Summer 2012

[AderynCoch]

Warmer than normal in winter and cooler than normal in summer = perpetual autumn = tedious

In my opinion etc. etc.

[damianslaw]

Philip Eden's stats at Climate-uk are now pointing to a fairly unexceptional July, dull cool and wet but with a fair number of duller, cooler and wetter ones in the last century:

http://climate-uk.com/

These stats hide considerable regional variation though. For many parts of Scotland and a limited area of northern England it will almost certainly rank among the dullest Julys of the last 100 years.

Yes sunshine levels were boosted by last weeks very sunny weather in the south. However, up here we had 5 days of cloud, with no sun between the afternoon of the 21st and late on the 26th. It certainly has been a very dull July in the Lake District, we never saw one full sunny blue sky day, indeed I could count one one hand the number of mornings in which I awoke to sunshine. Where were the sunny warm July evenings this year - we didn't have one. An utterly terrible July on the back of an even worse June, poor May apart from the last 10 days and poor April.

[Weather-history]

Manchester summer index just a paltry 159 by the end of July

[Methuselah]

I think that this has been one of the best summers for years...It's just like those 1960s summers that gave me my interest in weather, in the first place!

Above all, I recall how fascinating the skies were...

[Slowpoke]

Hmm so what's the deal? Is BBC underestimating temps or is GFS overestimating?

[Bottesford]

BBC under probably - always is until a day or two out. Even GFS is usually a bit below.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I've been guilty of underestimating cloud amounts in anticyclones before, notably around mid-March this year, but I'm struggling to see where we're going to get much cloud from during Thursday-Saturday bar the usual "haar" coming into eastern Scotland and coastal fringes of NE England.

The next two days may see the weather turn cloudier in the south and south-west of England though as a front takes up residence.

[Village]

Still in Autumn down here. Todays temps are end on October temperatures.

[Milhouse]

While up here, 20c has been reached on each of the last 7 days and there has been very little rainfall in the last 3 weeks. Definately summer weather. I wouldnt bet against 20c being reached for at least another 7 days.

[Village]

Dont get me wrong, its always 20c to 25C down here in London in summer and it has been no different for weeks, but only 20C down here is Autumn. And todays 19C is October.

Hopefully this week back to approaching 25C + where it should be for this time of year when the sun is out.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Village

[Evening thunder]

The mean daily maximum temp for East Anglia and the SE in October is 14-15C for most areas, and over 15C in much of London. So a max of 19C in October would be a rather warm day at 3-4C above average.

In July and August the mean max for the same regions is either 21-22C or 22-23C in most areas, with London perhaps looking highest of course with the mean max in July being in the '22.5C-23.5C' colour, and August '22.2-23C'

So 25C + is again above average and you have to go to Paris or southwards to get 25C+ average max's in July/August. The only months to have average max's over 20C in anywhere in the SE are the 3 summer months, so 20C is more a Summer temp than an Autumn one. though September comes very close in London.

(Using the 1971-200 averages from the Met Office).

Here today it has been a bit disappointing though with it not reaching 17C so far, should improve this week though to above average.

Edited August 7, 2012 by Stormmad26

[SP1986]

Well today t is almost 25C and the pedicion from the Met office for my town was 18C and the GFS was for 20C so I think we have the answer, at least for my part of the world. Yesterday was the same... I think the met office and GFS struggle when it comes to home grown heat!

[Methuselah]

Dont get me wrong, its always 20c to 25C down here in London in summer and it has been no different for weeks, but only 20C down here is Autumn. And todays 19C is October.

Hopefully this week back to approaching 25C + where it should be for this time of year when the sun is out.

I've always considered Autumn to be when the leaves turn and daylight hours become annoyingly short...That said, if it snowed in September that definition could come into question.

[Summer Sun]

Well after a wash out June and July, August is shaping up to be one of the best in a long time here, started nice and warm with very little rain,

Upto 8/8/12

Average temp

22.3°C

Day Max

24.2°C

Average Night low

12.1°C

Night low

10.0°C

Rain Fall

5mm

Edited August 9, 2012 by Summer Sun

[Jon Somerset]

Very nice - at last! The only problem is the local farmer has been muck spreading and because it's warm the smell is awful!!!

