Scorcher

We should be around the 70 hours mark here for sunshine by the end of today- a wonderful start to the month. A day today that was forecast to be sunny intervals has been virtually cloudless so far.

I think to be fair it has been very good in NW England and in some other areas but perhaps not everywhere. Also average sunshine levels in Dorset are higher than around here in June. Nevertheless, regardless of where you are- in mid May we could only have dreamed of a spell like this. Even a cloudy 17C was a distant dream.

53 hours of sunshine here up to yesterday- times that by 5 and we'd be at 265 hours for the month. You can't ask for much more than that!

Yes it's been a very sunny start to the month here too and even the days that have been forecast as cloudy have often ended up sunny- especially the afternoons.

It's definitely more likely in late spring/early summer than it is later on in the summer but still not that common.

Unusual to get such a stunning day around these parts while the SE has a totally rotten day with relentless rain- rare to see such a massive contrast that way round. This afternoon has been beautiful here- a bit of high cloud around for a time this morning but it's been mostly cloudless since about 1pm and a lovely evening now. 20.1C max but felt warmer in the sun this afternoon.

That's not across the board though and is well outside the reliable time frame. Let's not forget for a time this time last week, the models showed a trough slap bang over the UK for last Sunday only a few days before. In the end it was a stunning day across the country and high pressure dominated.

The anomalies don't support it at all and that's good enough for me at this stage.

I'm not having that GFS 06Z run at all- I imagine it will be an outlier later on in the run.

That looks rock solid for more settled, warm weather. Could be a very warm first half of the month going by the anomalies.

It's clear that that is what would happen though if the run went on further.

The only issue I have this morning from an IMBY perspective is the positioning of the high as it moves in after the weekend. This time it's more of an extension of the Azores High which can mean a fair bit of cloud (and sometimes drizzle) for areas from the Midlands north as it moves in- I hope this won't be the case this time. It's certainly looking great for southern areas and probably for all of us eventually. It looks like the setup next week will be more favourable to eastern areas than the one we have currently- at first anyway.

A noticeable improvement from last night in the mean- it's looking very promising indeed.

I see no reason why Liverpool is any different from the rest of the NW in terms of a foehn effect in a southeasterly- it would be more likely in a southwesterly in truth with Snowdonia and the Welsh Mountains to the west/south west. I agree about airports, my point wasn't about it being an airport site but just that the readings are anomalously high at times compared to other local stations.

It makes more sense with Trawscoed as it has higher ground immediately to the east. The Liverpool station is at the airport and it's very flat immediately to the east. I want to see the station itself to see if there is anything potentially affecting the readings. Manchester Airport has topped out at 24C this afternoon and it's also low-lying- I see no reason for the difference between there and Liverpool Airport (probably only 25 miles apart).

I'm convinced the Liverpool Airport station is compromised in some way- it's consistently considerably warmer than the stations close to it. I would be interested to know if it's an official site and to see the exact location of the station as there is nothing geographically that would explain its higher readings- if anything you'd expect it to be lower than the surrounding area with its proximity to the Mersey estuary.

Just give it a rest will you. Massive chip on your shoulder. Put me on ignore if you have such a problem with me. The capitals in your name say it all. Seems like it's you that has the problem.

Surely it's going to be 10.4C before corrections and then probably around the 10C mark afterwards. Unlikely to drop below 10C now but not impossible.

That's a very decent mean- probably no heatwaves on the cards but pretty consistently warm by the looks of things. Shades of June 2006 perhaps.

What is there to despise? Seriously we get 8 or 9 months in this country a year when a jacket/coat is required daily. In terms of sunny conditions (which have been in short supply recently) this is very comfortable indeed.

Stonyhurst (one of the CET stations) had a min around 12C I believe - the west was cloudier on Friday night I think which kept the temps higher- perhaps the far east of the country was clearer with cloud just a few miles inland.

People keep going on about a breakdown but I can't see evidence of much of one at all- we never get into heatwave territory anyway before midweek. Looks like one cooler day to me potentially on Friday (ignoring the GFS 00Z) and then warming back up to slightly above average for the weekend onwards. The great thing about this spell is that it's finally pushing that cool air that has lingered for so long well beyond the Arctic Circle.

I believe we had more cloud yesterday so it's swings and roundabouts I guess!

Absolutely stunning here this morning, cloudless blue sky. At long last. How nice is it to see this again?!

Lovely where I am this afternoon