Memories of 1985

[Sunny76]

For some reason I don't remember much of this year. I was 9 at the time.

The standout weather memory is the hot weekend while Live Aid was on.  

Also recall a sunny late May half term, and we went for a day trip to Hastings. Think that might have been the only settled period in what was a cold spring.

[John88B]

It was the year I left school. From memory, I might be wrong, but the summer was a good one. As you said Live Aid was on and I was playing cricket that day and it was a beautiful day. I also remember the day I left school being during a nice spell of weather and remember plenty of sunbathing in the garden with my mates during the period after leaving school.

[damianslaw]

Only 6-7 years old and not very strong memories at all. Think it was a very poor summer often wet or dull with not much heat about.

Jan- April was colder than average with alot of northerly and easterly influence. Jan 85 notably cold and snowy, mid Feb very snowy cold easterly and March gave further snow as well.

October was very dry and warm. November opposite notably cold early widespread snowfalls.

December mild and very wet, became cold with some snow Boxing Day onwards.

Apart from October a year noted for its coldness, which continued through much of 1986.

[North-Easterly Blast]

39 minutes ago, John88B said:

It was the year I left school. From memory, I might be wrong, but the summer was a good one. As you said Live Aid was on and I was playing cricket that day and it was a beautiful day. I also remember the day I left school being during a nice spell of weather and remember plenty of sunbathing in the garden with my mates during the period after leaving school.

 

35 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Only 6-7 years old and not very strong memories at all. Think it was a very poor summer often wet or dull with not much heat about.

Jan- April was colder than average with alot of northerly and easterly influence. Jan 85 notably cold and snowy, mid Feb very snowy cold easterly and March gave further snow as well.

October was very dry and warm. November opposite notably cold early widespread snowfalls.

December mild and very wet, became cold with some snow Boxing Day onwards.

Apart from October a year noted for its coldness, which continued through much of 1986.

Summer 1985 was a particularly cool summer overall, with an overall CET of only 14.5; June and August were much cooler than average, although the July I believe was not far from average; there was not much heat about that summer at all; I think that summer 1985 produced only isolated warm days or maybe two or three in July, but apart from that it was cool and often wet.  September 1985 though was fairly warm I believe, with a notably warm spell late in the month that lasted into the start of October, which went on to be a very dry anticyclonic October.  September 1985, at 14.6c CET, is actually the warmest September that I can think of in recent decades or even in the last century, that led on into a cold winter.  You are correct that 1985 was a cold year with a particularly cold January to March period, and the overall coldness of 1985 lasted through most of 1986 as well.

[A Face like Thunder]

Yes, I have to agree, the summer of 1985 was not good. In fact, I remember July and August were awful and it was only in September that we had what could be termed a proper summer, if a bit late in the day.

[danm]

I was in the womb in 1985, but looking back at the records, it was a cold winter and looks like a poor summer overall. 

Some warmer weather at times - including during Live Aid, a sparkling hot sunny day with incredible music. 

[Sunny76]

2 hours ago, danm said:

I was in the womb in 1985, but looking back at the records, it was a cold winter and looks like a poor summer overall. 

Some warmer weather at times - including during Live Aid, a sparkling hot sunny day with incredible music. 

When I look back at 1985, I just remember staying at my mum’s friend’s house in Thornton Heath(South London), for two weeks in July. The weather was warm and sunny for many days during that time.

The Word Girl by Scritti Politti was played on the radio all the time. Sat and watch some of the Live Aid concert, while sitting in the garden. Probably the best spell of what was a poor summer. 
 

August was cold and damp, and we spent a week in Sussex. The weather was miserable. 
 

[Weather-history]

Remember the cold spell of January 1985 with snow and the snowy  breakdown on that Sunday of the 20th.  It had thawed away by the evening. 

The Friday of the 8th February stuck in my memory, we had sleet that turned into wet snow by midday I think. By the time school  ended, it was snowing and lying. The next day or the Sunday was bitterly cold and sunny. Remember the month ending very mild.

Friday night of the 16th March 1985 was snowy, remember lamp posting watch late and seeing large flakes of snow falling. Next morning was white and snowy but it cleared during late morning and the sun came out. The snow thawed away but it was still cold. Remember the following Saturday being a washout.

Good Friday was showery but mild. The end of April ended cold. Recall snow falling on the Saturday of the Steve Davis/Dennis Taylor final.

There was a good night thunderstorm on the 14th May and May ended really good. It was half term and I remember me and a schoolmate were out in the warm sun on the Friday of the half term break.

June was pretty poor but the weekend of the Live Aid concert in July was warm. There werea couple of good thunderstorms on the last Friday of the July. Weather during the summer holidays was pretty poor. Remember a showery day at Blackpool with hail but a day trip to Southport ended pleasantly sunny after early morning rain. August ended pretty decently.

