Bottesford

I'd go with that too. Definitely not experienced a 'heatwave' since 2006 round here. About time we did!

Liking the indications of a Azores high moving in late next week giving fine dry & hopefully sunny conditions. Keeping a close eye on it myself for the festival I'm going to in the Ribble Valley that weekend. Ideally hot, dry and sunny would at least dry would do! So far looking good for the start of next weekend. Hopefully 'upgrades' in sunshine, dryness and warmth over the coming days.

Cloudy all day until about 5pm now it's cleared. Breezy but dry max 19.1c. *yawn*

I'd say my weather 'needs' are strongest May to July as it's my favourite time of year. Although it's nice to see exciting weather in winter - for me it's just something to help make things less dull until the good season comes around... That being said getting 'average' weather now isn't awful as such - it just seems like a waste of the good season. A bit like a dj finally playing your favourite song after a load of rubbish ones but it happens to be the song he decides to talk all over - or worse someone does karaoke to it! I do feel like I'm currently waiting for summer to get going. Having a period of reliably warm & dry weather really does make the season. It doesn't have to be blazing hot every single day - but knowing that you can plan a bbq or whatever for the weekend in the knowledge everyone won't have to spend it indoors because it's too wet or cold is great. Outdoor weather in the UK is brief so anything making it even briefer is most unwelcome. I know some of you will say you can go out whatever the weather if you're prepared - but that isn't the point. Head to mainland Europe (especially Eastern or Southern) or of course the tropics to see what summer outdoor living it truly about. It isn't about hiding in four layers and shrouded in Gortex that's for sure! Living the outdoor life means having dinner, relaxing and maybe even sleeping outside wearing your normal indoor clothing. Those things are generally not fun when it's 12c and raining! Of course our position on the globe makes reliable summers unlikely... but maybe if we keep having poor summers the vast increase in CO2 from everyone jetting off to decent weather will eventually warm the climate up enough for good summers here! Not a good solution of course but there you go...

Yes indeed we do have poor insulation. It was upgraded in January (too late to fend off gas guzzling December) but all that has done is made the upstairs much much warmer. The fairly sizable downstairs living room cannot be insulated (solid brick so no cavity wall) and any warmth there heads straight upstairs. Living room just made it to 21c today under constant sunshine after falling to 17.8c last night whereas I imagine those not needing heating are sitting in 25c+ rooms right now. I imagine our living room is fantastic place to escape hot weather but since heat has been rare as hens teeth since we moved there 3 years ago (with ample cold winters instead!)... We've used no heating today of course but on Sunday with near single digit temperatures, no sunshine and constant rain making everything feel a damp kind of cold we were dropping into the mid teens in there. This is fine for doing housework but not for sitting for long periods especially as the missus is already covered in jumpers. And drying the washing we needed for Monday morning was impossible without heating.

We aim for 20-21c in the living room (usually the coldest room in the house as its big & all the heat goes straight upstairs) for sitting and high teens for hoovering/cleaning or when we're not in. Thermostat is so rubbish and inaccurate you can set it to 21c but it cuts out at 19c, then change it up a bit and it powers on till we hit 22c+. So all done manually with the aid of me & my constant monitoring!

A horrible day here - indeed felt like a winter day at times. Low light levels, needing heating to keep the damp, cold feeling off - and the missus complaining greatly! My courtyard flooded too as blockage somewhere making the whole house stink of drains for a few hours. I couldn't build a frame for my tomato plants as I intended this weekend nor go for the hour jog we wanted to do. Got that stodgy heavy feeling of being trapped in a centrally heated house all day - the one that you spend almost two weeks in at Christmas!

Yep it's definitely back on here as the cold dampness really gets to you especially when temps fall below 12c like they are now. The missus especially hates it and has been a complete grouch all day with these vile conditions. A shame as we were both looking forward to a day in together for first time in weeks but now it just feels clustrophobic as we couldn't do our jog or even a walk and the radiators are on and the light levels are so low. Like jumping head first into any winter weekend

I'm not complaining about those sorts of conditions. A freezing night where temps just dip into positive numbers during the day are good when coupled with sun, snow & frost. I'm more getting at those dull raw days (usually easterlies without a deep cold feed) where temperatures remain constant 24 hours most often 2-6c depending on the time of year. No sun, no frost - just a horrible cold wind that costs a fortune to keep warm in.

Try Iceland - sunshine and maxes around 9c so certainly not all other countries! A heatwave up there is 20c or more with summer temperatures normally around 15c at most. I tolerate temperatures at both ends of the spectrum - I'm always the one without a coat on with everyone else wrapped up but I'm also the one who can take 30c+ without melting. It's just the middle of the road dullness temperature zone I can't stand - temps neither here nor there. 1c up to about 6c being the worst - nowt wintry but feels vile to be out in and costs loads to heat the house against! Since UK winters average around those temps it makes me definitely not enjoy the bulk of winter. At least 'average' in summer is pleasant even if not especially warm.

Don't ever go to SE Asia or South America then where you'll find real humidity and heat! Can't say I find UK heat ever unbearable. It's very very rarely above 18-19c at night so really it just comes down to house construction. When your on holiday in the Med the houses/hotels are designed to keep their cool unlike your thermally insulated UK home. I have done 25c+ nights in Barbados and yes it is very hot for sleeping. A/C sorts that out of course but I know I prefer it when temperatures are cool enough to sleep ok no A/C needed but warm enough to keep windows open all night without a chill. So around 16-18c mins coupled with reasonable humidity.

This spring has been unusual in the complete lack of North Sea low cloud. I've not seen any which is extremely unusual. Normally later winter to early summer it reaches it's peak but this year - none. Any cloud has been courtesy of westerlies which are 'better' as the cloud often has features rather than being a flat sheet and also doesn't feel as horribly raw.

