What did you think of summer 2024?

[summer blizzard]

 Addicks Fan 1981

SSW impact is fairly minimal since the vortex is net easterly in summer anyway and what QBO influence we have in summer would strengthen the vortex. 

I would say that yes, a -PDO is more bad than good for summer and probably aids polar blocking. 

On the whole, this is a normal summer though.

[Scorcher]

 summer blizzard It wasn't a normal summer for sunshine for many- especially further north and west. Far from it in fact.

[stainesbloke]

An average and rather nondescript, even quite boring summer in west London. 5/10

A stunning summer in Czechia where it was mainly sunny, warm/very warm with little extreme heat and plenty of convective rainfall. 10/10

[danm]

On 02/09/2024 at 09:43, TEITS said:

Overall a poor start but then warm, dry, average sunshine, and yet again 35C was recorded, 36C in nearby Cambridge. I believe in the past 10yrs my location has reached 36C on 4 separate occasions.

The top temperature this Summer was 34.8c in Cambridge. 

[danm]

3 hours ago, stainesbloke said:

An average and rather nondescript, even quite boring summer in west London. 5/10

It was pretty boring, I'll give you that. No record breaking heat, no thunderstorms, but I'd personally give it above a 5/10. The mean maximum for the Summer as a whole was just a sliver above average, so despite a cool start to June and July, overall temperatures were where you'd expect them to be for the time of year. It was also a dry Summer overall and a little sunnier than average. 

An August average maximum of 24.5c is also very decent. The second half of June, second half of July and almost all of August had plenty of those 24c-29c, warm and sunny days, mixed with 5 30c+ days scattered about. I'd maybe give the Summer as a whole a 6.5. 

Edited September 3, 2024 by danm

[In Absence of True Seasons]

For me, a summer of 'two parts' by-and-large. 

A dire Spring leading into a dire start to summer set a foul precedent early on, making me crave for summer 2023 (which is telling!). Much of June was very poor - cool, cloudy and breezy, with effectively zero HP or properly warm, dry and useable spells until the latter part of the month, when something summery finally landed. 

Off the back of the wettest proacted period in history, alongside below average sunshine months, back-to-back, aside from September 2023 and then Jan 2024, this was rather depressing to see. A sunny and warm May-June would've brushed away the wet cobwebs of the sodden, grey Spring and Winter that preceded. 

Heading into July, we once again saw a mixed-bag, with the first half of the month once again a return to low pressure, and more jackets / coats out and about in London than I saw in even 2023. Many days were frustratingly cool, cloudy and windy until well into the late afternoon at which point the sun would appear and bump the temp up so that the average max temps for such days belied the general feel of the majority of the day itself. Similarly to June, the final 10 days or so of the month saw a positive shift to something more summery, which was well-aligned to the tail-end of the Euros  

As July came to a close and August landed, the finest part of the season (for me) had presented itself. A strong start to what manifested as quite clearly the 'king' summer month of the 2024 summer season (in London / Essex at least), with a plume to kick things off and then transitioning into many fine summer days with temps in the mid 20s, abundant sunshine, and very, very little to zero rainfall whatsoever. Aside from the odd 'bummer' dull day, August was cracking in my part of the world, and a refreshing change to many Augusts of modern summers which tend to be rather dull and lacklustre (with June or July being the 'king' summer month).

After May-July had not lived up to my desires for summer conditions, it was down to August to pick up the pieces, and thankfully it did. The 4 weeks or so from the end of July to end of August essentially 'saved' summer 2024 for being assigned to the halls of drossery along with 2023 and 2012. Indeed, by no means a fantastic summer, but rather an 'acceptable' summer, with managed expectations given our maritime climate and some recent summers (i.e. 2018, 2020, and 2022) being unusually continental and warm thus leading to slight delusions of grandeur as to what we can realistically expect to see most years in summer....

Summer comes to a close now with a slightly subpar week, and certainly nothing close to a September 2023 (an outlier month in all regards), but here's hoping for a sprinkling of warm and sunny days 20c+ before October lands and we shift once again into the beginning of the gloomier half of the year. 

Final rating:

• June: 3/10 
• July: 5/10
• August 8/10
• Season total: 5.5/10

Obvious caveat for the above - this is from a London and Essex perspective. Like a lot of our summer seasons, there were quite considerable regional variances this year, with the NW (and West generally) pulling the short straw in the latter half of the season in regards to sunshine, warmth, and dryness. SE England had the lion's share of the summery weather in August, so the 8/10 rating for that month is likely not reflective for the experiences of many others on the forum. Feel free to share thoughts accordingly....)

Edited September 3, 2024 by In Absence of True Seasons

[Arctic Hare]

I went for average. I almost went for good simply because it was largely dry, a massive relief after the winter and spring. But the rest was pretty dull. Average sunshine yes, but at least here a lot of it was very early and late in the days, with too much cloud during the time I was actually outdoors. Certainly I remember looking on enviously at the SE many times this summer. Temperatures generally okay; I'm not hankering after another July 2022. 

