abruzzi spur

Not sure what a south Westly is but are you saying that this thread is not open to those that might like looking for cold but are realistic enough to say when they think it might not be happening? Or are we all required to stand in line in party uniform and sing the praises of the dear cold leaders?

20c in Reigate, lots of sun today after early mist shuffled away. I imagine 21/22c was hit somewhere in our neck of the woods. Love this bonus weather and frankly would be happy if it lasted until spring. A week in North Pembrokeshire from this weekend, back to the old place. Can't wait. Wild weather off the sea, extra evening daylight and cliff paths precipitous as the rain steams in with the tide and makes paths sinuous, alive and just scary enough.

I imagine those on this thread would love this book. I did and do. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Among-Summer-Snows-Christopher-Nicholson/dp/1910463604

Lovely skies this afternoon once the miserable rain finally moved away. This was looking south through the trees from a nearby ridge at just over 400 ft asl, across the flat lands towards the distant South Downs. Cool night ahead.

Pretty decent day of weather in Reigate. Max of about 22c, dry, largely sunny. Whilst I was wfh I enjoyed watching my 21 and 15 year old boys working together and putting up a new shed from scratch whilst 17 year old daughter gave them fashion tips about how they looked as construction specialists. Not that we're stupidly clichéd here or anything.

An August evening in the Surrey Hills. I don't mind the odd unusual day like this, light the fire, listen to the rain, watch the clouds, but at this time of year it can't be more than an occasional dalliance with Autumn. We've just got back from 10 days in the family place in North Pembrokeshire and despite the wild and wonderful weather we get there on our 4 or 5 trips each year, it's unusual to have a day there that's quite as grim as today in Surrey. Maybe I'm less tolerant here in the south east; in Pembrokeshire it's normal to have storms and gales, wind fierce off the sea, slate roofs made black with rain and cliff paths dizzying, high and slippery above the rocks and coves where seals are.

No. Ben Nevis is next to Fort William. Could be Cairngorm Mountain or maybe Britain's second highest mountain Ben Macdui. Having been up Ben Nevis in quite a lot of lying snow in June a few years back it's true to say that snow can fall on any day of the year although it's obviously rare in high summer.

The rain here is still soft, steady and gentle. In the last few minutes there's been a gentle hint of a breeze but not enough to deviate the falling rain beyond vertical. the humidity may have just dropped a little. I could listen all night to the sound the rain is now making, steady and calming, rain after weeks of heat has a restorative and magical quality. I have loved, truly loved, this hot summer, and I'd be happy for months more. Doesn't mean to say that there isn't beauty in a storm at the end of a hot spell, a shower out of nothing that evaporates on contact, sea fog rolling in to Pembrokeshire before anyone apart from me can see it and disappearing so that I'm told I'm making things up when I try to describe it.

In a slightly odd way I like this slow burn weather, storms edging in and maybe or maybe not delivering, snow falling then stopping and keeping us wondering, hot weather thinking about it, thinking about it again and then either landing or heading back south. It's the uncertainty that is part of the drama. Right now in Reigate for the last 10 minutes it's been raining really heavily and there is the scent of battered lavender, oregano and rosemary in the air, their oils and aromas released by the sudden rain. Just across the other side of the garden, the tomatoes and chillies grown from seed, ripe and bursting with flavour and heat, are going to get a boost from the rain. And it's all after dark so is perfect.

Understandable! Reigate - our 2 minutes of rain has fizzled out, about 6 miles east of you. The sky still looks really threatening and the humidity is still pretty high, but I'm not convinced we're going to see any storms here now.

Raining borderline properly now in Reigate, wonder if it will last more than the regulation 30 seconds so far this evening. Very humid. And in the time it took me to write the above, it's just about stopped again.

? I was rhyming the first part of the made up intended comedy word with the first part of the name of the town and.... oh well if I have to explain it I probably wasn't doing it right. Just started gently raining here.

