Warm/hot Spell Discussion 22nd May Onwards

[Derp Patrol]

The difference is around 1-2.c temperature wise. Yorkshire South Eastwards sees very similar temperatures. It's only North of Yorkshire that see cooler weather people associate with the north.

A good example been the NAE temperature forecast.

Leeds is a good example as its always a good 1-2.c higher than the surrounding area.

Yeah sorry, I meant only really the very northern part of England and up the northern east coast, places where the average July max doesn't even reach 20C. I would class anywhere that doesn't average at least 20C max in July as pretty poor for summer, but that's just me!

[Scorcher]

Actually Paris is quite a bit warmer than London in the summer. London has more in common with Warsaw and Minsk in the summer than Paris.

Slightly warmer but not a lot different in the sunshine stakes. Paris seems to have slightly sunnier summers than London but perhaps even duller winters- I seem to recall Paris only averaging around 37 hours in the whole of December.

[Bottesford]

If you think about warm lovers haven't done all that bad. We had a week of hot weather in October, March and May. Compared to the last few dire summers thats pretty good.

Absolutely we've had 3 weeks out of the last 9 months! Yes a hint of sarcasm but yes not bad for what was mostly the cooler half of the year. This past warm spell has been fantastic as it has fallen when the days are at their longest (October & March warmth was only really useful at weekends which limited it quite a lot) and has gone right across a weekend.

It hasn't been that 'hot' as such with air temperatures not feeling excessive at all. Yes under direct lunchtime sunlight it was too much but then you'd expect that.

Now if only it could have held on another week...

[March Blizzard]

I don't. The UK is one of the cloudiest countries in the world, the sunniest place only has around 1,900 hours of sun a year on average. Southerners who boast about the great climate down there are only speaking relatively - London for example is pretty damn cloudy.

I'm surprised by just how cloudy we are when you check our sunshine hours against other so called "cloudy" places. For example, Seattle averages nearly 2200 hours a year; compare that to Manchester's 1400. Seattle has more sun in March than Manchetser does in June! Even "sunny" London is in fact one of the cloudiest capital cities in the world. If i could be bothered, I'd be tempted to compile a list of all capital cities by sunshine hours. I'd hazard a guess that London would be in the bottom 10%.

Slightly off topic, I know. Sorry!

[Thundery wintry showers]

Actually a temperature above 25C here in May is not unusual at all. There's no long term data for Leeds either.

So no, exceptional is not the word I would use.

This is failing to take longevity into account. Those temperatures wouldn't be anything exceptional if they occurred as a one-off, but a whole week of those temperatures in late May is indeed unusual. More unusual has been the sunshine amount. Some places may have seen fair-weather cumulus develop but not all- when I was down in Norwich from Friday to Monday I didn't see a single cloud in the sky.

Many recent Mays have had warm sunny spells but were many of them as notable as this one when both temperatures and sunshine are taken into account? I often see people giving May 1998 favourable references for example, but it was not an exceptional month sunshine wise (most places had an excess of about 10%) and the warmth was assisted by a high average minimum.

[Backtrack]

July 2006

Okay, so on average, once every 6 years?

If that isn't rare, then what is?

[Evening thunder]

We had the highest temperature of any year since 2006 here, surely that's quite notable for May which isn't even summer? (Although it also shows the lack of hot weather over the last 5 summers)

To get a week of nearly 25C or above is pretty unusual for northern and western areas in May I'd have thought (and here as well), that's roughly 9-10C above average. That would be like having a week above 30C (or above 32C in London) in July/August, or a week of about 6C max's in May, or a week with max temps below freezing in winter.

Some spots i.e St Bees Head got 28C on a couple days when the may average max is about 15C there

Not unprecedented but a notable spell I'd say (at least here).

Re sunshine hours, I haven't found it much of a problem living in 'one of the cloudiest countries in the world' this year. there seems to be some reasonable sun around on most or nearly all days, with some (particularly this latest spell) having lots of sun. But then again I am in one of the relatively sunnier parts of the country and wouldn't want constant blue skies every day.

I've seen people asking why is New Zealand sunnier with stronger sun than us when it's at a similar latitude, but in reality it's latitude stretches from about that of the southern tip of Spain to somewhere in Central-North France. If you want somewhere really cloudy, try Campbell Island, south of New Zealand at about the same latitude as Birmingham, which receives only 650 hours of sun a year. http://en.wikipedia....nd,_New_Zealand

Edited May 29, 2012 by Stormmad26

[Backtrack]

West truly is best.

70% blue skies, with an air temperature of 22.2C. Looks like most of the country is cloudy today with bright spells.

This looks like the last sunny, hot-ish day of the spell for the west though.

Weekend looks cool, but sunny!

[SunnySouthCoast]

So when was the last time you had 7 days of crystal blue skies without interruptions? I for one cannot remember any spells which gave that quality of weather.

No chance. No where in the UK gets 7 days of cloudless skies in a row in a regular summer.

