What did you think of summer 2024?

[Ross90]

Awful, probably the worst summer I can remember in terms of heat and hrs of sunshine.

[B87]

An average summer for the London area.

[Addicks Fan 1981]

 Don cheers mate, a win for all those three pretty much.

[Sprites]

It is quite nice from mid July onwards 

[Frigid]

I loved it, and will miss Summer 2024 for it's lack of heatwaves and rain. A dry, cool season hard to come by these days. Enough warm days and rainfall to keep me interested, though no thunderstorms. At least May had a few.

A rare summer with no 30C, the last being in 2017. Quite the change after witnessing Summer 2022. I suspect the first half was one of the coolest in the last 20 years. Should've been known after such a mild Spring, almost always a spell for disaster when looking for warmth. 

A comfortable, usable summer. 8/10. 

[GreyCrag]

Poor for us in the NW as it didn't really get going until July+August with May+June being notable for the consistent rained out days, even last week parts of the Lake District were flooded out for a second-time in a row over August. Not to mention the lack of any active-convection days and it's been a struggle to find any sunshine or usable days for long-distance hiking. I'm now looking forward to the Autumn Colours, Fog Inversions, and first snow possibilities.

[SunChaser]

Bang average AND very nondescript.

Dry other than a washout couple of weeks in July, average sunshine and temperature wise (maybe even a touch above. Would've liked more prolonged high pressure but there was just enough heat to keep us going. Some marks given for a lot of useable days, more than high summer last year could do. And no thunder which was a shame. To be honest nothing interesting of note happened at all this season.

Unlike most I'd consider June the best month here because of how sunny and dry it was, 7/10 for me. July was meh overall, started horribly and ended well, 4.5/10. August was decent overall but forgettable and there's been too many damp days for my liking, so 6/10. But it's close between the 3 - none of them blew me away but none of them were bad either.

Also coming straight off the back of a horrible spring didn't do summer '24 any favours in the public perception. Ask anyone you know and they'll say it's been a dreadful summer. But looking at things since June 1st it's been okay imo. Put this after a spring 2020 and people would be remembering this one fondly!

Edited September 1, 2024 by Sun Chaser

[Weather-history]

Manchester Summer Index for 2024 is 203. So about in the middle in the pack of summers around here.

1901 249 1902 195 1903 209 1904 212 1905 223 1906 214 1907 147

1908 220 1909 171 1910 190 1911 274 1912 156 1913 205 1914 222

1915 196 1916 188 1917 228 1918 200 1919 203 1920 174 1921 249

1922 178 1923 174 1924 158 1925 246 1926 227 1927 175 1928 197

1929 211 1930 199 1931 173 1932 223 1933 251 1934 238 1935 243

1936 190 1937 213 1938 177 1939 213 1940 238 1941 236 1942 214

1943 209 1944 200 1945 223 1946 170 1947 255 1948 176 1949 267

1950 216 1951 201 1952 198 1953 193 1954 143 1955 277 1956 155

1957 216 1958 184 1959 269 1960 217 1961 203 1962 197 1963 194

1964 197 1965 189 1966 192 1967 223 1968 215 1969 234 1970 235

1971 205 1972 185 1973 234 1974 199 1975 268 1976 301 1977 223

1978 173 1979 199 1980 173 1981 196 1982 203 1983 278 1984 271

1985 180 1986 189 1987 169 1988 191 1989 262 1990 229 1991 207

1992 222 1993 194 1994 240 1995 298 1996 245 1997 232 1998 192

1999 234 2000 198 2001 211 2002 200 2003 247 2004 197 2005 224

2006 246 2007 174 2008 168 2009 194 2010 191 2011 179 2012 164

2013 247 2014 236 2015 192 2016 189 2017 192 2018 272 2019 199

2020 182 2021 238 2022 261 2023 217 2024 203

 

Personally, I found it tedious, it was a nothing summer and fits in with the rest of 2024 weatherwise so far.  Forgettable.  

Thunderstorm wise, it was a disaster. Just 1 thunderclap.  

Edited September 1, 2024 by Weather-history

[Lukesluckybunch]

Nothing special average I thought,the odd very warm to hot spell.but I won’t forget June which was a really cool month in general 

[Summerlover2006]

Here I would argue it was good here the second half of the summer was pretty much consistently good with only a few terrible days the period from July 15th to august 15th especially was great. 
 