August actually being decent was a plus, so overall I reckon just on the good side of average. More sunshine at useable times of day next summer, though, please!

[CryoraptorA303]

Average for me. Nothing too hot for too long, was a much-needed dry season, but also a bit bland at the same time and much of June and July was quite dull here. August more than made up for it though. Overall very average and I'm ready for autumn now.

[stainesbloke]

 danm That's fair enough, my rating is for the weather I’ve actually experienced, but obviously I’m not in west London all the time. August has been decent enough and brought up the score, but much of the time I’ve been here it’s been cloudy and dreary. 

[cheeky_monkey]

it was an odd summer here..had one month well below average which was June (coldest for 43 years) one record breaking month July (over 1c above the previous record) and one bang on average which was August..rainfall wise it was below normal due to a very dry July ..with June and August slightly above normal..so all in all a good summer here overall.

[CongletonHeat]

Poor for me, not enough sunshine, August the best month out of the three.

Edited September 3, 2024 by CongletonHeat

[East Lancs Rain]

@HarvSlugger

Quote

 

just looked at crymych near me,

In 2018

May: 44mm

June his weather station bugged out so I don't know

July:73mm

Hardly a drought here

 

Looking at local weather records near here.

 

May 2018: 0.99 inches (25 mm)

June 2018: 1.86 inches (47 mm)

July 2018: 2.79 inches (70 mm)

 

The site owner also writes:

 

July 2018

The sunniest July in four years and the driest in twelve years.
Warmest since 2006 and the highest low maximum for eighteen years.
Equal lowest pressure on record for July with 1990 and 2011.
The 21 day absolute drought ended on 12th July just one day longer than the previous record of 1976.
The three months of May, June and July equalled 1995 in being the driest such period on record with only 143.3mm (55%). 1984 had 145.5 and 1976 had 177.3.
The three month mean temperature was 17.3 in 1976 and 16.2 this summer.

 

I am surprised the three months were that wet to be honest as I barely remember any rain at all.  There was a 21 day absolute drought though so looks like it was a case of long periods of no rain then lots of rain all at once. The weather station is located quite high up so it might be wetter there than it is here though.

 

Unfortunately the site owner lost his life to cancer a few years ago. A big shame as it was the only website I could find that had local weather records for here.

 

Roy's information site on Huncoat, History, Walking and Weather etc.

WWW.ROYCHETHAM.CO.UK

---

Walking with Groups in NW England, The Huncoat Trail and the history and weather records of Huncoat in Lancashire.

 

Edited September 3, 2024 by East Lancs Rain

[East Lancs Rain]

Rather poor here. Sunshine below average and probably temperature as well. Not overly wet but a big lack of warmth and sunshine. Most days below 20°C and overcast or mostly cloudy. The highest temperature of the summer (and the year) was 27°C on Friday 19th which is very mediocre compared to recent summers (although I’m not a big heat fan).

I voted for poor. Not enough days that were sunny/partly cloudy and in the 18-23°C range (my preference) for me to class it as an ok or good summer. I’d give it a 4/10.

 

Edited September 3, 2024 by East Lancs Rain

[Scorcher]

 East Lancs Rain Very interesting site there- is the site owner no longer with us? 

Interesting to see how much cooler and wetter on average that area is (Huncoat) than here in Cheshire. It's also considerably duller on average than Manchester Airport or Rostherne. 

[East Lancs Rain]

 Scorcher

Yes he sadly passed away around December 2018.
 

Sunshine wise I think it’s a bit on the low side as my two nearest Met Office stations, Stonyhurst and Rochdale are sunnier, and looking at the table every year has above average sunshine except for 2012 so either the weather has got much sunnier here or his sunshine average is inaccurate. 1100 hours per year seems too low for here. That’s what you’d expect somewhere like NE Scotland.

 

Temperatures also seem a bit on the low side, esspecially in winter. Average high of just 5.0°C in January compared to 6.7°C in Stonyhurst and 7.9°C in Rochdale. I trust the Met Office station stats more.

 

As for rainfall it seems pretty accurate though as it converts to 1260 mm which is a bit wetter than Rochdale (1197 mm) but a bit drier than Stonyhurst (1314 mm).

 

East Lancashire is generally cooler, wetter and duller than Cheshire though. Cheshire is one of the warmest and driest places in the region, whereas here it’s one of the poorest climates in the region. Only the Lake District has a worse climate. East Lancashire used to be full of cotton mills because the damp climate meant the thread was less likely to snap.

 

 

[East Lancs Rain]

On 31/08/2024 at 23:46, TwisterGirl81 said:

I think when the met office anomoly maps are released tomorrow or Monday I wouldn’t be surprised to see the only places that had a sunnier than average summer will be the far south eastern coastal areas, everywhere else In the south will be average of slightly below. Northern areas will have very poor summer stats. better luck next year for us all.

Yeah you were mostly right, only really the south east that had a sunnier than average summer.

[Alexis]

Quite unusual as there were properly cool periods; 2 in fact.
Been a while since there's been chilly periods in summer. 

