Bradley in Kent

I agree that Astronomical seasons are more in line with real conditions, but being a weather forum, it makes sense to follow the meteorological seasons. I'm a switcher around Halloween. Before I'm wanting summery conditions, after I'm wanting cold!

I really, really hope that doesn't happen, but of course we know it can!

Obviously a lot can happen between now and early winter but I agree it's good fun to ponder! I'm going to be boring but I too think we'll be in for a below average winter temperature wise with the bulk of the cold being in the first half with a mild second half bringing a timely start to Spring. I'm also going dry. Something like 2008/09.

I did think about putting the winter months in as least favourite, but there is a big difference year on year depending on number of cold spells. If we had a cold spell mid Jan, I'd be enjoying the month hugely like 2010 or 2013 or 2017 which was more frosty. 2019/20 was just horrible...

I wouldn't mind betting a topic like this has been put forward at least a few times in Netweather's time, but let's face it, such topic never gets old! I like all times of year to be honest, however not all times of year are created equal. So, without further ado, here's my top 3 favourite and least favourite times of the year: TOP 3 FAVOURITE 1. late May early June. Lush; birdsong; active wildlife; long days; bank holidays; football season coming to a climax; national good mood 2. Late October / early November. Autumn colours; damp smell; Halloween & Guy Fawkes Night; atmospheric mornings 3. Late March / early April. Days getting longer: sun getting higher; clocks going forward; ground drying out; early blossoms; big swings in temperature. 3 LEAST FAVOURITE 1. Late November / early December. Not ready for Xmas commercial onslaught; buying pointless gifts (sorry :P); deciduous leaves gone; very dark; cold yet to arrive. 2. Early March. Had enough of winter by this point but spring yet to properly arrive; still not that light; any snow melts straight away. 3. Late August / early September. Everything looking jaded; dragging on feeling; less birdsong; autumn colours yet to arrive; worse if on the back of a poor summer with that disappointed feeling. I'd love to hear what yours are

I'll very much be interested in the MO's actual maps of the UK. The North and West will definitely come in above average, but I wouldn't be surprised if the actual value of some sheltered areas come in warmer and sunnier than here in Kent! August has been terrible here (and when I was Oxfordshire) compounded by the incessant cloud. We've had a lot of ropey Augusts over the years, but they were the more NW'ly type with sun between the showers. Homosapiens need sun!

Of course we are in hurricane season now which can throw big spanners into the works especially if they unexpectedly meander northwards and jump on the jetstream. September 2014 comes to mind after a ropey August, where an ex-tropucal system went north of us and pulled up warm air setting a pattern well into the Autumn. This is the time of year I look towards the Mid-atlantic, although I personally never wish for big storms to form and hit land. It would be extremely ignorant and selfish to wish that for 'a bit of early Autumn warmth!

Well, it's the last day of meteorological summer, so here my verdict: Daytime temperatures - 5/10 Evening and night temperatures - 7/10 Hot spells (1 lasting 7 days) - 2/10 Absolute max (31c here) - 4/10 Sunshine - 3/10 Humidity (I like higher DPs) - 8/10 Thunderstorms - 7/10 Greenery and growth - 10/10 OVERALL RATING - 5/10 (different parameters have different weighting) It was never going to be a classic given the background signals and here in Kent we've enjoyed good summers in recent years (SE getting warmer faster), and many weren't expecting much! It was okay but am now looking forward to the next phase in our seasons: early Autumn!

Hello all, I feel the Met Office time series for August explains a lot of the comments about the month. We of course tend to only remember the hot ones, especially as most of the population (Boomers and Gen X) were at school age during the hot ones in the 70s, 80s and 90s. Even I, who was born in the 90s, will be old enough to notice the lack of hot Augusts compared to early childhood. I too remember the holidays as long, dry and sunny as a young child before entering adolescence where the holidays became more mediocre from the mid '00s onwards. To use average day maxes of 20c or above for the UK as a benchmark, we've had the longest 'hot August draught' for 100 years or so. Augusts have got warmer overall, but mainly because of the absence of cold ones. Before I was born, it seemed August was much more varied with belters mixed in with some horrorshows. Since '03 it seems, August as settled into an 'okay' mode, nether hot or cold. We must be due a hot one soon!

