Best and worst august of the 2010s?

[Summerlover2006]

The 2010s decade were not the best decade for the month of august with there being quite a few stinkers but what was the best and worst  august of the decade.

2010: it was a very cool month the coolest august since 1993 with a high temperature of only 26.7C it was however sunnier and drier then average in the north but I’ve heard that in the south the month was just awful so obviously it was a very different month depending on where you were.

2011: a very dull month I think the second dullest since 1912 only beaten by the famous 2008 it did have a warm start with 30 degrees being recorded it was also very wet and a tad cooler then average.

2012: a wet but actually quite warm month the warmest since 2004 but that isn’t saying much a mini heatwave in the middle brought a temperature 32.4 a very cold last night with a low of -2.4 at breamar it was also quite a dull month with only 86% of the average. 

2013: a very first day 34.1 being recorded the hottest day since 2006 and the warmest august day since 2003 this helped the month be warmer then average and the warmest since 2004 it was also drier then average with an average of only 83% sunshine was practically bang on average but still the sunniest since 2007 which shows how bad Augusts were in the years before this. 

2014: a wet and cool month with a high of only 27.2 surprisingly though sunshine was exactly average which meant that the month was very unsettled.

2015: a wet dull and cool month but surprisingly it still hit 30 degrees on the 22nd. 

2016: with a cet of 17.0 the warmest since 2004 rainfall was quite close to average but sunshine had an average 110% also i believe but this is just from guessing it was one of the few times where the second half of the month was warmer then the first there was an especially hot day on the 22nd when 34.1 was recorded.

2017: unsettled but not extremely so temperatures and cet were only slightly below average and sunshine was actually close to average rainfall was more varied with some places seeing more average rainfall but places like Northern Ireland see 130%.

2018: the hot summer continued for the first week with 33.2 being recorded on the 7th but after this is turned more average this meant the month was only slightly warmer then average rainfall and sunshine this month were both very different depending were you were on average rainfall was below average and so was sunshine but there was some exceptional exceptions with some places seeing 150% of the rainfall and some places seeing 150% sunshine. 

2019: a very changeable month with it being very wet but that didn’t cancel out the entire with it being slightly sunnier then average and also a pretty lengthy heatwave in the last 10 days which saw the hottest bank holiday monday on record with a high of 33.2 the following day was even hotter with a high of 33.4 the hottest temperature of the month. 

overall none of the Augusts of this decade were amazing but if I had to say the best sounds like 2016 and the worst sounds like 2011 and I think an underrated august is 2019 cos that hot spell sounds lovely.

 

Edited April 2 by Summerlover2006

[cheeky_monkey]

i was only in the UK temporarily between 2014-16 ..so best was 2016 followed by 2015 and 2014 last 

[Harry233]

My memories
 

2010 - Was actually quite a pleasant August for me. Generally dry and quite settled but mainly cool, quite similar to August 2007 some very low minima with many nights regularly falling well into single figures. 

2011 - A dreadful month, cool, wet and very dull. It was the coolest August since 1993 locally, wettest since 2004 although 2020 was wetter and dullest on record. I can only recall one spell of nice weather and that would’ve been around the 19th-24th. Other than that it was just Atlantic rubbish, the trees actually started to turn autumnal by around the 27th which is very early.

2012 - Unsettled and wet but with still a few spells of nice weather, strangely though the majority of the nice weather was over the weekends of the month. It was the warmest August for me since 2006 although temperatures weren’t actually that much higher than average. Another wet one but not as wet as 2011 and sunshine was close to average. Quite cold at the months end with minima getting close to record low. A brilliant month compared to the previous June and July.

2013 - A very dry month although it was dull and strangely quite warm again. It was the driest August since 2003 and it was also the warmest since 2004. Weather wise though there wasn’t too much heat most days were around 19.C-22.C so perfectly pleasant but nothing unusual. The weather was generally quite overcast though with the occasional sunny day.

2014 - Unsettled and quite cool but still with some useable weather especially in the first and third weeks. Rainfall was only just above average (although northern Scotland it was record breaking wet) and sunshine was around average too. Can’t recall any prolonged spells of unsettled or nice weather, just unsettled mostly.

2015 - A sunny month sunniest since 2003, and there wasn’t a sunnier one until 2022. Temperatures and rainfall were both close to average. I remember the last week being especially nice and it was probably one of the longest spells of nice weather in August. The rest of the month was generally typical August weather; a showery day, the odd warmer and sunnier day and then a cool and wet day.

