Sun Chaser

danm Crazy how our summer 2020 experiences differed just 200 miles apart or so. That period was pretty good I would agree, but there's been better since - we exceeded 25c 9 times, the same number of days that didn't reach 20c in that period. Compare that to say, the same period in 2021 which saw us exceed 25c 10 times! I think my main issue with the summer was the first half. Starting June 3rd we had 20 days in a row failing to reach 21c, a 3 day heat spike, then another 15 days in a row failing to reach 20c - not my idea of a good summer and felt extra depressing after the beautiful spring we had. Then after the heat in August we had a very wet and horrible three weeks. September was nice though! Obviously very location specific but I'll never ever be a fan of SE-centric summers in the past having lived in the SW for most of my life.

damianslaw True - however February 2023 was such that it actually felt springlike! Lots of mild days with clear skies and beautiful sunsets followed by chilly nights. Could've been a good March, so much so that the dreadful March that actually came after felt like it had accidentally been swapped with the previous month in some kind of strange time warp.

I don't know why but it feels like spring is taking an age to kick in this year for me. Last year I felt it pretty strongly through February and in 2022 we had some spring-feeling afternoons even in January! But this year I haven't been able to get into it. Every nice day still seems to be hazy or cloudy and I think the last time I saw a cloudless day must've been over a month ago now. Having said that there's been plenty of cloudy days with sunny intervals and it's been dry lately which has been nice. But any feeling of spring has come in fleeting moments one day at a time - for example yesterday was a great morning but it's been miserable since last night. A sunny spell can't come soon enough!

My winter rankings will probably be slightly more unusual and my criteria is different to most - I like snow and cold but not in excess and I dislike dry cloudy cold as it's so unpleasant. My favourite winter weather type is mild dry sunny springlike weather and my least favourite is mild and stormy so obviously there's a fine line. Some mild winters do well, others flop. I'll also only be ranking back to 08/09 as it's the first winter I can really remember. 1. 2022/23 - what a brilliant winter. The deep December cold satisfied my appetite for wintry weather, after a brief mild stormy spell (which was not enjoyable but hey it's winter and at least it had a few sunny days) the second half of winter was just perfect. Bone dry and sunny from Jan 15th (other than some snow on the 17th!) and a very springlike Feb. 2. 2018/19 - would've won if not for the gross December. January was fairly sunny and dry (nothing exceptional and a little cold though) while February was a dream - apart from a few drizzly days it was a true spring month with the heatwave at the end being the cherry on top. 3. 2009/10 - although I said I don't like extended cold I think the novelty of how cold and snowy this one was, was really special especially as a child. Will always remember how wintry it felt on a trip to London during New Year 2010 4. 2017/18 - December was decent, no snow but pretty sunny. January was meh. February was wow!! So sunny and the BFTE was such an experience, made extra special by the fact it was my first time seeing snow (in the UK) since 2010. 5. 2021/22 - December was boring but fairly dry for me as I left the country for the wet week around Christmas which was lucky! February was fairly unpleasant but had its interest with Eunice and a springlike end. But the main event was that glorious January which felt like spring so early on in the year, so sunny and a great mix of cold and springlike, really teasing what would end up being a brilliant year for sunshine. Overall good memories from this one 6. 2011/12 - memories are hazy but I remember a very dry HP-dominated Jan and springlike February, though a cold spell in early Feb also brought interest. Shame December was poor but that's the usual fayre 7. 2008/09 - quite nice, fairly sunny and dry but ultimately cursed by a nagging cold that never really seemed to go away without bringing much in the way of snow to my parts. 8. 2010/11 - December was insane and will be remembered as the last snowfall in my area until 2018. However everything after New Year was poor and became stormy and Atlantic as the winter wore on which grew pretty tiresome. 9. 2016/17 - dry but less memorable than the likes of 18/19, 22/23 and 21/22 as it was less sunny and more anticyclonic gloom-led. However any mild and dry weather is appreciated in winter so 16/17 gets a pass from me! 10. 2020/21 - the last of the winters I have a decent opinion of. All three months brought interest in the form of cold but also some very unpleasant moments. My highlight was the very cold end of Dec into the first two weeks of Jan which saw us get lying snow on Dec 31st. Another highlight was clear blue skies and very mild 13-14c temperatures for a whole week at the end of February which I really liked. However equally I hated the early Feb cold spell as we got no snow and it was just windy, cloudy and unpleasant, while most of December was just cold and wet, totally gross. 11. 2014/15 - literally no memories of this one. It was so forgettable! 12. 2023/24 - unpleasant overall but January was sunny and had a two week dry and cold spell which was interesting. No lying snow but there was falling snow on Dec 1st and Jan 8th. Already my memories of the winter are fading though which says a lot about how memorable it was. December was dire and February was too wet. 13. 2012/13 - this was pretty horrible. Started cold and wet, transitioned to very cold and dry but CLOUDY. Not a single day of lying snow for me so all that unpleasant cold for nothing! A frustrating winter made worse by the fact it dragged on into mid April! Extra points for the horrendously dull and pointlessly freezing March. But it's saved by the fact that it wasn't that stormy I guess? 14. 2015/16 - the start of the truly dire ones. This is above the others just by the novelty of how freakishly mild December was and how many days that month felt like they could've just been a poor day in July. Jan and Feb really really dragged though. 15. 2019/20 - awful and wet, especially February. The only reason it's not last is because of that mild sunny week around Jan 20th giving a much needed boost. 16. 2013/14 - just mild, wet and stormy throughout. This was the winter when the place I was living was cut off from the rest of the country's rail network for months when the main line at Dawlish was battered in February. Every single day in January and February recorded rain!! Just atrocious.

