Summer 2016

[B87]

1 hour ago, weather09 said:

Totally agree.  As well as that, humidity has been extreme.  Very oppressive.  Think it's only been northern parts that have had a poor summer.  Down here, great stuff.

It's been cool and very cloudy down here too.  It's not just the north.

[Nouska]

52 minutes ago, Evening thunder said:

I do agree with some on previous pages in that it could be worse for in recent years and this year. Granted it is rubbish, with not much proper summer-like weather or interesting weather, and I expect mean maxima will paint a worse picture than mean temps.. However I expect it was the same for many of the colder summers in the past. CET's 2-3C below average with wet conditions probably had mean maxima even lower. I'd also bet a similar 'grey lid' effect occurred in the past due to diurnal cloud buildup.

For non weather geeks, it's not really a case of statistics about whether it is dry or wet but more a case of what the 'sensible' weather is. That's what we see and feel in real terms - the seeing bit is the important one here - we are seeing a severe depletion of the bright light of the sun.

This article on SAD explains in simple terms how it affects us so much more than it did in the past.

http://www.sad.org.uk/

This year has been exceptionally cloudy in the north of France, many records broken with less than 50% of sunshine in total for June. I can imagine the percentages are not so dramatic in the cloudier climate of Britain but it does not negate the health and wellbeing impacts of year round lack of light.

[B87]

3 minutes ago, Nouska said:

This year has been exceptionally cloudy in the north of France, many records broken with less than 50% of sunshine in total for June. I can imagine the percentages are not so dramatic in the cloudier climate of Britain but it does not negate the health and wellbeing impacts of year round lack of light.

We had 49% of our average June sun hours here, comparable to the list of French locations.

[Relativistic]

1 hour ago, cheeky_monkey said:

Because this forum must be the most negative moan fest known to man..a more miserable bunch I have not come across...however I do take task about that the UK has the most varied and interesting climate in the world..i would definitely give that to the central belt of the US and Canada

This is so true.

I do spare some sympathy for those up north, some people find it quite testing when the Summer months don't deliver what is expected, especially Summer SAD sufferers. However, as 40*C has alluded to, the northern parts of the UK and southern England are totally different in spells like this, with the latter more often dryer and warmer. Southerners have much less of a reason to moan IMO, the north has it worse.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Relativistic

[B87]

1 minute ago, Relativistic said:

southerners have less of a reason to moan like some are doing on here, the north have it worse.

Southerners also have a higher expectation of what summer should bring.  20-21c in July or August down here is considered poor.  The south suffered the most in June, with record cloudiness (Lerwick had double the sunshine of London).

[weatherguru14]

Am in the middle part of the UK.. of couse the more south you go the better weather should be expected.. But we would expect alot  better weather here in leeds than we have had over the last few years.. Sunshine and showers AGAIN today.. Am passed moaning now. Am just waiting for the usual nice September and early nice October weather that will arrive once summer is finished.. Well once june/july and August is finished. shouldnt use the word summer

[Evening thunder]

1 hour ago, B87 said:

The moaning comes from the fact that 8 of the last 10 summers have seen well below average sunshine in these parts, coupled with suppressed temperatures in July and August.  Of the last 31 summer months, 6 have seen average or above average sun.

Summer is not about 21c highs with 160-170 hrs sun (and even worse in the rest of the country)!   

Do nearby sites show a similar decrease? It still doesn't tie in with other sources to me, so I still think there may be something up somewhere making the difference seem bigger (unless other local sites also show a similar story)

Using the Met Office anomaly maps, I just counted at least 15 months out of the last 31 that have white or golden colours over the Heathrow area and surroundings (average or above average). Some may have doubts over these maps, but I doubt they are that bad...

5  were definitely above average with a couple more just about into the above average colours.
 

56 minutes ago, 40*C said:

I really think the met office should split into two, one for the North and one for the South.  Its becoming like two different climates between London and Manchester these days, never used to see this silly North/South divide - Look at August 1990 or July 2006, Manchester hitting on 35c. These days we rarely see 30c. 

Hmm there has always been a north-south gradient in our climate... sure sometimes good spells affect most of the country and it is not apparent, like the August 1990 and July 2006 that will stick in your memory. Other times it will be stronger than normal. Maybe it's been more pronounced/common recently but these things vary and if so I hope it can average out soon for those up north. Though SE had it significantly worse in June compared to their average than the NW did.