2016 - Generally dry and settled with some good warm weather in the second half. The first half was quite unsettled following on after July and the second week was noticeably cold after that though it was generally dry and sunny.

2017 - Abysmal month, cool, wet and dull and also quite windy, the highest maximum here was only 22.1.C. There was some very wet weather towards the months close and it felt like early October most of the time with only brief sunnier days.

2018 - Coming after such an amazing May, June and July this August was pretty much bang average. It was slightly drier and cooler than average, the only warm weather occurred in the first week and it turned noticeably cooler by the 7th. I remember the 25th recording a minimum of just 3.8.C and the Sunday that follows there was a maximum of just 12.1.C. Not a total write off but still quite a disappointing month.

2019 - Unsettled and quite wet but the majority of the rain actually fell during the three days between the 8th-10th. The rest of the month was generally quite pleasant with some warm sunny days mixed in with a few cooler days. Had it of not been for the very wet spell in the second week it would’ve been a very pleasant month. The 10th was a very strange day as it had some glorious warm sunshine mixed in with some of the most torrential downpours I had ever seen. 
 

Best August for me would’ve had to be a tie either between 2013 and 2016 as they were both generally settled and warm. 
 

Worst is 2011 hands down.

[B87]

2010 - awful. It was cool (21.6c), wet (89mm) and exceptionally cloudy with only around 124 hours.

2011 - another cool (21.8c), wet (69mm) and cloudy (161 hours) month.

2012 - the first average August of the decade and the first since 2009. 23.5c, 36mm and 204 hours.

2013 - slightly warmer, drier and sunnier than average. 24.3c, 33mm, 222 hours.

2014 - cool (21.7c) extremely wet (98mm) but with average sun (205 hours).

2015 - another dire August along the lines of 2010 and 2011. Cool (22.2c), exceptional rainfall (117mm), and very cloudy (150 hours).

2016 - Probably the best August of the decade. Warm (24.7c), dry (22mm) and sunny (225 hours).

2017 - cool (22.0c), wet (59mm) and slightly duller (196 hours) than average.

2018 - warm (24.5c) with near average rainfall (48mm) and sunshine (204 hours).

2019 - the warmest of the decade (25.2c), also dry (33mm) and sunny (225 hours).

Good: 2016, 2019

Average: 2012, 2013, 2018

Poor: 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2017

Ranked: 2016, 2019, 2013, 2018, 2012, 2017, 2014, 2011, 2015, 2010.

2010 is the worst because Augusts 2011 and 2015 at least saw 30c. 

 

Edited April 2 by B87

[Summer8906]

In order, best to worst:

1) 2016. Actually had a decent amount of summery weather at times, though not completely settled. 7/10

2) 2013. A calm and benign month with frequent spells of bright and rather warm weather, though relatively few days were very sunny. 7/10

3) 2012. An improvement after the dire first half of summer. Rather changeable but with frequent, if short lived, warm and sunny spells. 6/10

The above three were the only ones I would rate as "summery", the others were a mix of below-par and poor.

4) 2018. Fine hot first week, otherwise rather unsettled. 4.5/10

5) 2019. Fine hot week running up to the Bank Holiday, otherwise rather unsettled 4.5/10

6) 2014. Rather unsettled but not that dull, thanks to frequent NW-ly and N-ly winds. First 10 days warm and sunny at times but changeable. Then cool, showery but fairly bright NW-lies and then N-lies, taking us to the bank holiday. A few days of very dull and wet weather from the Bank Holiday Sunday before the 30th was bright and 31st sunny. 4/10

7) 2011. Some spells of very wet, cyclonic weather mixed with short spells of fine and sunny conditions. 4/10

8. 2010. Rather cool and unsettled but the first week to 10 days was relatively dry if cloudy and cool 3.5/10

9) 2017. Unsettled more or less start to finish but a few scattered warm sunny days at times and brighter for the Bank Holiday. 3.5/10

10) 2015. Near constantly unsettled but the first weekend was nice. Notable for an almost complete absence of dry and sunny days after the 10th. 3/10

Really good: None

Goodish: 2016 and 2013

Average: 2012

Below par: 2018, 2019

Poorish: 2014, 2011

Poor: 2010, 2017, 2015

Edited April 2 by Summer8906

[LetItSnow!]

My memories of each August and then my ranking of them...

