Bottesford

Cold, dull & damp. All is normal... 8.8c currently after 7.9c low.

15.1c just before heating came on in here. You just have to heat the place a bit at that temp you really do. Thing is - if it got to 23c out there tomorrow (if only!) this place would still only make it to 19-20c at best. It takes days & days of warmth for it to catch up. Often on warmer days I open windows to let the warmth in!

It depends what you temperature you can tolerate and what you're doing. 18c is great for hoovering but try sitting motionless working for a few hours in it - hands start to freeze first before it becomes very unpleasant. A few hot teas and a jumper help but without moving it soon sinks into you. An artificially heated 21c is nice to sit in, but scrubbing the bathroom would be a sweatfest! However a natural 21c feels fine as you've got air moving around. Its like 25c outside feels fantastic but heating your house to 25c in December would be horrible.

If I'm in a jumper then the missus is in four layers, a hat and a scarf!

What sun?! We've had so little sunlight this past 4 weeks it doesn't matter if the sun was overhead - it still won't warm anything up under thick cloudy skies! Perhaps you live in a warm house? A new build flat in a city would be considerably warmer than a 16th century farmhouse on top of the Peak District. My old house was a Victorian mid terrace and didn't need a lot of heat due to the surrounding neighbours and had mostly clear horizons so was well exposed to any sun we might have got. It was also quite small, had double glazing and reasonable insulation. In summer it could reach 32c in the living room and coldest in winter was high teens. My current house is detached and built into a hillside facing south-east (meaning only receiving morning sun) and surrounded in tall trees and 3 storey large Victorian houses. It is painted white, has poor insulation and limited double glazing. It is also quite spacious. Max living room temp in summer I've ever seen was 24c but min on cold winters day after 10 hours no heating was 9.8c. For those reasons (and that we've had limited hot summer weather but lots of cold winter weather since moving in 2008) I need heating in cool spring conditions but probably didn't in the old place. Simple as...

It's on every morning and night during the week then left 'on' all day if we are sitting indoors at the weekend. The only time it has been off whilst we've been in is when doing some manic cleaning or during those warmer days of March (although most warmth fell during the working week so made little difference). Of course the thermostat cuts it off just shy of 21c so it is burning away all day (well except last Sunday!). There's no way we could run without heating this past month with temperatures around 6-12c and until it gets close to 20c most days and not below 10c at night then it will continue in that manner.

Thought I heard a swift on Monday night but wasn't sure. Suspect the atrocious conditions from Spain to the UK will probably send them to Eastern Europe instead. They normally arrive around now (leaving end of July) and for me mark the best period of the year - the sound of them souring on a warm evening is just wonderful. Like a sound that all is well and you're in the time of plenty...

I remember it too - summer holidays and I was 14 years old. I spent the whole holiday playing Dune 2 on my Acorn computer saying it was too hot to go outside. Oh the stupidity of youth! Give anything for a month like that right now...

If we could have July 2006 weather from June to August then I will gladly forgive that dire April and anything May delivers!

Long long overdue a decent August for sure! With a max of 12c and rain or drizzle all day - yet another awful spring day in these parts.

New month, same old cack. Light rain, dull and breezy but at least it isn't so cold today. 10.3c min currently 10.5c.

Sunny!!! And its 14.5c now which is over twice yesterdays max. Oh how I wish we could get a weather day like today on a weekend - feels like forever ago I last saw my house in sunlight (well bar when I'm bleary eyed and running around getting ready to go to work).

A horrid day indeed with that howling wind and rain from the middle of the night until about an hour ago. Things calming down a bit now at last but still cold & damp - certainly won't be venturing out in it! Am really missing my weekend jogs/bike rides they've been very thin on the ground this month - running in wet conditions is just asking to break your leg round here! Looks like some sunshine tomorrow at last - and some decent-ish temperatures. Shame it'll be a busy Monday so won't get to enjoy it much...

