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Posted

Inspired by the worst combined spring/summer thread but instead of talking about the main warm period of the year I’m talking about the main months of the year cos I think for most people the main months they look forward to is winter and summer obviously winter takes place over the two years so how this thread will work is the January and February of that year and then the December of the same year example January February December 2024.

Years I could think off:

1998 : always the clear winner for me extremely mild January/February then a dull wet summer some people argue August was good that year but in some places it was just as bad and then December was also very mild awful winter summer period.

 

2007: another one that clearly comes to mind mildest January in decades wettest June/July period on record August was okay nothing special some people might argue February was okay but still very mild and December was pretty average but January June July were so bad this year will always be remembered.

 

2002: another big example the awful mid January to mid February period which recorded an incredible 8C CET June was a borefest and very dull I think and the awful first 12 days of July December was also very dull and quite mild but it did have quite an impressive cold spell in the middle a high of just -3 I read somewhere I think this year does get some what redeemed though cos the summer wasn’t terrible.

 

what other examples are there?

  • Like 2
Posted
  • Location: SE Wales.
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy winters, mild/warm summers and varied shoulder seasons
  • Location: SE Wales.
Posted

In my memory I would vote 2008 overall. A winter without any real cold that I recall and January was wet and dull and then 2008s summer was vile with July, Aug and Sept all being disgusting months. (I guess June was okay at least and Feb while not much cold was at least sunny). 2015 is another contender with high summer being naff and of course the infamous Dec 2015 and Jan-Feb 2015 wasn't anything to write home about ether irc.  

Posted
  • Location: Saddleworth, historically West Yorks, 225m asl
  • Weather Preferences: All 4 seasons and a good mixture of everything and anything!
  • Location: Saddleworth, historically West Yorks, 225m asl
Posted

Interesting topic..

2011-12 Winter followed by 2012 Summer wasn't the best combination I can remember, quite the opposite in fact. 

December 2011 very mild at times, January 2012 very non-descript, a relatively average/slightly below par E'ly early Feb but nothing too remarkable. 2012 Summer still the worst I can remember IMO. Akin to 2007 whereby the August was slightly better-ish but far from memorable. December 2012 was relatively cool and I think settled in the first half or so, much milder end.

2006-07 Winter was relentlessly mild though perhaps somewhat unusually for such a mild Winter, there were two cold snaps in late Jan/mid Feb which actually weren't too bad for some especially the Feb one with quite a bit of snow around across large parts of the country - but this doesn't stop it from being infamously poor. Infamously poor also fits the description of the Summer that year.

Yes as for 2001-02, the best cold weather of that Winter almost all happened in 2001. Jan/Feb extremely boring and mild and non-descript - 2002 often comes up as one of the more boring years in people's memories - not sure what the Summer was like, I think it may of been similar to 2024, not too offensive but also very boring and forgettable in the sense that nothing of note happened. 

 Catbrainz Yes, 2007-08 Winter I think wasn't as mild as 2006-07 but contained less cold snaps and snowfall for most (though Spring 2008 wanted to have a say on that!). 2008 Summer - perhaps not up there with 07 and 12 but still just a typical poor Summer, very typical of the era. 

  • Like 2
Posted
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
  • Weather Preferences: Thunder, snow, heat, sunshine...
  • Location: Beccles, Suffolk.
Posted

I can think of a few: 1964-'65; 1971-'72; '73-'74; '80-'81; '88-'89. . . But, since then, it should be easier to recall the good ones: so pretty much everything was dire apart from 1990-'91; 2008-'9; 2009-'10; 2010-11, and 2012-'13!  😁

But I guess it depends on where you live! 🤔

Posted
  • Location: SE Wales.
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy winters, mild/warm summers and varied shoulder seasons
  • Location: SE Wales.
Posted

 StretfordEnd1996 Yeah I would put summer 2008 as a slightly worse version of summer 2015 (2015 also sucked for winter/summer too well I guess September was okay). 2012 would win for worse spring/summer combo but 2012 actually had some decent winter weather. 

Posted
  • Location: Coventry, 95m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Snow Nov - Feb. Thunderstorms, 20-29°C and sun any time!
  • Location: Coventry, 95m asl
Posted (edited)

If we was doing this in the way that includes just the preceeding winter and the following summer (7 month period of December - August) This decade so far the worst is probably December 2019 - August 2020 and December 2023-August 2024. But even with those, the summers weren't really bad to me, just very mild winters.