 

31 minutes ago, Nouska said:

or non weather geeks, it's not really a case of statistics about whether it is dry or wet but more a case of what the 'sensible' weather is. That's what we see and feel in real terms - the seeing bit is the important one here - we are seeing a severe depletion of the bright light of the sun.

This article on SAD explains in simple terms how it affects us so much more than it did in the past.

http://www.sad.org.uk/

This year has been exceptionally cloudy in the north of France, many records broken with less than 50% of sunshine in total for June. I can imagine the percentages are not so dramatic in the cloudier climate of Britain but it does not negate the health and wellbeing impacts of year round lack of light.

I don't disagree but I can only go off the stats really (though I'd rather do that than selective memory.. which I can suffer from myself), and for sunshine they don't really seem to show anything out of line with what has happened before (excluding this summer which does seem pretty bad so far and is not shown on the sources I posted yet).

Edited July 13, 2016 by Evening thunder

[B87]

2 minutes ago, Evening thunder said:

Do nearby sites show a similar decrease? It still doesn't tie in with other sources to me, so I still think there may be something up somewhere making the difference seem bigger (unless other local sites also show a similar story)

Using the Met Office anomaly maps, I just counted at least 15 months out of the last 31 that have white or golden colours over the Heathrow area and surroundings (average or above average). Some may have doubts over these maps, but I doubt they are that bad...

5  were definitely above average with a couple more just about into the above average colours.
 

Hmm there has always been a north-south gradient in our climate... sure sometimes good spells affect most of the country and it is not apparent, like the August 1990 and July 2006 that will stick in your memory. Other times it will be stronger than normal. Maybe it's been more pronounced/common recently but these things vary and if so I hope it can average out soon for those up north. Though SE had it significantly worse in June compared to their average than the NW did.

 

I don't disagree but I can only go off the stats really (though I'd rather do that than selective memory.. which I can suffer from myself), and for sunshine they don't really seem to show anything out of line with what has happened before (excluding this summer which does seem pretty bad so far and is not shown on the sources I posted yet)

I use the data from the historic data page rather than the regional summaries, as it is more accurate. Other areas in London and Surrey have definitely seen a massive decrease in summer sun since August 2006.

 

the only summers to see sunshine above average since 2007 were 2013 (625 hrs) and 2014 (650 hrs). Heathrow's summer average is 621 hrs. All the others ranged from 470-560 hrs.

[weather09]

1 hour ago, B87 said:

It's been cool and very cloudy down here too.  It's not just the north.

Oh... Must be just the Midlands that has seen the good stuff.

A lot of variety, so far, this summer. Clouds, rain, sunshine, lightning, hail... 

A real mixed bag.

Edited July 13, 2016 by weather09

[Wildswimmer Pete]

18 minutes ago, Evening thunder said:

I don't disagree but I can only go off the stats really (though I'd rather do that than selective memory.. which I can suffer from myself), and for sunshine they don't really seem to show anything out of line with what has happened before (excluding this summer which does seem pretty bad so far and is not shown on the sources I posted yet).

To quote the old saw: there are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics.  The sunshine figures don't even show half of the truth.  Under the conditions we've experienced the past few years, most of any sunshine is during the small hours before the inevitable  grey lid slams down.  Those of us who are up and about during conventional waking hours see little or no sun, hence the prevalence of SAD which shouldn't be a problem through the summer months.  Sunshine recorders record ALL sunshine whereas what interests most of us is sensible sunshine, to borrow Nouska's excellent term.

[interested & confused]

MetO summary says

Sunshine was generally below average except in Shetland and north-west Wales, and it was the dullest June on record in south-east and central southern England

So yes, I'm having a bad summer with SAD sometimes catching me by surprise  Gardening usually lifts my spirits, but even some of the plants are struggling.

[cheese]

SE England had the worst weather in June, no doubt about it. London was probably the dullest major city in Europe last month.

The weather hasn't really been too different between here and London this month anyway. Average high so far this month here is 20.1C, for London it's 21.9C. That's actually a smaller difference than normal, and both are below average - but more so for London than here (average for here is 21.2C, for London 23.5C). Sunshine is pretty much the same too.