These type of graphs alongside the time series in the Met Office climate summaries are why I think we will still get snow in 2050. Imagine the rolling 5 year average going up another two degrees, you'll stoll have cold members. Now as some have mentioned already, we'll probably lose those marginal snow events especially early winter with higher dew points. However BTFEs will be cold enough for centuries to come! So as to not repeat any more what others have said and to add something new, I reckon we'll be seeing noticeablely higher dew points in 2050. I'd love to find historic data on dew point trends, but I wouldn't mind betting they've climbed! The consequences: less evaporative cooling with cold rain, bigger hailstones, more fog, stickier summers. Overall I think past 2050 we'll be like New Zealand, which is already very similar anyway.

To be fair, this Summer overall hasn't been too bad so far with a fair few warm evenings although daytime maxes haven't been amazing. It's certainly been wet and I will admit it is frustrating when everywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere (including Scandi for example) is having a belter. However we have had worse Summers especially 2011, 2012 and 2015 for example. Here we've had about 4 out of 8 weeks useable weather with a bit of storm activity so you could say 50% is 'okay'. 2016 was a slow burner and got better and better with 33c in September before a lovely dry Autumn! So, if August produces good weather this Summer will come through as average to good, but if we get a 2010, 2014 or 2017 repeat then yeah, I'll be moaning!

Even the most memorable Summers and Winters had at least one or two drab Atlantic spells. I don't mind such spells as long as, say in Summer, they're broken up with drier warmer spells. It's when you get dross after dross like 2011 or 2007 when it gets tiresome. With regards to Augusts, I can't comment too much because growing up I was very lucky and went on very long holidays either travelling around or staying at relatives. Friends often told me though that the weather was poor only to warm up again in September! Looking at the stats it seems they're right and that trend largely continues with a long 'hot August drought'. Yes last year we had a good spell early August but when will we get a decent August overall? EDIT: My idea of good summer weather is dry and warm / hot, I not everyone is the same!

Well, what an eventful afternoon that was! Talk of the town down this way. It was, pardon the pun, the perfect storm! DP 21c, air temp 29c, 850s of 13c, convergence, layers moving different directions and strong sun. What do you get: I can safely say I've never experienced a storm like that; that hail was thumbnail size and you couldn't see across the street. Fingers crossed of course nobody got flooded

It's turning out to be a beautiful day, especially for a Sunday with no work or other commitments. I do think though for those who are looking to exceed 30c, it could be disappointing as there's cloud trying to form already. The dew point is high, the 850s are fairly cool and there's a bit of convergence going on, so I can see further formation happening, wouldn't be surprised if a shower popped up. The record is nowhere near to being broken anyway, otherwise I'd be more preoccupied with the cloud, but today, I don't really care! Let's just enjoy this week before it cools down again!

I visited Skye in July 2019 and it's a stunning place! The first day is was clear and sunny with a cool, dry Northerly wind but then came the SW'lys and it was a wet, humid low cloud fest! 19c with dew points hovering between 17c and 19c. It was fantastic and we came up for the scenery, hiking and wildlife. Being Kentish however we felt that we'd struggle with the climate living there especially as we're heat lovers. Maybe we're too soft haha!

Absolutely it's a very pleasant temperature! But for me to get that real heat feeling, we're talking 30c or above, ideally 33c or above but dew point has a major bearing of course!

This summer was never going to be a belter but today does show we can make our own heat if the weather Gods put their mind to it. I'm pleased for heat lovers in Northern Ireland today as that part of the world hasn't been benefiting from global warming. (if you consider warmer conditions a benefit) Here in Kent it's been rather uneventful, maxxed at 26c here with a NE breeze which is pleasant enough. I'd like a 30c tomorrow simply because I just fancy a bit of heat!