The south coast quite often gets a spell of clear sunny weather in an average summer, this is the sunniest part of the UK afterall

West truly is best.

70% blue skies, with an air temperature of 22.2C. Looks like most of the country is cloudy today with bright spells.

This looks like the last sunny, hot-ish day of the spell for the west though.

Weekend looks cool, but sunny!

Actually I'd say south is best, sunny here too with temperatures along the coast between 21C-23C, (Solent is the warmest station) here it is 23.5C at the moment

[Marcus_surfer]

23c blue skies wind around 5mph nice....

[Slowpoke]

In Blackpool, we exceeded 26C for three days in a row and on all of those days I went to the beach. On Sunday night I went to a BBQ and then into town for a big night out and many of us, myself included, were in shorts. Properly felt as though I was abroad. So yes, for some, it wasn't "exceptional" but for many it was. Parts of Scotland, NW England, Ireland and Wales broke records and for some of us, it was our most prolonged spell of sunny and warm weather since July 2006.

Even today, it's only around 17-18C but with no wind and sunny skies it feels fantastic!

Edited May 29, 2012 by Slowpoke

[Scorcher]

If this spell hasn't been exceptional then what is?? Hard to remember a better spell than this in May. It has certainly put 2008 in the shade, although that spell was earlier in the month. Also it's hard to recall such a prolonged, nationwide warm spell with so little cloud in any month- even April 2011 had some interruptions to the settled weather.

[Neilsouth]

Couple of warm days, nothing amazing really the joys of living close to the north sea!

[Jimmyh]

There were a number of things that made this week of heat more interesting certainly for me. Living in the south we tend to get more hot days. However the clarity of the air was something to behold, notably the wind direction was easterly which is a very much drier heat than the south westerly direction. All of the days here were hot and each day felt hotter. Nothing new in the heat as i live in the southeast but the beauty of the blue blue sky, not milky white just clear perfect. Please come back soon....

[Slowpoke]

Let's not forget the lack of humidity...

[johnholmes]

I find it amusing that some folk never seem satisfied-I have just had my 8th consecutive day of 24C or more, 6 days of unbroken sunshine in that.

Be it May or any month in the summer or start of autumn, without trawling through 15 years of my own records or the 1942-1995 for RAF Finningley, I am pretty sure that no more 10 months, if that many, in that time have surpassed this spell.

[Slowpoke]

I find it amusing that some folk never seem satisfied-I have just had my 8th consecutive day of 24C or more, 6 days of unbroken sunshine in that.

Be it May or any month in the summer or start of autumn, without trawling through 15 years of my own records or the 1942-1995 for RAF Finningley, I am pretty sure that no more 10 months, if that many, in that time have surpassed this spell.

Where can I find records for Blackpool or Blackpool airport?

[Geordiesnow]

In terms of heat, it was not exceptional at all around here but my goodness it certainly was the best spell of weather since March and a nice end to Spring which at times has been really varied to say the least - proper spring weather I say!

Find it amusing I read facebook status saying its "hot" outside even though the temp was only in the high-teens generally. :lol:

[johnholmes]

Where can I find records for Blackpool or Blackpool airport?

try e mailing the Met Office or asking Blackpool Airport direct?

[A Winter's Tale]

Where can I find records for Blackpool or Blackpool airport?

http://www.wundergro...hlyHistory.html

or

http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/Blackpool_Airport/33180.htm

Edited May 29, 2012 by A Scottish Winter's Tale

[conor123]

22c here today which makes 7 days in a row now above 21c, a rather rare event for here, it's been a great spell here particularly Friday and the weekend with the vivid blue skies, breeze and lower humidity.

Of course were have to wait till September now to see 25c again here :lol:

[Aaron]

This is failing to take longevity into account. Those temperatures wouldn't be anything exceptional if they occurred as a one-off, but a whole week of those temperatures in late May is indeed unusual. More unusual has been the sunshine amount. Some places may have seen fair-weather cumulus develop but not all- when I was down in Norwich from Friday to Monday I didn't see a single cloud in the sky.

Many recent Mays have had warm sunny spells but were many of them as notable as this one when both temperatures and sunshine are taken into account? I often see people giving May 1998 favourable references for example, but it was not an exceptional month sunshine wise (most places had an excess of about 10%) and the warmth was assisted by a high average minimum.

Well temperatures above 25C for many days in May occurred in 2008 and 2010.

ANYWAY.. a lovely day with a max temp of 21.2C with sunshine.

Edited May 29, 2012 by Aaron

[Slowpoke]

Thanks a lot! July 2006 was really amazing, as was August 1995!

[I remember Atlantic 252]

Had enough of this now, not my favourite weather, enough is enough after 3 days, today been so hot, not a breath of wind with constant sun, cooler end of week? will believe it when I see it

[Snowy Easterly]

im hearing all these report of 21c 22c up north, but its only 18c here, although it is pleasant enough with sunny spells