Summer 2013

[Summer Sun]

33 out of the past 35 days have had day time highs no lower than 20c a remarkable run for us here in Darlington

[Milhouse]

Perfectly acceptable day today with plenty of warm sunshine and a keen breeze blowing. Up to 19.6c so i can see a max around 23c.

[Summer Sun]

0.7c short of another 20c+ day here which would make it 34 out of 36 days when the day time max has been 20c or above

[Jax]

22.8oC here now, So far this has been a very extended warm spell, think Summer 2013 will be fondly remembered by many.

[syed2878]

i must say summer 2013 compare to the last few so far it's been briliant. I do enjoy laserguy's posts keep them coming man.

[Summer Sun]

i must say summer 2013 compare to the last few so far it's been briliant. I do enjoy laserguy's posts keep them coming man.

 

Indeed this summer will go down as a brilliant one in my book no complaints what so ever for this summer just hope we don't have to wait another 7 years for another summer like this a repeat next year would be very welcome

[Weather-history]

10 years ago today, the hottest Countryfile forecast of them all.

[laserguy]

Watching that ^^^^ and recalling the horror makes my blood run cold and my teeth sweat. Mind,this recent spell was practically as bad.

[Froze were the Days]

Better graphics back in 2003 than what we have now - but that was some week!

[Weather-history]

For this area, that week in early August 2003 wasn't as impressive as late July/early August 1995. From 24th July to 6th August 1995, the lowest maximum was 24.7C with 4 days of 30C or over. There was just one day over 30C in that August 2003 hot spell.

[cheese]

We managed 30C here and we're only about 25 miles from you. My mum was in Leeds yesterday and she said it was much cloudier than it was in Manchester for much of the day, the cloud probably cleared too late for you.

Rostherne had 9.5 hours of sun on the 1st, Church Fenton had 9.1 hours, though I think it was cloudier in Leeds than it was here during the day. Still didn't stop this area of the country being a lot warmer though as is often the case - seems heat travels here a lot easier than it does to NW England, though that isn't always the case.

 

One thing's for sure though - it was much cloudier here than pretty much everywhere else in the UK except northern Scotland in July. We had 221 hours of sun for the month which was less than Glasgow and not much higher than Edinburgh, and way less than even other eastern areas like Nottingham and East Anglia. I don't think it was North Sea cloud that was the cause, but simply convective cloud that would bubble up like clockwork at a certain point and obscure most of the sky.

Edited August 3, 2013 by cheese

[Scorcher]

Rostherne had 9.5 hours of sun on the 1st, Church Fenton had 9.1 hours, though I think it was cloudier in Leeds than it was here during the day. Still didn't stop this area of the country being a lot warmer though as is often the case - seems heat travels here a lot easier than it does to NW England, though that isn't always the case.

 

 

How was it a lot warmer? Wasn't much in it! I've made the point before in other threads but I always think the Manchester area and Cheshire have to be considered separately to the rest of the North West in warm spells due to distance from the sea and the fact that we tend to benefit from being slightly further south and east, as well as having the shelter of the Peak District to the South and East. We tend to do a lot better than Yorkshire if there is more of an easterly element as well- this was noticeable on a few days in July this year when there was North Sea cloud on the east side of the Pennines while it was clear here . I've noticed that the York area seems to be noticeably warmer than Leeds a lot of the time in summer despite a relatively short distance.

 

Still slightly puzzled as to why Church Fenton is always warmer than nearby stations as well- for example Linton-On-Ouse has been quite a few degrees cooler on several days recently.  

[cheese]

How was it a lot warmer? Wasn't much in it! I've made the point before in other threads but I always think the Manchester area and Cheshire have to be considered separately to the rest of the North West in warm spells due to distance from the sea and the fact that we tend to benefit from being slightly further south and east, as well as having the shelter of the Peak District to the South and East. We tend to do a lot better than Yorkshire if there is more of an easterly element as well- this was noticeable on a few days in July this year when there was North Sea cloud on the east side of the Pennines while it was clear here . I've noticed that the York area seems to be noticeably warmer than Leeds a lot of the time in summer despite a relatively short distance.

 

Still slightly puzzled as to why Church Fenton is always warmer than nearby stations as well- for example Linton-On-Ouse has been quite a few degrees cooler on several days recently.  

Rostherne had a max of 29.1 compared to 30.8C at Church Fenton and 30.0C at Linton-on-Ouse, so that is a significant difference to me and a noticeable one at that.

 

It depends on the setup - if there is a SE wind and high pressure, then Manchester/Cheshire will do better for hot temperatures as we saw during during the latter half of July, but if it's a plume scenario, then a SE wind is our hottest wind direction and brings the hottest temperatures to here as we saw on the 1st, as the hot weather snakes its way up the eastern half of the country more so than the western half.

 

I don't think York is warmer than Leeds - Leeds has no weather station anymore so it's hard to compare, and York never had a Met station. Church Fenton is usually warmer than Linton-on-Ouse, and is certainly warmer on average during summer in terms of average maximums (which are the most relevant IMO), while the Leeds Weather Centre was warmer than both pretty much all the time and often the warmest northern station in the summer, often rivaling southern stations and sometimes even being hotter than Heathrow (was we saw in June 2001), though stations like Blackpool can have one-day hot peaks during easterly winds, but they never last long.