June was probably the worst month of the summer because it was just depressing here the first half was pretty much consistently cool and just didn’t feel summary at all and even though there was a nice 10 day spell from the 16th to the 27th the sunshine totals were a bit underwhelming with most days only having a sunny morning or a sunny afternoon not both. 
 

the first half of July was probably worst then any period in July being pretty much cool very dull and wet and by this point I was getting very worried that the summer would be the worst of the 21st century but then thankfully the weather changed around the 13th and the rest of the month was a lot better with many days with plenty of sunshine and many days felt hot the 19th and the 29th were the highlights.

 

August started how July ended being warm and sunny and even though it turned mixed at times it generally remained nice and sunny until the mini heatwave ended on the 13th this is generally when the weather switched again with there being more cloudy and cool days but there was still sunny days but on many days there was a distinct feeling of early autumn and it stayed like this until the 29th when I left the uk for Turkey!!  Overall I liked august because unlike June and July it was very mixed and changeable instead of a halves month. 
 

Rankings for the month 

June: 4/10 

July: 6/10

August: 6/10 

16/30

Overall this summer felt (doesn’t mean it was) a lot better to summer 2023 because the high summer period was a lot better then in 2023 choosing the best month of the summer is a tricky one because all months were changeable and at times terrible and at times great but I would probably say July.

 

[John88B]

Just your average summer for me down here. For those further north I can understand them calling it a poor summer.

[damianslaw]

Poor, suspect it will be marked as very dull, slightly cooler and wetter than average here.

Not recorded 25 degrees I believe.

Worst since 2012. 2017 and 2020 were wetter but at least delivered a good sunny dry warm start 

One to forget.

 

[johncam]

Very poor up here , max temp was 23.5C , wetter and cloudier than normal , hope we can at least get a sunnier Autumn. 

[SunSean]

As i still consider the 1st half of September Summer, so far I have liked it for my area so I voted good. There was respite from the endless rain, lots of sunshine & usable days. 1st half of July was diabolical & 1st half of June was slightly under par but no complaints about the rest really apart from quite a few Saturdays being bland. 1st half of September here looks like being mainly poor so may bring my vote down to average but as for Meteorological Summer, yeah, I liked it

[Brad in Kent]

Hello all,

Here in Kent it was a bang average summer generally improving as it went along. Managed several >30c days here in the second half July / first half of August. A tell tale sign of acceptable conditions is the yellow lawns and straw-like foliage which we have right now. 

Despite not being able to pull together a truly settled spell, the SE got away with it I feel, just. 

Those further north understandly have a different story to tell. The stats will be interesting once they come out namely the anomalies by region. 

[Metwatch]

Great to hear many thoughts! My ratings:

June: 5.5/10

July 3/10 (only experienced the first half)

August 5.5/10

Total: 14/30

 

It's been an interesting summer as even though the lack of thunderstorms brings down the rating a lot, the dry conditions brings it back up again as that is something I wanted after so much rain since July 2023 to this May. That however balances things out and so it was a very average summer for me.

I would rate July / August slightly higher if i was in the UK during those 3 weeks; that had the warmiest and sunniest conditions of the summer along with the day of storms on the 1st of August, but instead experienced the worst part of the summer which was in the 1st half of July. Although I didn't like how cool it felt on some evenings in June, the sunshine made up for it, and there was a nice surprise storm mid month.

This summer is probably the one where I've seen the most agreement on its average rating, as between those who love the warmth versus those who hate it that's down to it being cool while also being quite dry for central and southern areas along with enough sunshine to enjoy. The best way I'd put it is this being a modern day summer 1913 repeat (the most extreme example of a cool but dry / dull combination for a summer). Sunshine amounts also were very average but the dryness was the main aspect, with the summer being so westerly, wasn't overly suprising that Wales and Scotland had majority of the rainfall compared to here.

 

Pretty happy with my summer forecast as well for the second year running, with the only aspect that I didn't expect was August being drier than I thought and it being the coolest in the CET area since 2015, but even then summer ended up right on the 1981-2010 average of 15.8C, another aspect making this season a very average one!

On 04/06/2024 at 14:28, Metwatch said:

Summer 2024:

• Overall most likely for the CET to be 0.5-1.0C above the 1981-10 average of 15.8C, so pretty warmish.
• Most likely for rainfall to be near average to 20% below average for England and Wales.
• Driest spells to be first half of June, and mid to late July.
• Hottest weather towards the end of July / start of August. August tending to be more unsettled but with some decent spells mixed in towards the end.
• A fairly poor summer for thunderstorms following last summer being quite thundery for many

 

Edited September 1, 2024 by Metwatch

[hillbilly]

Overall i would call it average but realisstically on the poor side .Whilst having reasonable spells of  good summer weather iin June and August  it was very disappointing when high summer arrived [late June to late July] it took a nosedive into the garbage.Not what you want when trying to make hay on the farm even more so after last years horror show.A Summer when i have never seen so many wrong forcasts.