[TwisterGirl81]

 East Lancs Rain I think had the first half of summer not been so poor for south eastern areas that map would be a lot  more orange and yellow for them

 

Edited September 3, 2024 by TwisterGirl81

[Glaswegianblizzard]

Voted for disastrous. Because it was.

[Beanz]

 Summer8906 how many days did we get rain this summer? 

[Summer8906]

 Beanz I have been reading reports from a couple of coastal Hampshire/Dorset contributors though (in addition to a number from the Midlands, Wales and North), and I don't like what I see. Plus I have been checking the synoptic charts.

Put it this way, it doesn't look like it was a summer 1996 or 2014, let alone a 1989 or 1995. Sunshine hours in my area in July and August look like they were below average with only June (which I did experience first-hand) having decent levels of sunshine.

The main thing seems to have been how spectacularly dull it's often been in my area, according to reports on here. The first half of July and second half of August seemingly being particularly dull. And we must be surely heading for one of the dullest Septembers on record if the current GFS run is anything like correct.

El Nino has supposedly ended but we're still getting the same old rubbish weather. What are Nina winters supposed to be like?

Edited September 4, 2024 by Summer8906

[Beanz]

 Summer8906 I think it depends on how you look at things.  

Summer 2024 for the UK as a whole was dryer than the seasonal average, and England even dryer when you take Scotland out of the picture.  England had less than average rainfall.  

Average temps were only slightly below average, depending on which yardstick you use.  Sunlight was on average.  

The media spin it a different way though, as always.  I agree though, it wasn’t a 1996 summer, but that wasn’t average and is never expected, much like winter 2009 was great, but certainly not average - doesn’t stop us hoping for it I guess 

 

[Summer8906]

 Beanz Mind you I picked 1996 because it was mixed but decent. Unlike 1995 it was not constantly warm and sunny but had a mix of sustained anticyclonic spells and more unsettled periods.

@Alderc 2.0 for example has recorded a dull July and August and various contributors in my area a distinct lack of sunny days with frequent reports of cloud, occasional drizzle and often disappointing daytime temps.

I guess I'm also peeved that what was promising to be a very good start to September is turning into something quite dire. Dull so far, then a deluge for the next few days, peaking at the weekend, then cloudy and unseasonably cold next week, and a likely very low count of 21C+ days for the month, one of the lowest for years. Then Atlantic conditions return, probably non-stop for the next six months: so September seems likely to be one for the bin.

Of course September will probably still end up above average by CET due to mild nights, despite a distinct lack of warm days. The same old dreary story.

All hopes on October now, basically, unless a miracle happens and we get a cold December.

Edited September 4, 2024 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

I voted "poor" though I would probably say "rather poor".

A strong caveat is that I missed July and August, so relying on reports here from local contributors in the South Hampshire and Dorset area - including actual sunshine stats - plus synoptic charts to gather my opinion.

This is for coastal Hampshire/Dorset.

I did experience June, which was pleasant enough: quite settled but often cloudy aside from around 10 days from the 17th-26th when it was mostly sunny. The cloudy period did have dry air though and early morning and evening often sunny, so not too bad.

First half of July looks like it was very cool and wet, and the rest of summer generally cloudy, sometimes dull, occasionally drizzly with two or three short-lived but intense heatwaves. Seems to have been a constant onshore SW-ly feed bringing in large amounts of cloud and moisture to the area.

So I doubt I would have enjoyed July and August.

June 6/10

July - estimated - 4/10

August - estimated - 5/10

Overall 4.8/10 - I always give June a half-weighting as for many, the core summer months of July and August are more important.

I think what makes it particularly disappointing is that the first five months of 2024 were also mostly poor (aside from two weeks in Jan) and September looks likely to also be poor, perhaps even spectacularly poor - so 2024 has been an incredibly poor year for weather thus far. And the second half of 2023 was also poor, so the summer came off the back of 12 months of poor weather.

The last three months of the year will have to deliver spectacularly (sunny, dry and warm October and/or cold and snowy December) in order to save 2024 from notoriety as easily the worst weather year in the lifetime of anyone who has not yet reached state pension age.

 

Edited September 4, 2024 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

On 31/08/2024 at 19:17, *Stormforce~beka* said:

Rubbish. Such a cloud fest here. Hardly been on my sunbed at all again this year

The post which seems to summarise best what it's been like in my area. Put it this way, seems like I didn't miss anything by being away, and got the best month of a poor summer in June when I was at home.

July and August better than 2023 but that's not saying much.

Like many recent July and August periods (2019, 2023) the central South seems to have been disproportionately cloudy. It always used to be quite sunny in summer but a backing of the mean wind direction in summer to further South of West is perhaps producing much cloudier summers than were historically typical. I do wonder whether Bournemouth and the IoW will end up duller than average than London in July and August in future 30-year climatic average periods.

While the last two springs have been poor, I would argue that, on average, March to June is clearly the best time of year in the coastal Central South.

Edited September 4, 2024 by Summer8906