Spring 2021: Moans, Groans, Ramps and Banter.

[Britneyfan]

I’m going to say 26° will be the highest temp of the year, generally most days during summer 18 to 20° cloudy and wet with showers or rain, 

[hillbilly]

1 minute ago, B87 said:

Looks like a repeat of 1991. Absolutely awful outlook.

1991 was not a poor summer.

 

[B87]

1 minute ago, hillbilly said:

1991 was not a poor summer.

 

June 1991 was the 2nd coldest June on record (and the dullest until 2012 and 2016 came along). Followed by an average July and a warmish August. Warmest day of the year was in September here. It was a below average summer.

After the spring we have had, I'd rather see a good summer.

[B87]

9 minutes ago, Britneyfan said:

I’m going to say 26° will be the highest temp of the year, generally most days during summer 18 to 20° cloudy and wet with showers or rain, 

That would be a record.

[Britneyfan]

6 minutes ago, B87 said:

June 1991 was the 2nd coldest June on record (and the dullest until 2012 and 2016 came along). Followed by an average July and a warmish August. Warmest day of the year was in September here. It was a below average summer.

After the spring we have had, I'd rather see a good summer.

Funny enough I was born June 1991 and now it’s my 30th this June, so naturally history gunna repeat itself

[Britneyfan]

2 minutes ago, B87 said:

That would be a record.

Well always gunna be a record to be had, if we continue below average like we are now then 18 to 20 is the best during July and august with the odd above average day thrown in 

[Freeze]

I still think 35+ will be reached this year, even if it's just one day.

[al78]

2 hours ago, markyo said:

Can i ask what it stops you doing? Temps don't stop you doing things in this range, i find personally the hotter it becomes ie 25c plus the less the weather is useable. i agree wet weather can be a different thing though.

It makes allotment gardening far more difficult. I've never planted 50-60 potatoes and had none grow until this year. The greenhouse isn't much help because despite water barrels and insulation I still couldn't keep the temperature inside above freezing at night last month. I can't start my more delicate veg in April as normal, and with the cool weather going on into May I am a month behind, which means a shorter growing season and a reduced productivity. It stops me enjoying warmth outdoors when it is struggling to get to 10C. It imposes extra heating costs when the temperature drops well down into single figures in the evenings or is sub-zero overnight. It hasn't stopped me walking and cycling and the dry weather in April certainly helped with soil preparation for allotment cultivation, or at least an attempt at cultivation. I agree that when temperatures rises much above 25C it starts to become uncomfortable, especially in this country when it is frequently accompanied by energy sapping humidity. 18-25C through the summer is an ideal temperature range for me, with occasional rain to keep the veg watered, and I don't think that is expecting too much for south east England.

[hillbilly]

12 minutes ago, B87 said:

June 1991 was the 2nd coldest June on record (and the dullest until 2012 and 2016 came along). Followed by an average July and a warmish August. Warmest day of the year was in September here. It was a below average summer.

After the spring we have had, I'd rather see a good summer.

You cannot expect to have a good summer.

May 1991 although cool was very dry and reasonably sunny,yes June was poor that year and wet but was more than made up with a reasonable July and unlike recent times a good August.

[al78]

23 minutes ago, Alderc said:

What on earth can you not do in 25c+? Apart from ski I can’t think of anything? 

Go for a hill walk without significant perspiration and without feeling uncomfortably hot at least some of the time.

Sleep.

It is not so much about what you physically cannot do, it is about personal comfort when you are doing it.

[B87]

1 minute ago, hillbilly said:

You cannot expect to have a good summer.

May 1991 although cool was very dry and reasonably sunny,yes June was poor that year and wet but was more than made up with a reasonable July and unlike recent times a good August.

May 1991 recorded 139 hours of sun here. It was exceptionally cloudy (as was June). 

[al78]

33 minutes ago, B87 said:

So that ECMWF 42 day forecast has pretty much zero sign of any above average temperatures all the way to 28 June. This is a catastrophe.

No, this is a catastrophe:

The UK's poor spring temperatures are a mere nuisance. Summer temperatures a few degrees below normal (if that) is not going to kill you or render you homeless.

Lets not get melodramatic.

[hillbilly]

13 minutes ago, B87 said:

May 1991 recorded 139 hours of sun here. It was exceptionally cloudy (as was June). 

Ah yes,my mistake,may was not that sunny but at least it was dry.

 

[Fourty Point Three Degrees]

I

26 minutes ago, Freeze said:

I still think 35+ will be reached this year, even if it's just one day.

Yes, the past two summers proved that 35C plus can just creep out of the blue even when charts are looking like a horror show. 

