1990: UK temperatures reach record high

[damianslaw]

I would probably rate 1989 just behind 1995 as the best summer I can remember. I was 11 at the time and do remember consistently warm sunny dry weather from May into August. I also vaguely remember 1984 as a dry summer in the NW of England and a good one for the north and west.

Its interesting how we have had grouped spells of good summers i.e. 1989-1991, 1994-1996 and more recently 2003-2006. With other months like August 1997 and July 1999 although very warm co-incided with poor summer months either side. 2007 and 2008 definately belong to a poor grouping.

Going back to the original thread, I remember very well the 3rd August 1990. There was alot of media speculation and hype about possibly breaking the UK temperature record. I remember being in the garden in the middle of the afternoon absolutely roasting it was too hot to do any outdoor activity, it was probably the hottest day I have experienced in my lifetime and I was in not normally warm Windermere.

[Summer of 95]

I can remember an old saying that "good summers come in pairs" being banded around from time to time in the past, with 75-6 and 89-90 being quoted as examples as well as some from the 20s/30s/40s; in so much as it applies post-1990 it's certainly 1994 that pairs with 1995 rather than 1996. 2006 is certainly on its own though, although 2005 was good at times in June/July it was spoilt by a terrible second half of July and a lack of 25C+ weather in August despite that month being fairly sunny.

As for poor groupings, yes I think they exist too; often in 3s and 4s rather than 2s; 1971-74, 1977-80, 1985-88, 1998-2002 (July 1999 excepted that was a poor run of summer months), 2007-?.

[Thundery wintry showers]

Even runs of poor summer months usually have the odd exception or two, at least over some portions of the country. In your list above,

1971-74: July 1971, June 1974 in places

1977-80: July 1977 away from the east, Summer 1977 as a whole in parts of the NW

1985-88: June 1986 in many areas, June 1988, Scotland, NE England

1998-2002: August 1998, south, July 1999 generally (as correctly mentioned), August 2000, most parts

There is certainly a tendency for "runs" of poor summers in the last few decades, although it gets less clear-cut as you get before 1970. For instance, the 1960s had a long run of poor summers, while in the 1950s, there were many poor summers but separated by 1955 and 1959, which were dry sunny and warm.

[Snowyowl9]

If there was ever a summer that is looked at through rose coloured glasses then it has to be the summer of 1990. Summer 1990 did have an intense heatwave with, at the time, record temperatures in early August, yet people often quote this summer as being very hot overall, when in actual fact it was only a relatively warm one overall rather than very warm. The CET for summer 1990 was 16.2*C, which was the same CET as for summers 1994, 2004 and 2005, and in actual fact summer 1994 had very much identical rainfall to summer 1990 as well, and summer 2005 had rainfall not far higher than summer 1990 too, yet 1994 is rarely quoted as a hot summer, nor is 2005. So summers 1994 and 2005 are much under rated, 1990 is much over rated. I will finally say that however, summer 2004 was also a wet summer despite its CET being 16.2, which certainly will not be remembered as anything special of a summer. Summer 1990 was certainly considerably less warm overall than the summers of 1975, 1976, 1983, 1995, 2003 and 2006, and also was still a little cooler than 1984, 1989 and 1997, although 1997 was a much wetter summer.

Summer 1990 had 34 days above 20c but there were cold nights in June but there was more sun than 94 which just had 19 days above 20 here, different locations makes a difference to certain parts of the country as the CET doesn`t count then and we didn`t have the internet to see all these wonderful facts we get now.

1989 was a much dryer sunnier summer even though I took no readings the ground was burnt right over that year.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Snowyowl9

[Nick H]

2007 and 2008 definately belong to a poor grouping.

Is 2008 a poor summer though? I think we are sometimes too quick to judge every summer by 2003 and 2006 standards and cast verdicts by reference to those exceptional years.

I know we've only had approximately seven-ninths of it, but historically in comparison to the summers I've experienced since the Fifties I reckon this one has been pretty normal. And that observation does not include the potentially warmer spell we might enjoy from next weekend onwards.

Edited August 10, 2008 by Nick H

[Snowyowl9]

I agree that Summer 2008 is a poor one overall no doubt it might be average on temps but it`s way too unsettled and wet overall the general public will put this as a poor summer even if next weekened settles down it`s just that bit too late in the season.

Summers of the 50s/60s were cooler no doubt but probably not as wet as summers now on average with more intense rainfall.

[Weather-history]

Is 2008 a poor summer though? I think we are sometimes too quick to judge every summer by 2003 and 2006 standards and cast verdicts by reference to those exceptional years.

I know we've only had approximately seven-ninths of it, but historically in comparison to the summers I've experienced since the Fifties I reckon this one has been pretty normal. And that observation does not include the potentially warmer spell we might enjoy from next weekend onwards.

Should use a summer index. I do. No human bias, no rose colour glasses. Then you can compare the value to past summers.

At the moment, the index for Manchester is in the 170s, which at this stage in the summer is poor.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I prefer the Manchester summer index to the Davis index as IMO maximum temperatures are a greater determining factor in most people's perception of a summer than mean temperatures, and likewise number of "raindays" as opposed to rainfall total.

I have my own "good weather index" which involves giving a percentage to each day of the month and then taking the average of all of the scores (so by that measure, a month that scores 65% will be a very good one, and most score in the 50s) However it's an index that reflects my own preferences and not necessarily those of the general population (unlike Mr D's index for Manchester, though there does tend to be a positive correlation between my index and his)

[J10]

In my opinion this is a bad summer, although there does appear to be a real East West split, with winds coming very much from a westerly direction, and a real lack of High Pressure giving settled conditions, sheltered eastern areas have done far better than us in the west.

It is also turning out very much on the wet side with several days recently with over an inch of rain. Saying this, we have had worse summers than this.

[cheeky_monkey]

i agree about 1991, it started late, friday 21st june and saturday 22june

i dont agree for me 1991 started on time at 00hrs on the 1st January