Said this in another thread but 2020 overrated by far. People associate it with the stunning spring but in reality from June 3rd the weather was almost entirely unsettled and cloudy for the whole summer with two very short heat spikes in between.

How has this March been anything like 2012 so far lol

Harry233 In the summer, the far SW is probably more similar to (southern) Scotland than SE England, due to the angle of the SE/NW split we so often get. So a lot of plumes that Scotland mostly missed out on such as in 2015 or 2020, we also missed out on. On the flip side, when HP is stuck to our west and Scotland gets all the best weather - like April 2021, summer 2021, May 2023 - so do we, while the SE has mediocre weather at best. Having lived in Plymouth and London - for two cities only 200 miles apart, the good weather aligns for both a lot less often than you'd think!

This time of year I'm usually very optimistic, even last year. But I can't seem to ignore how boring the weather has been essentially since mid October. The outlook is boring, cyclonic and pretty gross and anything dry just comes with heaps of cloud. I'm so far away from the spring mindset that usually takes hold this time of year. I think on a personal level this winter has felt so cold and grey because it was my first living outside the south west. Here the late autumn/winter/early spring period is slightly colder so it has felt like a fairly cold and long winter by my standards. November was the coldest I've experienced since 2010 and January was the coldest I've experienced since 2011. March so far has been fairly cool. Missing the coastal mildness for sure!

Plymouth, the far south west. We got a pretty horrible Atlantic summer with virtually every day cool and cloudy - all 3 months far below average for sunshine, June and Jul both recorded an average max below 20c and June and Aug both recorded over 100mm of rainfall. Not a pleasant summer. But I agree the period 18 July - 12 August was probably the best of it with a fair amount of dry days in the low 20s and the heatwave at the end.

In my lifetime: 2005 and 2014 for sure which were both great summers that almost never get a mention. (Aug 14 was poor but not in the same league as others like 2008/2010) I'd also like to nominate 2019 as after the solstice it was largely warm and dry, though "wetter than average" a lot of this fell in downpours with not many rain days. From the perspective of someone living in the SW at the time, 2021 was also underrated as I really liked that summer - the Jul 2021 heatwave was very significant by SW standards as well. However I appreciate it was a lot worse in the SE so I don't know if I'd go far enough to say it deserves the title of underrated everywhere. Before my lifetime, I'd agree with the above that 1996 doesn't get enough credit, neither does 1999 which had a great July from what I have seen. Meanwhile an overrated summer - 2020 which had a week of hot weather and about 12 weeks of cool cloudy dross. Where I was only 21 out of 92 days breached 21c - interestingly the exact same as last autumn.