Clouding up now but we've made it to 21c already. Hopefully it won't turn overcast all day as it often does (well until sunset anyway!).

Gorgeous start with clear skies and warm sunshine. Min of 11.2c now 16.3c. If only more summer days could be like today!

A little over the top there rob - certainly I know very little about farming hence posing the question! Surely 100% of the crop yield won't be lost so what remains is worth more? I don't know hence asking the question. I went to dust bowel East Anglia at the weekend and saw of crops around being irrigated and looking well on it so not everything is dead. I do appreciate not all farmers can do that and that it costs money to do it. But aren't 'leisure time and outdoor activities' other people's means of earning a living too? A wet summer would have a very adverse affect on different sets of people as well. Either way it is beyond the control of yours or my wishes...

I feel no guilt in longing for a super hot & dry summer. There will always be winners and loosers in any given weather period so feeling guilty for your preference just seems daft when it's something you cannot control. Out of all the seasons rain is always the most disruptive in summer in so far as ruining peoples leisure plans and outdoor activities so it makes sense that the majority want a dry and at least warm summer. It will be tough on farmers but then surely it means the wholesale price of their goods will rise in line with the reduced supply? It'll be us consumers that will pay at the end of the day. A good reason to grow your own food as much as possible and get used to running around with the watering can every evening during the drought!

Since we're in what is currently the best time of year, the very idea of winter makes me feel queasy. Who wants to think about constant darkness, heavy traffic, isolation, artificially heated rooms, no fresh air and being stuck indoors all the time during this wonderfully free time of year?! (yes I know full well there are some of you that do). Not me that's for sure! Late November I generally don't think about the upcoming summer either mostly since it seems such a distant & wonderful dream...

A very windy day that started bright but quickly clouded over. We got about 10 or so mins of rain which dried up fast in the sun and wind that followed. A lovely bright sunny evening but feeling fresher & cooler. 19.1c max now 14.1c.

That does look a very interesting read that one. The heat shouldn't kill anyone, especially the mild version of heat we get in the UK, but it's easy to see how the isolated elderly could perish if they can't keep cool and they have no one to help them. I think that more says a lot about how many elderly & poor people are neglected by society than how 'dangerous' heat waves are. I think if we do start seeing more regular hot weather in summer we do need to be more prepared. In Europe they use shutters in the daytime to keep out the sun, then open windows at night to cool off. How many people here even shut out the sun during heat never mind use shutters? To keep cooler windows should only be opened once the outside temperature is lower than the indoor temperature. Perhaps some heat education needed - especially for the more vulnerable.

1995 was closest I remember and yes it was dry. Water still came out the tap though and I have no doubt it will this year too. We are a long way from stand pipes in the street - we'd need a hot, dry summer followed by a dry winter going into another dry summer for that to happen. Even then - we have much improved infrastructure for water resource management than we did in the 70s. I for one will enjoy the summer no matter how hot & dry it gets in the same way many enjoyed the extreme cold no matter how many old ladies froze to death/legs got broken on ice/holidays got ruined by snow... Can't change it so no there is no guilt!

Are you suggesting the only impact was short term travel issues?! What happens when transport infrastructure is cut? A whole lot more than a few people can't jet off to the Bahamas that's what! What about all those companies who's workers couldn't/wouldn't make it into work? The cost of that is huge to the economy. Take a look at this article for in ref to the previous winter- http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8569822.stm Retail did suffer a lot in December with some retailers reporting one of their worst Christmas periods ever. Restaurants suffered too with xmas parties canceled or poorly attended due to poor weather. And think of all those tourist pounds lost as so many people couldn't even make it to the UK... The psychological impact was bad too - people really don't like not making it home to their families at Christmas. A whole lot more than they mind it getting dusty in summer... But that's not to belittle the effects of a sustained drought which of course wouldn't be great for farming or some parts of the economy. But in context it is certainly no worse than a cold/snowy winter and I'd say much far worse in fact.

Fairgrounds, theme parks, open air museums.... or maybe other activities like quad biking, abseiling, climbing - or just heading a country pub known for it's views and lovely beer garden. All much better when the weather is fine. Cinemas & indoor museums probably benefit somewhat in wetter conditions but then it depends on their location.

No one went into panic on here during December when the severe cold was making a massive impact on the fragile UK economy, only just out of recession. And the damage went on as soon as the cold hit - unlike drought which may hit potentially a few months down the line if thing don't change in the mean time. So why the panic?

The weather makes a massive difference to how much money the tourist industry takes irrespective of whether the total numbers of visitors remains constant - which of course it wouldn't. Take my colleague who went on holiday with his newborn son a couple of years ago to Cornwall. It rained all the time so they couldn't go anywhere (taking the young baby out in pouring rain was neither fun nor practical). They left the holiday early and hardly spent any money except on a few meals & the hotel bill. Local economy looses out. If the weather had been good they'd have spent plenty on entertainments, museums and so forth. Do they want to go back to Cornwall? Not really. Tourist economy suffers. Same goes for a holiday in Cornwall I had in July 2008 when it rained everyday sometimes all day none stop. Horrible. It was so bad sometimes we didn't go out and instead got some beers in from a supermarket. Again little money spent in the local economy due to the poor weather. The random trips we Brits made are obviously affected by the weather in any given weekend etc. A dry & sunny weekend is bound to involve more money being spent than a wet one where people do their DIY and watch a DVD. Pubs no doubt do well from good weather - especially those with decent beer gardens.

The water restriction are unlikely to reach that level with water resource infrastructure being a lot better than it was in 1976 with more ability to move water around the country. Around here we're 10% down on usual - so 90% full. Even with no rain for the whole summer we won't be stand pipes - at least around here. Admittedly things further south east look less rosy.