In my experience the only good weather for moving is a still, overcast day in the low teens. Hard to come by this time of year, it's either warm, or rainy!

I'd say most weather enthusiasts look out for unusual / interesting weather. In winter that tends to mean cold and snowy weather and in summer heat and thunderstorms. When reading peoples weather preferences, you don't often see 'Atlantic' or 'mild winter, cool summer'!

Good morning all, RE: FI, I'd agree 144hrs is a good time to go by, but if we're in an Atlantic pattern I'd extend that up to say 240hrs. Conversely if a non-Atlantic set up is on the cards (cold spell in winter or hot spell in Summer), I'd bring it closer to 120hrs or even 72hrs given how often the wheels come off such spells last moment! I'd say it's simply because the Atlantic is the dominant force meaning easy to model when in power, not so easy to model when it's not in power or potentially about to lose it.

Obviously it would be a bit dramatic to write any summer off at this stage as you do have the likes of those mentioned above. Let's also not forget the decent first half of June. If things improve mid July and stay improved it'll go down as reasonable with a middle blip (like 2009). However every time the models push back nicer weather, you're eating into prime time. I really want my prediction to be wrong but at this rate...

Kent had a reasonable June and July last year where even London just an hour away was average for much of the time. (First 3rd July was poor though). This year is slightly different with the SE doing a summer swap mid June with the NW. I have two elderly relatives near Liverpool who really struggled last year where the below par weather just compounded things. This last week has been a godsend for them and I haven't seen or heard them this cheerful for well over a year! For that reason I'm pleased the weather has been good up there. Not too bad down here today but not looking forward to the poor national outlook. Fingers crossed we don't have a 2007 which also had a reasonable early June before descending to a 10 month Autumn... I've been to Bavaria 3 times; in December, April and August and they do seem to have an ideal climate although locals told me winter is slowly becoming dull and snowless (we're not the only ones!) I've not been to Quebec or Ontario but I'd say on paper it's a perfect climate in my continental centered preferences. Snow in Winter, sunny, variable Spring, humid, thundery and warm Summers and short Autumns before white Christmas

Hi @al78 I've only just seen your reply but funnily enough the topic has sort of come back round again talking about seasons. I should've probably used the terms 'colder' and 'warmer' as in reality they have never been truly continental. I've attached a graph of how our seasons have changed (found online) temperature wise. My non expert interpretation is that the Atlantic is having more of an influence now especially in Autumn and Winter but like any record lots of anomalies. It definitely appears we used to have a bigger seasonal variation as we still managed some decent (hot) Summers back then whilst managing cold (not freezing) Winters. It's all trends however since as you can see there are some howler Summers in there with a few mild Winters. I make you right though that elderly relatives are not reliable if you want realistic weather records! In spells like now (for Kent), I like to look at the worst years as it makes me feel better!

Don't get me wrong, I was yelling and cheering at the TV earlier for England and you won't find me living anywhere else! As for all of the UK there're many things I love about this country just that geography (especially climate) is not on that list. But anyway, I said all this from the fact that everywhere else our latitude is having an above average summer once again whilst we mop up the muck. Yes land does heat up easier but still, one can't help feeling unlucky especially as even for those places it's good weather. Anyway, let's consider the matter closed. I'll have a look at that list you've linked for some holiday inspiration!

I certainly didn't think my statement about UK Geography would stoke such a reaction! When making a negative statement, I like to use the 'least [antonym word]' format as, in this case, it's not to say there aren't any interesting aspects about UK geography. I've been to the Highlands and yes, fantastic scenery! I'll stick with my opinion though that when combining things like overall climate, topography, wilderness cover, wildlife etc the UK does score on all those aspects, but none very highly. Based on that, and having been lucky enough to travel a bit, I can't think of a place which is more mediocre than the UK. Other places might score less on one or more of the parameters mentioned, but will score very highly on others. And as mentioned though, geography is only one part of what makes a place unique!