[markyo]

57 minutes ago, al78 said:

It makes allotment gardening far more difficult. I've never planted 50-60 potatoes and had none grow until this year. The greenhouse isn't much help because despite water barrels and insulation I still couldn't keep the temperature inside above freezing at night last month. I can't start my more delicate veg in April as normal, and with the cool weather going on into May I am a month behind, which means a shorter growing season and a reduced productivity. It stops me enjoying warmth outdoors when it is struggling to get to 10C. It imposes extra heating costs when the temperature drops well down into single figures in the evenings or is sub-zero overnight. It hasn't stopped me walking and cycling and the dry weather in April certainly helped with soil preparation for allotment cultivation, or at least an attempt at cultivation. I agree that when temperatures rises much above 25C it starts to become uncomfortable, especially in this country when it is frequently accompanied by energy sapping humidity. 18-25C through the summer is an ideal temperature range for me, with occasional rain to keep the veg watered, and I don't think that is expecting too much for south east England.

Sounds like you've been really struggling, my sympathies, allotment weather it is not, fingers crossed a more balanced and warmer summer may be on the cards for you, even i must admit its not been a great spring for growers! 

[dubmuffin]

I'm a gardener, veg grower and paddleboarder - this weather is just getting me down. All the seedlings we germinated in the conservatory are doing OK in small pots but desperately need to be outside - the courgettes are fruiting due to stress in small pots, the marigolds are flowering before they have put on enough growth and the lemon tree went outside for two days then sulked. The cold NW winds have made paddle boarding a lot harder than it should be at this time of year - good for training but bad for social outings or planning longer trips. That said, after today's heavy showers, the patio is feeling almost summery compared with other evenings recently, and with the light winds, I've put a t-shirt on to kid myself it can only get better (wine helps!).

 

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, hillbilly said:

1991 was not a poor summer.

 

It wasn’t great. We had a thunderstorm in the first week of July, and that was preceded by a cold June. I remember how cold it was, just as bad as 1987 or even worse.

The school holidays was a mix of hot sunny days and wet cloudy ones. It was poor when compared to 1989 and 1990, but the august had some decent weather

And that god awful Bryan Adams song was number one for 16 weeks.

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, hillbilly said:

You cannot expect to have a good summer.

May 1991 although cool was very dry and reasonably sunny,yes June was poor that year and wet but was more than made up with a reasonable July and unlike recent times a good August.

1991 was awful. I’m not sure where you were living at the time. London was particularly bad during May and June. Many cloudy and cool days. 

[Guest]

The awful outlook continues.

No doubt Autumn is just round the corner! 

[NEVES SCREAMER]

A barmy 11c in Dudley . All is not lost. According to Keith the psychic slug who lives in my back garden, summer will officially arrive on 8TH JUNE. You heard it here first. Mark it in your diary.

[hillbilly]

19 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

1991 was awful. I’m not sure where you were living at the time. London was particularly bad during May and June. Many cloudy and cool days. 

Still living here in the pennines on the hill tops where  our good summers will be your worst horror.

Maybe it was different in London but we had a very dry May,yes June was awful but July was at least better than average and August was better than most Augusts we have had in the last 20 years.

Even accounting for a poor June the summer was better than average.

[B87]

40 minutes ago, hillbilly said:

Still living here in the pennines on the hill tops where  our good summers will be your worst horror.

Maybe it was different in London but we had a very dry May,yes June was awful but July was at least better than average and August was better than most Augusts we have had in the last 20 years.

Even accounting for a poor June the summer was better than average.

May 1991 had 9mm of rain in London, but that counts for little when the average high was 15.7c with only 139 hours of sun. Then followed up by the 2nd coldest and dullest June on record at the time (17.8c av max, 135 hours sun). July was 23.2c with 219 hours of sun, near normal. August was sunny and slightly warmer than average, with 24.1c and 242 hours. It was a poor summer - a decent but unremarkable August wasn't compensation for a June about as bad as it can possibly get in this part of the world.

It will hit harder this year with everyone wanting to get back to normal life, to then be cheated out of a summer.

Edited May 15, 2021 by B87

[B87]

Half way point of May and the average max so far is 15.5c, and already 9 rain days with plenty more forecast. Sunshine is about 75 hours once you correct it, which means there is still a chance of reaching the average (209 hours) if the final week is sunny.

[hillbilly]

9 minutes ago, B87 said:

May 1991 had 9mm of rain in London, but that counts for little when the average high was 15.7c with only 139 hours of sun. Then followed up by the 2nd coldest and dullest June on record at the time (17.8c av max, 135 hours sun). July was 23.2c with 219 hours of sun, near normal. August was sunny and slightly warmer than average, with 24.1c and 242 hours. It was a poor summer - a decent but unremarkable August wasn't compensation for a June about as bad as it can possibly get in this part of the world.

It will hit harder this year with everyone wanting to get back to normal life, to then be cheated out of a summer.

Maybe my farming background make me feel different to you but if someone offered me a quite decent July and August and an awful June i would snap their hands off every year.The only poor summer in the 1990s was that of 1998!

[B87]

Just now, hillbilly said:

Maybe my farming background make me feel different to you but if someone offered me a quite decent July and August and an awful June i would snap their hands off every year.The only poor summer in the 1990s was that of 1998!

If this summer was a record-breakingly awful June, a near average July and a decent but not unusual August, failing to reach 30c and having the warmest day of the year in September, then I wouldn't take that offer.

The summers of 1991, 1992, 1993 and 1998 were poor in London.