Well if ever there was a 'duvet day' then its today. Howling freezing wind out there with unending rain been going all night. My house feels freezing cold as easterlies strip the place of warmth - going to need a lot of gas to keep warm today. Really want to do some sort of exercise today but sadly it looks impossible. This weather is going to make me fat....

Oh I don't know - if we compare T+24 to the whole rest of the run (bar that FI northerly at the end) then the uppers are all higher than we've been used to lately and rising as the week goes on. With less rain around, more chance of sunshine and slightly warmer temperatures it will feel like heaven - even if it won't really be that warm, especially at night. Of course North Sea low cloud will probably become a problem but still - at least the rain will stop! T+24: http://cdn.nwstatic....ecmt850.192.png T+96: http://cdn.nwstatic....ecmt850.096.png T+168: http://cdn.nwstatic....ecmt850.168.png

Want to continues with this point... please all gardeners join us in the gardening thread!

I think the springs over and summers over posts are being very hasty indeed! It was not a few weeks ago we had unending high pressure & above average temperatures. All models kept the theme going and going. But look - it changed - and it will change again. Completely understand the frustration and impatience - as a gardener (first year really having a proper go at it) it is very depressing seeing everything not growing and being stuck with plants all over the house. But change will come and the plants will catch up. Yesterday we saw hints of something warmer coming in next week - today a northerly. The models are being very fickle as there is a lot of uncertainty in the relatively near time frame. Don't panic just yet!

Oh absolutely - it would be wrong to say summer rains don't top up the water table but only if in sufficient quantity as you say. From a pure drought busting perspective that'd be fine but with those sort of rain levels you are very likely to end up with problems of flooding (as seems to be happening already) plus it would cause terrible problems for agriculture with crops rotting in the fields. And then of course tourism (especially domestic tourism) would be badly affected. Having more rain in winter than summer has to be better for the majority with the only exception being those who want a white Christmas! (Tell a lie - the Scottish ski industry too). Unless anyone can think of any other reasons why a dry/cold winter with wet summer combo would be better? I certainly can't.

Since none of us can control the weather (thank god!) then it probably doesn't matter what we want. I think weather control technology would be a war starter if anything ever was!

But summer rain doesn't actually up the water table so if we only ever had wet summers & dry winters we'd be some serious trouble after only a few years. Not to mention a total destruction of our crops - things don't grow in constant rainfall, they need sunlight! For most people away from weather forums I think you'd find yourselves in a real minority for some pretty obvious reasons. Besides we've had plenty of dry and cold winters along with Atlantic dominated summers recently - time for a change!

That second chart will certainly mean an increase in temperatures but sunshine is unlikely to be in good supply with winds coming off the North Sea like that nor with that low around the SW of England. Certainly signs of an improvement though at long long last which I can finally pass on to people I know who are now almost asking me daily for any positive weather news - especially the gardeners!

We need a wet autumn and winter really. A wet summer will stop it from getting worse but be an unpleasant pain in the backside to most people. Hopefully after our long hot but at times thundery summer we can have an Atlantic dominated winter to replenish water levels.

Yes 5pm is a definite magnet for rain! Happens with alarming frequency - a dry day all day only to turn wet bang on 5pm. 8:30am less so thankfully although this last week has put that to the test. But nothing will beat irony than that gorgeous sunny week we enjoyed in March which came to an abrupt halt the second the weekend started (and my week off too). 20c and sunshine became 2c and sleet 1 week later. How I cursed.

Well this is just truly miserable April weather - the sort of thing that belongs in November or December. 25th April nearly lunchtime and its 6.8c the wind is howling and its raining again. So far this month I've not had any t-shirt cycles to or from work nor has the heating been off bar when I'm not at home! Sat in the office in my jumper - the jumper I usually only need in winter. Come on weather we get enough of this cack in the dark season - time for a change now!

Windy, wet and cold. Welcome to November 6.8c no sign of rising.