[Scorcher]

I can't find the exact temperature but Manchester Airport had a max of 30C, I'm not sure whether that's rounded up but it's definitely warmer than Rostherne and very close to the Linton-on-Ouse reading. Oh and the Leeds Weather Centre readings were too high IMO, I remember driving past several times and the reading in my car was actually lower than what was showing there. I don't believe it was a standard site.

Edited August 3, 2013 by Scorcher

[cheese]

Oh and the Leeds Weather Centre readings were too high IMO, I remember driving past several times and the reading in my car was actually lower than what was showing there. I don't believe it was a standard site.

It was an official Met Office station so we can assume it was screened accurately, so I see no valid reasons for thinking that the readings were too high. It was located in the heart of Leeds so the higher readings seem completely understandable to me, and on average it was only slightly warmer than Church Fenton. There are many stations in the UK that I would call into question before Leeds Weather Centre (prior to closure) - such as Gravesend and Heathrow - the former of which has actually been questioned by Philip Eden due to it being in close proximity to metal, yet everyone accepts the consistently high readings it churns out regardless.

 

Anyway, the point is that Yorkshire tends to be warmer than NW England on average, and tends to record higher absolute maximums, with Church Fenton having an average max in July of 21.2C compared to 20.6C at Manchester Airport. That is the short and simple version, it's not always the case, and sometimes the Manchester area will be warmer under the right setup, but on average, it isn't usually the case.

Edited August 3, 2013 by cheese

[Methuselah]

I'd never trust a reading I get from a car thermometer - they are hardly accurate.

[hillbilly]

I would say that in general York is warmer than leeds,maybe leeds attracts remenants of pennine cloud,just as leeds is warmer ,sunnier and drier than here in the heart of the pennines.

Car thermometers are not accurate but some are much better than others and can give a good indication,my car tends to read 1 degree higher than my thermometer

[cheese]

Well, I suppose there is no way of knowing at all, as neither city has a weather station. Well, Leeds Uni has a Met Station but it's not accessible to the public, probably because it's run on behalf of the Met.

 

The only thing we could say with any certainty is that Leeds will vary more due to a very varied topography with the centre being as low as 25m asl and LBA being 207m asl.

Edited August 3, 2013 by cheese

[AderynCoch]

Rostherne had a max of 29.1 compared to 30.8C at Church Fenton and 30.0C at Linton-on-Ouse, so that is a significant difference to me and a noticeable one at that.

1-2C is not significant or noticeable at all. You would hardly tell the difference if you were out in those temperatures.

 

You can add Liverpool to Manchester/Cheshire (we always get overlooked even when something notable happens here). In fact, we've recorded higher temperatures in the past than Manchester or Leeds. Regardless of the averages (which aren't that different anyway), I do think Yorkshire has been favoured more in recent summers compared to the this side of the Pennines thanks to a prevalence of awful summer weather patterns producing egregious NW/SE splits. I would venture that this summer is far more normal in terms of summer heat in that the high temperatures have been shared around more.

Edited August 3, 2013 by AderynCoch

[cheese]

1-2C is not significant or noticeable at all. You would hardly tell the difference if you were out in those temperatures.

 

Well it's significant for us weather geeks as reaching 30C is a significant achievement as is reaching -10C in winter.

 

Besides, it did feel a lot hotter on the 1st compared to when it reached 29.1C in July, but higher humidity levels might be to blame. Some people pick up easily on small temperature changes.

Edited August 3, 2013 by cheese

[Scorcher]

Sorry that comment about the car thermometer actually sounded rather silly haha, I was just making the point that having spent a lot of time on both sides of the Pennines (half of my family is from Leeds), I've always perceived Manchester to feel warmer.

 

The fact is there isn't much in it over the year, with Manchester only marginally warmer annually due to warmer nights.

[cheese]

Manchester might be warmer in the winter than Leeds, and less snowy? Manchester Airport can get quite cold, but it is likely to be a lot cooler at night than the central districts of Manchester. Manchester is quite a bit larger so would likely have warmer nights in the centre I suspect - seems like it gets less air frost too, so could easily feel warmer for a good part of the year that isn't summer, and at night, though it's hard to know as the only weather station in the central part of Manchester is Hulme Library and it isn't one of those stations that has climate data on the Met website or appears on WeatherOnline.

 

But yes you're right, there isn't much difference. There is really little difference throughout the year from north to south in the UK (northern Scotland excluded), in a global perspective, places like London and Leeds/Manchester would be pretty much identical in terms of temperatures, rain and sun with little difference, but the UK is a small(ish) country so these differences can feel more pronounced.

Edited August 4, 2013 by cheese

[Weather-history]

In fact, we've recorded higher temperatures in the past than Manchester or Leeds..

As happened on 16th July 2003, Crosby with 31.3Chttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Xr9ipxw4i0

[Scorcher]

 

 

But yes you're right, there isn't much difference. There is really little difference throughout the year from north to south in the UK (northern Scotland excluded), in a global perspective, places like London and Leeds/Manchester would be pretty much identical in terms of temperatures, rain and sun with little difference, but the UK is a small(ish) country so these differences can feel more pronounced.

 

Leeds is certainly drier, I don't think there's much doubt about that- even Leeds Bradford Airport which is on high ground is quite a bit drier than Manchester Airport- I imagine this must be noticeable over the year.

[summer blizzard]

Personally i would be very surprised if Leeds was not warmer than York given a much larger urban heat effect.