I think if the preceeding winter has some decent cold spells and isn't mild, the summer won't be great for some or all of the UK, such as Dec 2020 - Aug 2021 and maybe to an extent Dec 2022 - August 2023. But if winter is mild with little cold, then the summer can be nice such as Dec 2021 - Aug 2022. The exception being something like Dec 2017 - Aug 2018 or more classic old-school examples of Dec 1946 - Aug 1947 or December 1954 - August 1955. Some reanalysis and analogue charts from @BruenSryanwould be interesting to see if that holds up to be true 😉

The mid 2010s were indeed mostly borefests in the winters and summers after 2012-13. but some decent summers mixed in like 2013/2014. Dec 1997 - Aug 1998 is a known bad one of course.

Edited by Metwatch
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

Before my earliest weather memory but I think 1974 could be a clear winner here. Jan/Feb mild and wet, June/July/August all cool and unsettled, December fairly dry in the south but exceedingly mild.

Don't think I remember any year (1978 onwards) quite as poor as it looks like 1974 was.

Edited by Summer8906
  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: London
  • Location: London
Posted

In the last 30 years, here are the ones I recall having neither a significant summer heatwave or cold spell/snowfall on either side of the winter...

1998 is the earliest I remember being disappointing, after 1995-97 all had at least some snow and sun events. Only real memories that year are getting drenched in rain.

2002 is often mentioned as a poor year and I agree, no particular horrible weather memories but nothing spectacular either. Christmas Day was frosty which in desperation I remember counting as a white Christmas at the time, something I wouldn't finally get until 2010.

2005 only half counts, the summer holiday we had happened on to be a wet week but that was just bad luck I think as I remember other warm summer days. December was cold even though no huge snowfalls here outside of a bit of sleet.

2008 had decent cold spells but in the Spring and Autumn rather than the winter, the summer - particularly August - was one of if not the worst ever, even 2007 and 2012 had more hot and sunny days here.

2011 was an anti-2008, the only decent hot spells being in the Spring and Autumn with an underwhelming (if not disastrous) summer and winter, but given how spectacular for snow December 2010 had been it wasn't too much of a disappointment.

2014 had wind and rain in place of any winter snow, and other than a short July heatwave not a massively memorable summer, my favourite time of that year was the warm autumn.

I spent much of 2015 and 2016 out of the UK, but while I was here in both cases no major cold spells (and it sounds like I didn't miss much in the 2015-16 winter) or heatwaves other than that famous 1st July 2015, which seemed to last about two days at the most. That autumn I was in a hostel in Australia and all the British backpackers talked about "the 1st July" as this amazing day, to the amusement of those from other countries that we only had one summer day of the year.

2024 as much as everyone mentions how bad it was had a better summer than 2023, it was hot at the right times meaning decent summer holidays were had rather than the spectacular crash and burn of the previous year. No big cold spells but this January's made up for that, even if not at the scale of the last really massive one in winter 2022-23.

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: Home: Chingford, London (NE). Work: London (C)
  • Weather Preferences: Winter: cold and snowy. Summer: hot and sunny
  • Location: Home: Chingford, London (NE). Work: London (C)
Posted

Looking at purely the calendar years, I'd say 2008, 2007 and 2011. 

2012 had a very poor first half to the Summer but Feb 2012 had a very good snow event down here in the SE, which made the Winter OK.

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: SE Wales.
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy winters, mild/warm summers and varied shoulder seasons
  • Location: SE Wales.
Posted

I think two good runner ups would be 1988 and 2020. 1988 had a very westerly zonal Jan and a Feb that was nothing to write home about then a washout summer then a proto December 2015. 2020 had no cold at all both ends and summer was naff and uninspiring (At least spring was great)

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 Catbrainz Good point, forgot about 2020. In fact that could be "6 out of 6" along with 1974, as Jan was extremely mild, wet and dull; Feb extremely wet, very mild and stormy; June dull and unsettled; July fairly dry but mostly cool and cloudy; August very dull and wet apart from the one-week heatwave; and December about average but very dull and wet.

Others that I can remember include some years that have come up a few times, I would say:

1980 (Jan was cold and frosty but the other 5 months were less than brilliant - in particular, Feb was mild and wet and June, July and the first half of August were terrible);

1988 (Jan and July rubbish; Feb was dry and sunny but mildish; June not too bad; August unsettled-ish; December dry but extremely mild);

2002 (Jan and Feb mostly rubbish; June and July half very bad, half OK; August fairly warm and dry but cloudy; December dull, half dry, half extremely wet, though did have a fairly lengthy coldish spell);

2004 (Jan mostly mild and wet; Feb mild becoming cold; June first half OK, second half very wet; July dull and unsettled; August dull and unsettled; December dryish but mild);

2007 (Jan and Feb mild and wet; very wet, dull and cool June and July; decent August; mixed December, half mild and wet and half dry and coldish);

2011 (Jan average; Feb mild and wet; consistently poorish summer with all three months cool and wet albeit not record breakers; very mild, wet and windy Dec);

2016 (Jan very mild and wet; Feb fairly mild and wet; June extremely dull and wet; July dry but cloudy; August decent; December dryish but mild and often drizzly);

2024 (nuff said, though the summer was probably not as bad as 1974 so it's not the winner).