Don't remember much about September and oddly I don't recall the hot start to that October.

Do recall November, Bonfire night was chilly.  The last Wednesday in November had snow showers. Vividly remember lamp post watching that evening watching the snow come down and there was a snow cover that lasted until the very mild air came in. It felt really mild as well.

December was mild up to Christmas. It was really cold, remember leaving my Uncle's late Sunday night between Christmas and New Year and it was bitter, a really sharp frost. There were snow flurries, the next day but by evening it was raining, no snowy breakdown to that cold snap. 

 

 

[cheeky_monkey]

went on holiday with my mates to Newquay first week of July ..pretty sure it was the only hot week of the summer..i got quite badly sunburnt

[Summer8906]

Will post a fuller account later - but it included both the best winter and one of the worst summers of my lifetime.

Edited March 10, 2022 by Summer8906

[Norrance]

Up here there were no long cold spells but cold and snowy outbreaks in the first four months including in March and the last week of April. Decent skiing conditions well intoSpring. There was snowfall on the hills several times in June and not just on the highest tops. Remember seeing quite a bit of snow on the Perthshire hills in the last week of June when competing in the Aberfeldy raft race down the Tay from the Loch and noting that the water was particularly cold that year. The rest of theSummer was quite unsettled too I recall though I did manage to get a lot of golf in that year.

[Northernlights]

Nightmare year on the farm with hardly  any dry weather in the late summer. Harvest started in September a month late and by 11th of October we still had half spring barley to cut.  Average finish date at the time mid September.Very wet grain wouldn't  flow out of carts and nearly every one had to shuffled out  by hand totally exhausting, good job I was younger then.    Resorted to  timing fronts coming in off the Atlantic,  the wind in front of them dried grain a bit so several 4.00am starts before rain at 10.00am stopped us again. Other farms round about started to follow us with these early starts     Had a few dryer days at end of October when straw was finally baled. Very damp grain took till Christmas  to dry in old dryer and all  had to be removed with loader and turned over as condensation on top resulted in overdried grain at bottom. Spent many evenings turning over surface of grain with a shuffle to prevent surface sprouting.

The 11th of October was the low point when I thought we would have to write off half the barley. A year that will never be forgotten.A big incentive to join   a  grain group with 5 state of the art dryers in the early nineties.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Sunny76]

7 minutes ago, LetItSnow! said:

Whilst I consider the true shift into our new climate December 1987, the second shift - I feel - was very much November 1994, which of course is the warmest November on record by far (10.1 seems an extraordinary figure and only 0.1degC cooler than October 1994). From this month on we'd see a slew of warmer than average months into 1995, only which abated in 1996 and then returned full on in February 1997 (which to me seems the final shift). Up until October, there had been a smattering of mild/hot months but it was looking like a relatively near-normal year for the C.E.T.

The C.E.T. for November 1993 to October 1994 - 9.68degC 

The C.E.T. for November 1994 to October 1995 - 11.06degC [The warmest period ever until May 2006-April 2007]

Wrong year lol. This is the 1985 thread.

I agree with you about 1994 seeing a return to the milder months, as 1991 until first half of 1994 saw some colder months.

Despite this, a colder than average month or two will still appear from time to time. 

[LetItSnow!]

Just now, Sunny76 said:

Wrong year lol. This is the 1985 thread.

I agree with you about 1994 seeing a return to the milder months, as 1991 until first half of 1994 saw some colder months.

Despite this, a colder than average month or two will still appear from time to time. 

Hidden for a reason! Indeed I was confused at some of the posts describing 1994 as a very poor year for the harvest. 1985 makes much more sense.

[Sunny76]

I think 1994 was a classic year for weather, even in a post 1987 climate. We still managed a bit of snow and chilly unsettled spring weather with sunshine and showers, a cold May, which I really hated at the time and cold early June, followed by the first decent hot spell since 1990ish and in some respects best spell of dry sunny weather since May 1992. Some decent storms also, but the very mild weather accompanied by dull and damp conditions from September is what let it down a bit. The mild sunny spells in October were nice, but was a bit too late to enjoy it by then.

[cheeky_monkey]

interestingly summer 1985 was the 9th wettest on record yet Autumn 1985 was the 5th driest on record...big turnaround

[LetItSnow!]

43 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

interestingly summer 1985 was the 9th wettest on record yet Autumn 1985 was the 5th driest on record...big turnaround

Goes to show with these big turnarounds are nothing new and have occured since the beggining of time probably, definitely not a new thing like some people say! 

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, LetItSnow! said:

Goes to show with these big turnarounds are nothing new and have occured since the beggining of time probably, definitely not a new thing like some people say! 

Apart from ‘those warm Septembers’ that spell doom for the following winter

I think I lost count how many times that statement mentioned during last winter.