Edited July 13, 2016 by cheese

[knocker]

 

[cheeky_monkey]

2 minutes ago, knocker said:

 

c'est moi and no I don't ..interesting stat though

[cheese]

8 minutes ago, knocker said:

 

They shouldn't - I see 1976, 1983 and 1995 standing out there, but none of the other years were particularly dry. Summers like 2010 and 2011 were quite dry here but those summers were nothing to remember. OTOH, 2004 was a wet summer - mostly because of that very wet August - but it was average in terms of temperature and sunshine, with many thunderstorms, so was definitely better overall. 

In terms of rainfall, it looks like the past few years don't stand out in a historical context. 2012 was very wet, and stands out a bit amongst the rest, but that's about it. Even 2007 is broadly comparable to the other very wet summers of days gone by. 

Edited July 13, 2016 by cheese

[Weather-history]

3 hours ago, 40*C said:

I really think the met office should split into two, one for the North and one for the South.  Its becoming like two different climates between London and Manchester these days, never used to see this silly North/South divide - Look at August 1990 or July 2006, Manchester hitting on 35c. These days we rarely see 30c. 

They were the exception rather than the rule. 2003 is often seen as a good summer but it only got 30C twice.

1989 was a very good summer, not once did it get to 30C

[cheeky_monkey]

37 minutes ago, cheese said:

They shouldn't - I see 1976, 1983 and 1995 standing out there, but none of the other years were particularly dry. Summers like 2010 and 2011 were quite dry here but those summers were nothing to remember. OTOH, 2004 was a wet summer - mostly because of that very wet August - but it was average in terms of temperature and sunshine, with many thunderstorms, so was definitely better overall. 

In terms of rainfall, it looks like the past few years don't stand out in a historical context. 2012 was very wet, and stands out a bit amongst the rest, but that's about it. Even 2007 is broadly comparable to the other very wet summers of days gone by. 

1984 was a drought year.

[cheese]

7 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

1984 was a drought year.

2011 was as well I believe - for parts of the UK anyway. What I meant is that only those three years really stand out on that chart.

[cheeky_monkey]

4 minutes ago, cheese said:

2011 was as well I believe - for parts of the UK anyway. What I meant is that only those three years really stand out on that chart.

1984 wasn't far off 1976 for drought conditions across the UK that I do remember..84 was dry following on from dry last 6 months of 83

[matt111]

Temperature wise it hasn't been too bad here although it could be better. It's the almost constant cloud cover which is most annoying about this summer so far. 

[hillbilly]

Seems a little inaccurate for this area .1984 was very dry here very similar to 1989 and also 1996 but 1976 may have been drier with 1995 in a league of its own.I think how this year is remembered by me anyway is the sheer lack of warm sunny days [particularly any together] that we have had since the start of the summer ,even extended summer.The poor summers we have had in the last 10 years have usually had some spells of nice weather in either spring or early summer,this year we have had neither .

[I remember Atlantic 252]

just need to get rid of this horrid NW'ly, worst wind direction here, so prone to rain from the Cheshire gap, washout yesterday, today rain at times morning, tomorrow looks wet as well, thank heavens change due Friday

autumn mornings as well, could see breath this morning just before 8am

[IanR]

On 7/11/2016 at 11:27, B87 said:

The forecast now is showing a few days with highs between 23-25c.  It's embarrassing that the 'warm spell' is just normal July weather!  The sunniest day only has about 6 hrs, so not even making average!  What is causing the ridiculously cloudy summers since 2007?

ever since that cold blob in the atlanic reared its head its been the same, I am convinced its the root cause of the same weather type most of the rear round, with summer just being slighty warmer than winter,

I dont care what anybody says, the climate has changed over the last decade,   summers in the 70 's 80's and 90's where better ,  ok there was lots of dross mixed in with good amounts of warm summery weather , some years more so, and some less so, but a good spell was almost guaranteed in the school holidays in july and first half of august,  all thats guaranteed now is an altanic succession of troughs and cool temps , with the odd fleeting ray of sun now and again,  expect high summer next year to be the same.  the cold blob needs to do one,  

[IanR]

mid july and still too cold to sit out in the garden without a thick sweater on to be comfortable 

Edited July 13, 2016 by IanR

[markyo]

16 minutes ago, IanR said:

mid july and still too cold to sit out in the garden without a thick sweater on to be comfortable 

Out in shorts and t shirt,loving the weather,so comfortable and easy to live with in my opinion,but everybody to their own. I'm still feeling August may produce something but July to be honest looks a spent force.