1998 and especially 2008 less so. 1998 had a very mild but also dry and sunny Feb (so it was much better than revolting months like Feb 2020) as well as a very sunny and dry August; 2008 had a very sunny and frosty Feb together with a dry and sunny June and a cold and dry December.

 

 

Edited by Summer8906
  • Like 2
Posted
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
Posted

I don’t remember June 2020 being that bad. The northerlies early on were quite sunny, if not windy. Then it clouded over towards the 10th-12th, then there were some severe thunderstorms mid-month including one I got caught in (16th I think), then hot weather resumed in the final week. It turned cool in the closing days. My memories of June 2020 are generally bright. Definitely was a more summery month than June 2021. I’d say it was far superior to June 2022 as well because it had a bit of everything. 

Written from a Kent perspective. 

  • Like 2
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 LetItSnow Here it was cloudier than that, only the 1st and most of the 2nd were sunny here, I remember cloud advancing from (unusually) the northeast the evening of the 2nd then it remained cloudy and cool with occasional light rain / showers for a week. The following week was "interesting" in the sense that while dull, it contained two days with intense convective downpours and humidity, then there was a period of around four days with variable cloud, high humidity and inland thunderstorms (nothing here though). Then wet, dull Atlantic weather from the 17th or so to the 21st followed by a short heatwave from the 22nd-25th and finally five days of dull and often wet Atlantic conditions to finish.

So it had two periods of interest (the warm thundery week or so and the short heatwave) but was mostly dull and drab here. However I can see that if it stayed sunny until the 9th where you are, that would have made a big difference: I distinctly remember the 3rd-9th or so as being just cool, drab and dull here (and the arrival of persistent cloudiness after the sunshine of May was really noticeable). In fact I remember thinking how dull it was despite the northerly winds: if I remember right there were a lot of embedded weak fronts and troughs in the flow, hence the cloudiness and occasional light rain/showers.

June 2020 was of course the first really dull month of lockdown (which was still in force then) which enhances my mostly negative perception of the month.

Comparing with June 2021 is an interesting one. The second half of June 2021 was worse than June 2020 but the first 13 days or so, very much better. I'd say the two months are comparable overall (both would probably get around 4/10 or 4.5/10), with June 2022 rather better than either (around 6/10).

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
Posted

 Summer8906 The 5th, 6th (in particular), 7th, 8th and 9th all featured good sunny spells. The 10th and 11th was a convective period now I remember it, I remember walking round my local footpaths with some dynamic cloudscapes and torrential downpours. It was the first heavy rainfall since early March perhaps. The 12th was a strange day, starting cool and cloudy with outbreaks of drizzly rain early, then sort of clearing with some hazy skies and a humid feel (winds had switched from northerly to easterly I believe), some sunny spells and then very cloudy again by the evening. Further storms from the 14th-16th, these more intense and thundery. Some very menacing skies around the 19th generally warm and increasingly hot until about the 26th. It was quite a humid heat from memory.

Looks like our location difference sums up our different perceptions of sunshine, Kent generally being slightly sunnier than average. Also not overly wet.

image.thumb.png.d37da7d26b5986fce85cb9d4ed340c0d.pngimage.thumb.png.74efcc97413135774d931fe1fd72a441.png

  • Like 2
Posted
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
Posted

image.thumb.png.173a3543e82eccb21d588e6d9f1c9e66.png

Really remember the morning of the 6th of June, 2020 being incredibly blustery despite being sunny. The tops of some local evergreens were bending very much.

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 LetItSnow Ah yes, the Hampshire grey blob, a feature of many recent months which seems to confirm my perception that the first half of the 2020s has been disproportionately dull here.

Looks like some places did far worse for rain though.

Interesting you mention sunshine on the 6th (a Sat), I remember that day as being the worst of all in the first half of the month, the wind briefly switched from N to SW (edit: perhaps not) and a weakish Atlantic system affected the area that day. It was dull, cool and breezy with persistent light rain - thoroughly unpleasant and the worst day for a good few weeks. (EDIT: I see you have the chart for that day, thanks!)

 LetItSnow Interesting chart, surprisingly NW-ly (given my memory of a very SW-ly kind of day). I guess a warm sector was "sliding" NW-SE across the country that day, maybe it only affected the SW and you dodged it?

Edited by Summer8906
  • Like 2
Posted
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
  • Location: Islington, C. London.
Posted

 Summer8906 I definitely remember the morning being very bright, but it's possible it's because rain hadn't arrived. Can't say I remember the weather during the afternoon. I had a habit at that time of waking up incredibly early in the morning and going for walks at like 5-6am which in early June are in full daylight. Definitely was a sunny but cold morning.