[Bristawl Si]

V warm this eve - even hot.

Summer can go onto end Sept in my opinion.

Meterological summer end (31st Aug) means zilch all if daytime temps continue into 20s and it's sunny.

[johnholmes]

Meterological summer end (31st Aug) means zilch all if daytime temps continue into 20s and it's sunny.

indeed it can; there is a lot of needless hot air (excuse the pun) regarding meteorological seasons. They are there to enable meaningful statistics to be compiled but do not necessarily govern the actual weather although obviously winter is far less likely to see temperatures of 20C or more than meteorological summer. Quite possible in early autumn though. Just look at data for any particular station to see how the averages and absolute values, lows and highs, are so widely spread?

[feb1991blizzard]

indeed it can; there is a lot of needless hot air (excuse the pun) regarding meteorological seasons. They are there to enable meaningful statistics to be compiled but do not necessarily govern the actual weather although obviously winter is far less likely to see temperatures of 20C or more than meteorological summer. Quite possible in early autumn though. Just look at data for any particular station to see how the averages and absolute values, lows and highs, are so widely spread?

Totally agree John, i made the mistake of thinking i had got through the worst of summer last year only to get bitten on the backside by a burst in early october, and the house spiders were huge so i almost wished i would have had the southerlys in July but joking aside, it just goes to show you how the right synoptics can deliver out of season, i know you remember the cold blast in late April, i think it was 81 or 82, i cant remember, if ever a spell of weather can remind you that the right synoptics can deliver the goods (or bad, whatever your point of view), out of season then that along with last octobers hot spell was it, obviously there is no way we could get snow now, or 20c in January, but seasons overlap and the weather does not just change as soon as a new season starts, i think people sometimes are too quick to dismiss the possibility of an easterly delivering heavy snow as soon as March starts in my opinion, i know i am the worlds worst for it as well but at least i do it based on the information from yourself, GP, TWS, the other members of the forecast team on here and the Met office 30 dayer and of course last but not least the model output, i dont think that because the clock strikes 12 on feb 28/29th then that is it as far as an easterly delivering more than just a few grains of graupel for the east coast.

[Aaron]

I read somewhere that winter in Sweden does not begin until there are 7 consecutive days of mean daily temperatures below freezing (considering the entire country has mean temperatures below freezing in winter, it makes sense). That means in some winters, winter does not arrive until January in southern Sweden.. but may arrive in October in the north.

[Milhouse]

Glorious conditions on those west Wales beaches today. Already 22c at 10.30pm. To be fair they deserve it after 5 dreadful summers there.

[Buzz]

Very nice - at last! The only problem is the local farmer has been muck spreading and because it's warm the smell is awful!!!

Same here! One of the perils of living in the countryside is that farmers spread muck from time to time, so it's often the case that you get nice fine weather for sitting outside, but you can't because of the stink.

There IS a way around this - farmers can inject the slurry directly into the soil, so there is no smell at all. But of course, they can't afford the necessary new equipment .....

[I Cumbria Marra I]

first time st bees head has reached 20c since 28th May! then it dropped to 17.6c 1 hour later

[Relativistic]

I read somewhere that winter in Sweden does not begin until there are 7 consecutive days of mean daily temperatures below freezing (considering the entire country has mean temperatures below freezing in winter, it makes sense). That means in some winters, winter does not arrive until January in southern Sweden.. but may arrive in October in the north.

Yes I've also heard of this and am sure it is true.

[Bottesford]

Of course we get seasonal overlap - September can indeed be a lovely warm & sunny month in the same way April can be cold and snowy- like the one just past was!

But 'out of season' conditions will never quite live up to 'in season' conditions due to the unchangeable and completely fixed daylight schedules. That lovely warm spell last Sept/Oct I remember well - popping out on my lunch break under 27c sunny skies - gorgeous! But since (as I remember) it fell during the working week by the time I was able to enjoy it it was getting dark meaning the only thing I could do with that spell was enjoy looking at the stars without freezing to death. Nothing to complain about of course but really good weather in Sept/especially Oct really has to fall at weekends to be of much benefit - unlike in high summer of course.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

seems like tropical continental air, If this was June or July, it would be painfully hot, warm now but not unpleasant