[richie3846]

It was a good summer overall. We did have a cool spell in June, yet it was a dry month, it did warm up later, and it was sunny.

July was a bit wetter, with the rain concentrated in a short period of time. The warmer parts of July made up for the cooler parts. 

The school holidays marked the start of a blissful 2 weeks period of great weather, some decent heat and not a lot of rain. I also happened to be off for those two weeks. 

The rest of August was pretty decent, warm, reasonable sunshine and not many wet days. 

What makes this summer interesting is the rainfall. I only recorded 105mm for the season, and that's around 60% of the average. There were only 7 days out of the entire summer where I recorded more than 2mm. Most of the rain fell on just 5 days. The other thing of interest was the total lack of cool days after the middle of July. Not a single day recorded below 19.4c during that period on my AWS. 

Sunshine will be about average, and temperatures around average too. 

 

[coldest winter]

Living in the north of Scotland, on the eastern side, this summer has been the worst here in the 19 summers that I have been living here, having moved up from England in 2006.

All three summer months lacked sunshine. I cannot recollect any other summer with lash days suitable for a barbecue .(although expectations up here are not high) .

The Eastern half of Scotland has stayed dry compared to the southwest of Scotland, dull, cool and, particularly in August, very breezy. There are many days this summer that I have seen people walking their dogs in winter gear. due to the windchill factor and lack of sunshine..

From my backyard point of view, I have rated this summer as disastrous!

[Weather Enthusiast91]

Quite average overall for this neck of the woods. A poor first half and a much improved second half. 

I don't think it will end up as being particularly memorable.

 

Edited September 1, 2024 by Weather Enthusiast91

[EMids WeatherWatcher]

Summer in this country?..a lull in the crap until the next Low pressure comes along!

[SqueakheartLW]

Overall about average but generally came in blocks of below and above during June and July before August saved the summer from getting a below average rating.

June 2024

Probably overall the worst of the summer months when rated by how cool the month was for most of it with only the 4th week really pulling this one back up to around the 1961/90 average which is below average on 1991/20.

For rainfall this gets a high rating due to how dry the month was overall.

Ratings for each month. Temperature, Lower rating is cooler and higher warmer. Precipitation, Lower rating is wetter and higher drier.

Ratings = Temperatures 3/10     Precipitation = 7/10

OVERALL = 5/10 (The cool month offset by the dryness)

July 2024

Similar to June but a much wetter month overall and still very much average temperatures as well but a story of two halves with cool and wet first half and much warmer and drier second half. Came out a little above the 1961/90 average and very much a little bit below the 1991/20 average.

Ratings = Temperatures 5/10     Precipitation = 5/10

OVERALL = 5/10 (Cool wet first half cancelled out by the warmer drier second half)

August 2024

Easily the best month of summer 2024 with average or warmer than average temperatures really throughout and a quite dry month too. Came in above both 1961/90 and 1991/20 temperature means.

Ratings = Temperatures 7/10     Precipitation = 8/10

OVERALL = 7.5/10 (Above average temperatures and below average precipitation)

SUMMER 2024 AS A WHOLE RATINGS

JUNE Ratings = Temperatures 3/10     Precipitation = 7/10

JULY Ratings = Temperatures 5/10     Precipitation = 5/10

AUGUST Ratings = Temperatures 7/10     Precipitation = 8/10

SUMMER 2024 OVERALL TEMPERATURES = 15/30 or 5/10

SUMMER 2024 OVERALLPRECIPITATION = 20/30 or 6.7/10

[cheese]

It was just okay. No better or worse than that. As others have mentioned, a summer that won't be remembered for any particular reason (unless you live in western Scotland/Cumbria etc where it's  been extremely wet).

The first halves of both June and July were very, very poor but they both had good or even very good second halves. August was more consistently good.

The best thing about summer 2024 is the months and months of wetter-than-average conditions finally coming to an end. June 2024 was our first drier-than-average month since June 2023, and from the 16th of July to the 31st of August we only had 26mm of rain.

Edited September 1, 2024 by cheese

[Jon Somerset]

I’ve gone for average but if we were doing exams it would be C+ as there was periodic effort but generally rather disappointing. I was lucky to take a break when a plume came up, and August has definitely been warmer than last year, but the incessant dark cloud appearing at 10 am and then not dissipating until the evening at least half the summer has been a theme I’d rather not have had. An improvement on last year but could do better.

[Adam D]

A poor summer up here in Scotland.

Lots of rain, not much sunshine and low temperatures.

A summer to forget.