al78

NEVES SCREAMER There was a prolonged dry spell from late May to late June, then in the first half of September here, but other than that, southern England has stolen the climate of Scotland.

The north/south rainfall bias continues. March to date has seen above average rainfall relative to the whole month across SE England, whereas in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland it has been much drier than normal so far.

LetItSnow! Not sure I agree with that statement: 2022 European drought - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG "July 2022 was the driest July in England since 1935." "Parts of Yorkshire experienced their driest period on record and emergency pipes were laid." "The Cornwall hosepipe ban continued to be active into 2023, and was extended to cover large parts of Devon on 25 April 2023. This was done in an attempt to replenish water levels at the Roadford Reservoir ahead of that year's summer." Europe's drought on course to be worst for 500 years, European Union agency warns NEWS.SKY.COM This year is set to be even worse than in 2018, when unusually favourable conditions in some parts of the bloc protected it from drought elsewhere, and the worst since the sixteenth... And then there were the wildfires at the peak of the heat:

kold weather SE England has remained wet through March, not as bad as February but to be good enough it is not sufficient to be better than the worst.

Buzzard Meanwhile on trains in SE England it is common to hear people coughing their guts up and sounding like they should have stayed in bed, showing that nothing has been learnt from the pandemic and ensuring the next pandemic will be even worse.

ANYWEATHER Although those stuck-in-a-rut periods seem to have become more common over the last decade or so.

stainesbloke Massive exaggeration does your argument no favours. The fact is that whenever there are months of well below average rainfall water supplies become stressed. Whether it eventually balances out is irrelevant. The UK has poor resilience to deviations from normal because resources are overstretched and consumption is often wasteful because people take things for granted. Try growing your own food instead of paying someone else to do it for you and then lets see you trivialise three months of drought and periodic heatwaves in the growing season, or months of anomalous wet weather like last year.

sundog Anyone who thinks 0.04% of anything isn't significant just because it looks like a small number should try 0.04% of arsenic in their coffee.

baddieI remember March 2012 being a month of large contrasts between the start and end of the month. The first weekend I was playing bridge and it was sleeting outside. After the equinox I was sitting outside in warm sunshine in short sleeves during my afternoon tea break.

East Lancs Rain "The weather always makes up for itself." aka gamblers fallacy: The Gambler’s Fallacy: What It Is and How to Avoid It – Effectiviology EFFECTIVIOLOGY.COM

MP-R High pressure for a few hours would be a start.

MP-R It has been better than February but has kind-of carried on regardless. According to HadUKP the EWP is at 20% of the monthly average after the first two days which so far represents a continuation of wetter than average conditions, following on from the third wettest consecutive 12 month period on record. It is no surprise people have had enough, being better than the worst does not make something good or even adequate.

Alderc 2.0 March is a transition month, the first half is pretty much the end of winter and what we think of as spring weather rarely arrives before the equinox. After a year with a jet stream displaced further south than normal over the southern half of the UK, I'm hoping the increasing temperatures from now will encourage it to start migrating northward. Attached is the 250mb zonal wind anomaly over Europe from March 2023 to February 2024. It shows how ridiculously persistent the jet stream has been stuck over much of northern Europe over that time.

Scorching sun. I find it energy sapping and therefore as useless as 24 hours of continuous rain for doing outdoor activities. It is also inevitably followed by warm nights which make sleeping very difficult and trying to do a days work feeling like I have semi-permanent jet-lag is unpleasant.

Just been on a walk from Lewes to Hassocks and it was a beautiful day. Sunny intervals, calm, dry and a good temperature for hiking uphill without getting sweaty. There was a very good clarity in the air, the North Downs easily visible on the horizon from the South Downs Way. Clarity like this is very rare when I go walking during the summer months.