Addicks Fan 1981 I'd confidently say 2019 was a good summer ignoring anything pre solstice. Following the late June plume, July was warm, fairly sunny and dry, August was decent. Whereas 2007 was wet and horrible for a core 6 week period and followed on from a poor May. Both were very convective so I'd say 2019 wins

Finding it lightly amusing but also sad that today is the coolest day here since Jan 20th. Why does it always seem that temperatures collapse as we head into March? This is all I can hope for at the moment. I remember thinking in early March 2022 that it was going to end up a poor, cool and dull month, how wrong I was!

Met4Cast Ensembles looking very wet after day 7, a lot of precip spikes. Time to brace for another wet March in all likelihood

Since the end of summer 2022 - Wetter than average: Sep 2022, Oct 2022, Nov 2022, Jan 2023, Mar 2023, Apr 2023, Jul 2023, Oct 2023, Nov 2023, Dec 2023, Feb 2024 Drier than average: Feb 2023, May 2023, Jun 2023 - THAT IS ALL. When does this spell end? Because it's looking increasingly like March will not be the month to break it.

Spring's going well! 15mm of rain in the first 35 hours and 0 hours of sunshine recorded. Currently lashing it down. Thank god we really needed today's rain after how hot and dry it was for 3 weeks last year!!!!!!!!!!!!! In Absence of True Seasons I'd even take a flip back to just dry and wet spells. Rather have that than have to dread another 10 month deluge starting next year

On further reflection, the 00z op was pretty much out on its own cold wise and average temperatures seem like the most likely fare going into March. Some sunshine would be nice but glad it's unlikely to be as bitterly cold as the 00z op suggests. Not a bad set of ens but the fact the op is on the cold side could be a sign of things to come.

Looks like cold dry cloudy easterlies becoming more likely, from one boring and unpleasant pattern to an even more boring and unpleasant pattern!

I'd actually say that Feb 2014 and 2020 came at the end of some equally wet periods starting in Oct 2013 and late Sept 2019 which were both very stormy, rainy autumns and winters. Much like it's been in the past 6-7 months here

Mapantz Crazy how close to 2014 and 2020 this month has been rainfall wise, even exceeding in some cases in the SW. But for some reason it's been nowhere near as noticeable. Perhaps it was the spell of dry springlike days midmonth - Feb 15th especially here topped 17c and was sunny until the evening.

Checked the Netweather homepage. Saw a mention of ANOTHER likely SSW. Had enough of this winter!!!

GFS keeps pushing a trough to our west at around roughly T192, giving us a southerly airflow and potentially some nice sunny and dry conditions! What happens after isn't clear yet - this could either be our way into spring proper HOPEFULLY like the 00z suggested with it staying settled and a high building in (widespread 17c suggested by T240), or it could go back to unsettled after as the trough moves east as on the 06z, or it could move southeast and we get cold dry (and probably cloudy) continental easterlies as the 12z suggests. Either way an interesting synoptic situation looking into the second week of March.

Sometimes they come in sequences of three too, ie cold/warm/cold or warm/cold/warm Probably the best example of this I know is March 2012/2013/2014, also April 2020/2021/2022 February 2022/2023/2024 (wet/dry/wet) November 2009/2010/2011

emmett garland Being half Polish I see the weather there a lot at all times of year. The seasonal variation is great - saw snow everywhere on my trip there in late October 2017 but almost two years later we were sunbathing in 25c as late as October 24th!! Plenty of heat and banging thunderstorms in the summer too. In August 2022 (for 4 days in a row) and July 2023 I saw some incredible thunderstorms over there.

CharlieBear9 Not a fan of this wetness or mildness and I'm sure you'll find most of us didn't want this at all. BUT it's not worth directing your anger at users of this forum, it's not like they choose the weather either!

Summer8906 Thing is, that 1991-2020 average IS what our climate is now for better or worse. 61-90 is totally unrepresentative of what our climate is in 2024 because what was average then could be considered below average now, ie around 7-8c. Especially looking at this period in recent years (2019-2024) which would have all been considered anomalously warm in the 80s, but this is just the norm now. Probably the average max for late Feb now is 10c!