In Absence of True Seasons

danm I've had this discussion with a few on here previously (re the preference / fondness for grey/dull and wet weather in summer). From memory, for the folk in question, it was primarily a "vibes" based thing. They said they find gloomy and drizzly weather to be comforting, or nostalgic, or uplifting. Which intrigues me because I'm essentially the polar opposite. I also think it depends on one's interests. My friend's girlfriend is the sort of type who loves to sit indoors and read a book on a weekend, and she loves the rainy gloomy weather cos she calls it "cosy". Yes, it's all well-and-good when you're inside with the heating on and the rain is pattering against the window, but for people who have outdoors plans or enjoy being outside as much as possible, it's objectively unpleasant to have rain blowing in your face and be drenched through.

Richard2901 That's poor indeed. Scotland's climate leaves much to be desired from a perspective of settled, sunny, warm and dry generally, but it's always the most ire-inducing when the worst of the conditions land right when you need them to stay well-away.

Richard2901 In my area we've actually not done terribly for weekends. We've actually been quite lucky a few times where the Friday to Sunday period has been the warmer, sunnier days out of the week. I guess I'm more observant of this because I try to go hiking and camping on the weekends when weather permits, and I've managed to make several trips thus far in summer, moreso than 2024 and certainly then 2023. But I agree generally with our climate being one that doesn't deliver as and when you need, and seeming to bring dross when you have specific outdoor plans. High summer 2023 was a menace for this. I think we had 7 low pressure fronts consecutively on the weekends, it was almost comedic. One of the guys from the Met Office who do the YouTube forecast vids got to the point where he was like "Well folks, it's another weekend coming up, so I think you know what means. That's right, we've got another bout of low pressure inbound".

Driving down to the South Downs today to visit a friend. Absolutely biblical currently, near Dartford. Grim.

Andy Bown Yeah today, and this week generally, smacked of July 2023 and 2024. Pretty warm, but just quite gloomy and some drizzle here and there. Not a fan of these conditions as they often end up being rather muggy and humid. Moreso (to me at least) than a clear day even if the temps are warmer on the latter. Had a rather brisk walk early to pick a shirt from nearby the office and honestly I was sweating more by the time I got back, than on any of the days last week where it was sunny and reached 30c. On those hot sunny days at least you can sit in the shade if you don't like the sun on you. Today is just generally sticky outside irrespective of where you are.

danm It's complete cloud cover outside my office windows. It originally had some breaking around 4-5pm on the satellite but I just don't think it's going to be the case, at least not to any meaningful degree. Bit of a shame tbf - a lot of latent heat around but just a humid greyfest with a waste of potential sunshine hours. And as you say, missed out on an easy 28c or even a bit above as a result. Tomorrow is showing sunny spells but I do wonder if it'll be a similar situation as today, because today did have sunny spells showing also.

I really don't understand this mentality at this time of year. It's halfway through July. I'd understand it if it were the final few days of August, but we're quite literally in the midpoint of the season. As for the "nights drawing in", it's quite imperceptible until the latter part of August imo. It's September when I really start to notice any sort of meaningful difference, and even then, September is often a month that delivers some solid "last dance"s of summery conditions. It's really October that I'd called the shift aka death knell.

dryfie Good for them. That part of our isles have had a real stinker of it for most of summer and a lot of late Spring too from a perspective of anything settled, summery, warm, dry and sunny.

Wasn't it meant to be 27c today in London? It's dark as a pigeons backside out there and a Met Office thunderstorm warning has just pinged up on my phone lol.

Yeah pointless conditions for me. Doesn't feel summery because it's so dull, but also no freshness as it's sticky, and no rain from a beneficial perspective. Just bleurgh. This week is panning out to be a bit of a shambles tbh. Depending on how next week goes, July could really end up being quite the month of two halves.

Alderc 2.0 Most of the prices in consumer goods like food in supermarkets (or a pint of beer in the pub) are a result of the Labour budget last year. Slapping massive tax hikes on businesses and increasing minimum wage just results in the extra costs being trickled down to the consumer / end-users. I know quite a few Labour supporters who seemed genuinely surprised / confused that these price inflations were occurring, as they have this weird belief that prices were going to go *down* across the board now that the Tories were gone. A lot of the items I've noticed that have had biggest price inflations aren't even British produce or derived from our agricultural & farming industry, but moreso processed things (i.e. it not a bit of chicken or a bunch of asparagus) like sweets, crisps, chocolates, squash, and fizzy drinks. Other factors obviously further compound this...Russia v Ukraine war, general instability in the markets re the USA, and more extreme weather patterns in Europe.

Phil Connors As of Tuesday night it was showing 28-30c and sunny over the weekend in London / Essex. Now showing... I find it quite interesting how drastically the predicted conditions can change in A) such a rapid span of time, and B) so close to the predicted days in question. Just goes to show how much our isles are impacted by the various meteorological forces at play.

terrier Of course it's unsettled. School Holidays start soon...

Alderc 2.0 Yep. Much cloudier this week than originally predicted. Scotland coming out on top this week for once lol

Fully overcast morning with 80% humidity