Yes, thanks, got me thinking - there are a number of other possibilities of course: Fancy a steak and kidney? - Piegate Wondering about the meaning of life - WhyohWhygate MI5 move into town - Spygate Infestation of flying insects - Flygate Outbreak of public grief - Crygate Nosing into your neighbour's business - Prygate Porcine farmer sets up shop next door - Stygate and so on! But back to the weather, it's still Drygate

I've been reading your posts, Ben, and I'm not really sure but is it the case that you like hot, sunny and dry weather? Perhaps you could clarify.

Even in my late teenage years I never got to that level. We had 17 drops of rain in Reigate at around 3pm. Since then, nothing whatsoever has happened. Mind you, that's Reigate for you.

Cobham. Nice. Pool next door. Lovely. Do they let you borrow it? Here in Reigate there was some concern earlier today about lack of Haloumi in M&S but after a delegation of the great and the good marched to the store chanting 'What do we want? Grill-able cheese! When do we want it? NOW!' the manager saw sense and got an emergency delivery in. Phew-y! The reputation of our Surrey commuter market town has been preserved. 20.7c at 10:15pm, warm enough I guess.

I'm currently in a village 350m asl not far from Nerja in andalusia. In an old trad house, shutters, ceiling fans etc. It's been very hot but as nothing for some of Iberia over the next few days. We're borderline East andalusia so may escape the real fierce heat. Who knows. Anyway here's the translation of the Spanish met warning. Not the sort of thing we see at home in UK even in the semi continental weather in the SE: 1.- Meteorological phenomenon: Heat wave 2.- Geographical scope: Great part of the Peninsula 3.- Beginning of the situation: Wednesday, August 1 4.- Duration: At least until Monday 6 5.- Degree of probability: Very high (more than 80%) 6.- Description of the meteorological situation: As of Wednesday, August 1, due to the conditions of atmospheric stability in a large part of the country, to the strong insolation these dates and the entry of warm air of African origin from the south in half Western Peninsula, will take place the first summer heat wave, which will last at least until on Monday 6. The episode will be especially intense and lasting in the southwest quadrant, the area center and the Ebro valley, exceeding 40ºC, from Wednesday in a good part of the interior of the southwest quadrant and, starting on Thursday, in points of the central zone and Ebro valley. Thursday and Friday, could even reach 44ºC in the valleys of the Tagus, Guadiana and Guadalquivir. In the northern and southern interior of Galicia, the 36ºC will be exceeded in large areas of from Thursday, being able to reach 39ºC / 41ºC. In the rest of the country it is likely that they will reach or exceed 35ºC as of Friday and Saturday, affecting areas where these temperatures are unusual such as the interior of the Cantabrian area and the Catalan coast. On the contrary, this episode of heat will not be significant on the coast of eastern Andalusia, Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla. The minimum temperatures will also be significantly high in large areas, above everything, in the southwest quadrant, where they could not go below 25ºC from Thursday. In the rest they will stay above 20ºC, except in mountain areas. Although there is a high level of uncertainty, it is possible that starting on Monday 6 a Slow and progressive decrease in temperatures.

2 minute proper downpour in Reigate just now. Amazing smell of wet ground after so long baked dry. Now raining very softly, but increasing as I write this, and there's the occasional distant rumble.

Got a link for that? This says something rather different http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/august/10/newsid_3910000/3910801.stm 'summers this hot may become routine within 50 to 70 years' Currently 28.8c in Reigate

Bloody big jump from Reigate but I'll just nip out and give it a go. Missed.

34.7c max in Reigate accdg to the reliable RGS weather station. Met Office twitter just confirmed Heathrow at 35c is hottest place in UK so far today.

Well I'm pretty confident, given how much squash I play in hot weather, that I'm capable of surviving almost any heat and that I'll be posting on here for years to co

Pop back and let us all know if it's a vile NW'ly or a horrid NE'ly on Saturday.

Horrid NE'ly vs vile NW'ly then? Or it could just be a lovely summer's day without rain or wind (ups). Whaddya reckon?

How's that looking?