This Hampshire blob is perplexing me. Is there some naturally occuring phenomena that is giving more cloud to that area of the country now? I see it so often on the maps.

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 LetItSnow Possibly yes, I tend to really notice the afternoon weather in particular, it's possible very early morning (before 9am or so) was bright here but certainly the main daylight hours were dull with light rain.

The Hampshire blob certainly is "interesting", and not in a good way. I think it's something to do with the increase in frequency of SW-lies and decrease in frequency of NW-lies during the summer months, allowing moist Channel air to stream in (when NW-lies or straight W-lies would have a longer land track and would thus be drier and less dull). This could also explain parts of SW England not being so dull, as much of the southwest is in the rain-shadow of Dartmoor in southwesterlies (certainly east and mid-Devon and much of Somerset, even west Dorset would also benefit from some moisture-shielding from Dartmoor in a WSW-ly).

The far SE in such setups is nearer high pressure, often over Central Europe, than the central south so despite an onshore flow, is presumably less dull due to higher pressure and less influence from fronts.

As to why we get more SW-lies in the summer though - not sure. If anything, with potent cool NW-ly polar maritime air being kept further north (due to higher SSTs further south), I'd expect lows to form further north (due to the strongest temp contrasts moving further north), resulting in more Azores high influence here.

I seem to remember August 2023 and 2024, and August 2019, featuring local dullness here also, especially compared to the SE.

 

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: SE Wales.
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy winters, mild/warm summers and varied shoulder seasons
  • Location: SE Wales.
Posted

 Summer8906 I wouldn’t say 2024 had a poor summer away from northwestern areas. There was a very bad week of weather in early July but apart from that it was a very benign if boring summer with lots of warm partly sunny days reminding me of a lot of a typical 70s or 80s summer . Now if there was a contest for worse winter/spring combo then 2024 would be one of my big picks! Seriously the Feb-May period was vile one of the worse three months of my lifetime and I am pushing 30 so that’s saying something. 
 

(as an asides I wonder what % of those poor winters and summer combos were west based NAO- I reckon 80% he he he, I think summer 1988 was one iirc)

Posted
  • Location: Hampshire
  • Weather Preferences: Warm-by-day sunny thundery summers , short cold snowy winters.
  • Location: Hampshire
Posted (edited)

 Catbrainz It wasn't a bad summer (I only directly experienced June) but it looks like July and August were mostly changeable with frequent weak frontal systems and SW-ly winds, making some parts (such as this area) dull. But it was relatively dry due to the fronts being weak.

It made my list because it appeared to be a summer which generally lacked much in the way of prolonged sunny, anticyclonic weather and away from the SE many parts had two dull months out of three. Perhaps rather like July 2016 (dry but cloudy, again frequent weak frontal systems and a persistent Atlantic flow).

 

Edited by Summer8906
Posted
  • Location: SE Wales.
  • Weather Preferences: Cold snowy winters, mild/warm summers and varied shoulder seasons
  • Location: SE Wales.
Posted

 Summer8906 Fair point and I can see why it isn’t popular given spring was dreadful. I find typically the worse a spring is the better the following summer has to be to be seen as at least decent. Summer 2024 following say a spring 2020 would be decently popular I think but I think only a 2018 type summer would be able to make up for spring 2024. (Summer 2020 was a fair bit worse than summer 2024 but it flies under the radar I find as spring was a classic) 

  • Like 1
Posted
  • Location: Coventry, 95m asl
  • Weather Preferences: Snow Nov - Feb. Thunderstorms, 20-29°C and sun any time!
  • Location: Coventry, 95m asl
Posted (edited)

 LetItSnow

Some quite potent storms that day, remember it well tracking them! A lot of nostalgia for June 2020 after the fab spring with the thunderstorms and coming out of the 1st lockdown.

Edited by Metwatch
Posted
  • Location: Perth, Scotland
  • Location: Perth, Scotland
Posted

 LetItSnow It was dull here but out of the summer it probably had the most dry weather. It had a pleasant last week and first couple of days that made up for a terrible July and August  

 

Posted
  • Location: Perth, Scotland
  • Location: Perth, Scotland
Posted

 Catbrainz I think that with winters up this neck of the woods. Winter 2012/13, 2017/18 and 2020/21 were all notably cold and snowy and brought very good summers here. The likes of 2003 and 2006 the winters weren’t especially cold nor snowy but still had some decent snowfall for a time. Even winters 2008/09 2009/10. Those summers weren’t amazing but still had some really good weather in there too. Years with atrocious summers (2002, 2007, 2012, 2020) all had very mild and wet winters (though 2012 was notably dry) 

Posted
  • Location: Twickenham, London
  • Weather Preferences: Csa/Csb
  • Location: Twickenham, London
Posted

2008 and 1986.

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