August 2010 I remember very little of except vividly the 3rd and the 4th. The 3rd I had a day out and took the Woolwich Ferry. The weather was mostly cloudy and I remember the skyline to the north-west being very black. The 4th actually brought a thunderstorm back home and interestingly it came from a weather front pulling down cool, northwesterly winds. Proof you don't need hot weather for thunderstorms.

August 2011 I literally remember nothing about, but considering my aversion to hot and humid weather, it sounds like a month I'd appreciate.

August 2012 I remember much better! I remember some severe storms early in the month, one that my dad took a video of on a cr** Blackberry; I think that was the 5th. I remember a fine and very warm spell from the 8th to the 11th with crystal blue skies. The 11th we took a day out to the Kent coast and the weather was optimum. There was a severe thunderstorm back home on the 13th which must have been the breakdown of it and the charts show this to be true with a trough pulled out west and slack S/SW winds. The rest of the month is a blur but I remember some bright but cool weather at the end of the month.

August 2013 I remember a similar amount. I do vaguely remember the 1st being very hot but I much better remember the 2nd and 5th having severe thunderstorms. The rest of the month is patchy but I went on a trip to the Kent coast again around some point mid-month and it was similar weather to a year earlier. I have pictures of this day and despite the extended summer the grass was green, no heat stress. Must have been very thundery in the Folkestone area to replenish ground water levels.

August 2014 I distinctly remember just feeling very autumnal with a total lack of summery conditions. I don't remember any standout conditions but rather just constantly a very October-y feel.

August 2015 was variable but from memory, cool and wet overall. We had a very wet day with torrential thundery rain over Kent on the 13th. The 22nd was the only summery day of the month from memory. The end of the month was exceptionally cool with heavy rain and NE winds locally that brought in a very autumnal feel and ushered in that chilly September.

August 2016 was mostly non-descript apart from being very dry. After some weak showers on the 4th I'm pretty sure it never rained again that month. I do remember the final ten days being very warm/hot.

August 2017 may take the cake as the "poorest" though that may be my memory of it being stronger because I was 16 by this point. The month rained constantly and, as I've spoken about many times, was unusually thundery at times. There was very little sunshine from memory, just lots of very cool, Atlantic dominated weather. The hottest temperature all month was only about 29C for a couple days and then it turned very cool again. Very, very autumnal.

August 2018 was a month of two-halves; it was very hot for about the first week, then it ushered in my most thundery period I can ever recall with heavy showers and severe thunderstorms every day from the 7th to the 12th (and almost the 13th too). The summer gave up after that and the second-half was quite non-descript and actually ended up very cool at month's end IIRC.

August 2019 I spent in Kent until the 12th, then Cumbria for the rest of the month. In Kent it was unusual because those first 12 days were mostly very unsettled, Atlantic dominated and unsettled but with a south-westerly element so it was unsettled but warm. I remember the 2nd was bizarre as it was very windy but warm. The temperature cooled off a bit after that. In Cumbria the rest of the month was totally unsettled bar a short lived warm and sunny spell for a couple days which oddly I forget when was, but may have been around the 21st. It was very wet and cloudy. The 18th saw locally severe thunderstorms which caused flash flooding.

To rank them is a bit hard because, as someone who hates hot weather and likes cool summer months, my ranking will be a LOT different to many. But many of these Augusts were all unsettled and even the warmer ones were never really ones to write home about like August 2020 or August 2022.

1. August 2018 2. August 2017 3. August 2015 4. August 2014 5. August 2010 6. August 2011 7. August 2016 8. August 2012 9. August 2013 10. August 2019

August 2018 being #1 may surprise you but it takes the cake for the sheer off the scale convective activity in NW Kent at the time, plus the variability made it interesting to me. August 2011 is ranked there because I just remember nothing about the month at all. August 2019 was far too humid and also personally my life wasn't going great at the time so it also gets that taken off of it I suppose.

[hillbilly]

2018 was very decent,all the others were rubbish or poor including the cloudy 2013.

[Summer8906]

 hillbilly 2018 better than 2016 or 2013?

[hillbilly]

 Summer8906 Yes 2018 was the best August here.

[damianslaw]

Most Augusts pale into a humid wet haze to me, a month I never rate, far too often plagued by south west gloom and rain. 2016 springs out as the best overall. 2014 and 2017 I remember being very wet, and 2011 exceptionally dull.