but heatwaves lasting for weeks at a time...... really ? Back on topic fingers crossed for those of us wanting thunderstorms in the next couple of days. It's still looking quite favourable for the west in particular though i'm quietly confident for my location here on the south coast. The potential for this being a night time event is an added bonus.

I must admit as I get older I find extremes of heat and cold more difficult to cope with but in reality how many days of 'unusually hot weather' do we get a year here in the UK ? Even down here in the south east I would think it rarely exceeds 10-20 days a year. Surely we can cope with that ? Think of poor old Moki and his like up north......

A highly respected contributor on another weather website has also commented on this potential. Obviously a long way out yet but perhaps worth keeping an eye on ?

In most 'average' summers I would really resent a day like today, overcast, cool (18.2c the max ) and now raining. However as a few of you have been saying, here in this neck of the woods it's not been an 'average' summer. Apart from a few days at the end of June and July 1st it's been a fantastic summer and todays rain is a welcome relief for the garden. Hopefully this is just a temporary blip and we can quickly get back to what preceded it.

I thought I would beat the forecast rain by cutting the grass early this morning. The skies looked quite threatening but by around midday the cloud melted away to give unbroken sunshine until sunset. Much breezier than it has been for a while here and cooler too with a Tmax 21.5c, but still a very decent summers day overall. The garden really could do with some rain now though.

Another perfect summers day here on this part of the Sussex Coast. Out and about enjoying the wall to wall sunshine, warm temperatures ( 25.4c ) and supporting the local economy at the Hastings Midsummer Seafood Festival. It's great to see so many happy smiling faces all around my home town of Hastings/St Leonards-on-Sea doing similar in one way or another, be they locals, day trippers or holiday makers. Towns like this need all the help to their tourist industry they can get so you will never hear me complaining about it being too warm/hot/sunny.