Opinion piece: What do you rate as worst UK Summer since 1992? I.e last 30 years?

[DataMat]

Pretty sure it won't be 2022 which is turning into a sort of decent summer, but also a likely notable year in the story of our changing climate, here in across the world. 

But what summer the worst since 1992? 

In my mind, it has to be either 2007 or 2012. 

[A Face like Thunder]

Yes, both 2007 and 2012 come to mind, particularly in terms of rainfall. 1997 also comes to mind as being less-than-wonderful in the North West of England, although I cannot speak for other regions of the UK.

Looking further back, in my lifetime, 1968 and 1985 were dreadful, and in 1962, the temperature never got above 25C, 77F in London. Imagine that now!

 

Edited July 20, 2022 by A Face like Thunder

[damianslaw]

2012 was abysmal. I can't recall any appreciable warmth just lots of rain cloud and cool days.

2nd place 2007 consistently wet and cool and came as a shock after 4 very good summers with lots of heat, more so 03 and 06.

3rd place 2008 just a slightly warmer version of 2007.

We were dealt a very poor deal between 2007 and 2012.

Other poor summers 93, 98, 11 and 17. 

[Weather Enthusiast91]

I have to say 2007.

As bad as 2012 was, it did give us a hot and sunny spell in late July. The summer of 2007 didn't have any notable warm periods and was at best mediocre all the way through.

2008 was also a poor summer, but it did have its moments at times.

Edited July 20, 2022 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Sunny76]

Quite a few actually.

1993 was quite bad, 1996 wasn’t great either, after a decent June, but July was dull and rainy in places, and August was sunny, but there were quite a few dull days. 
 

1997 was rainy, and it was humid. Not a great combination, 98 was cool in July.

2001,02, 04 were mediocre to poor.

The worst was definitely 2007, as it was wet all the time, and 2012, and 11 weren’t far behind.

2009 and 10 were the best out of the poorer summer years.

More recently I would class 2015, 16, and 17 all fairly poor, while 2021 was very dull in the London region. 

[SummerShower]

I'd say out of all these summers, 2007 was worst.  June and July were just horrendous.  The temperature only reached 28 or more on 2 days (5th and 25th August), and the August,while not as bad was very mediocre.

2012 had an absolutely atrociously abysmally shambolic June (the jubilee weekend was the worst holiday weekend you could possibly get), but the 2nd half of the summer was actually OK and had a handful of days over 30C (at least in the south)

Agree with most of the other summers I.e. 1993, 1998.

1997 I'd say had a very poor June but good July and very good august (similar to July 2006 in fact, just not quite as hot and a bit cloudier)

August 2008 was an absolutely atrocious month too

[damianslaw]

43 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Quite a few actually.

1993 was quite bad, 1996 wasn’t great either, after a decent June, but July was dull and rainy in places, and August was sunny, but there were quite a few dull days. 
 

1997 was rainy, and it was humid. Not a great combination, 98 was cool in July.

2001,02, 04 were mediocre to poor.

The worst was definitely 2007, as it was wet all the time, and 2012, and 11 weren’t far behind.

2009 and 10 were the best out of the poorer summer years.

More recently I would class 2015, 16, and 17 all fairly poor, while 2021 was very dull in the London region. 

1996 was quite decent here certainly not in the poor league. 2015, 2016 likewise.

[Met.]

In my lived in locations: 2004, 2007, 2008, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2020.

Edited July 20, 2022 by ThunderAthlete

[hillbilly]

That easy when 2008 arrived it was certainly the worst summer i had witnessed which includes every year since the early 70s.However it would only take another 4 years in 2012 to get another as bad.

[Earthshine]

2013 was the first year I really started taking interest in the weather.  I remember 2012 being pretty miserable though.  In recent years all summers have had interesting spells.

[Summer18]

August 2008 and June 2012 are a tie for worst ever summer months. I would say as a whole 2008 was the poorest summer I’ve witnessed, 2012 seemed to have more warm days just edges it above 2008.

Sandwiched between a hot spring and autumn, 2011 was also a shocker that sometimes gets overlooked. 

[Methuselah]

Well, since 1992 the very worst summer I can recall was 1993: it was awful! But, oddly enough, I don't think it was anywhere near as bad as 1971 and '72.

[danm]

2007 is probably the worst I can remember in my lifetime. Very little real warmth. The maximum temperature in London that summer was 29°c, so not a single day where we broke 30°c. That almost sounds unthinkable now. 

2008 was also poor, I remember it being very dull and looking back at the records it was remarkably another year where we didn't break 30°c in London. The top temperature was 29.5c. However, I'd rank this higher than 2007 as it wasn't as wet, and we did have a longer spell of temperatures in the high 20's at the end of July, longer than any spell of above average temperatures in 2007. 

June 2012 was absolutely abysmal. Cold, wet and windy. However, despite that, I wouldn't rank 2012 as the worst. Prior to that awful June, we actually had a really nice spell at the end of May here in London with temperatures in the mid to high 20's with lots of sunshine. The first two thirds of July was then very cool, but we had a brief burst of heat at the end of the month when we finally broke 30°c, which I remember coincided with the start of the Olympics. August 2012 was then a much better month with more warm sunshine than we'd had earlier in the summer, with a lot of days in the mid to high 20's and a couple above 30c. 

1998 was probably the worst summer I remember from the 90's. Very few genuinely hot days, compared to 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 1999 which all had very good spells of weather - with '95 obviously being an all time classic. 

Edited July 21, 2022 by danm

[cheeky_monkey]

2007..i wasn't  living in the UK in 2012..IMO the mid 80s summers were worse than 2007..the period 85-87 were the worst summers of my lifetime..followed by 2007

[B87]

2007 was slightly better than 2012 using the summer index.

2012 was pathetically dreadful, summer index around 240.

Special mentions to 1993, 1998 and 2021.

Edited July 21, 2022 by B87

[summer blizzard]

For myself I would say that 2004 was the worst as it was often very humid, warm and wet.

Having been here since 04 though the consensus has long been that 07 and 12 are spoken in hush tones and comparisons will see you attacked in certain threads historically.

[B87]

The 10 worst summers since 1992 in London, ranked by summer index.

2012: 242

2007: 255

2011: 257

1992: 260

2008: 263

2021: 270

2002: 272

2000: 275

1998: 275

2016: 280

Edited July 21, 2022 by B87

[Weather-history]

It depends on one's tastes but going off that the classic summer being hot, dry and sunny, worst summer was 2012.  2007 and 2008 were bad but just touch better than 2012.

Summers 1993 and 1998 were the poorest summers of the 1990s but for me not as bad as the 3 mentioned above.

 

 

[Sunny76]

7 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

2007..i wasn't  living in the UK in 2012..IMO the mid 80s summers were worse than 2007..the period 85-87 were the worst summers of my lifetime..followed by 2007

No, I think 2007 and 12 were worse than the 85-88 period, because I still remember some decent hot spells in those mid 80s years, despite the cool and damp weather during those summers.

2007,11 and 12 had weeks of poor overcast weather. 2012 probably managed about 2 weeks of decent sunny weather between late May and early September. 

[AderynCoch]

Definitely 2012.

On the other end of the scale, 1995 was the best.

[Row w]

2012 closely followed by 2007, 2008 had that meh sort of a feeling with not much going on alongside 2011 but marginally better than the former two, 2004 wasn't the greatest for sustained heat but gives itself credit in my view for how thundery it was, as far as the 90s being my childhood era those are the summers I fondly look back on with great nostalgia

[MP-R]

Definitely 2012 as the worst, followed by 2007 for me. At least the first half of June and August 2007 weren't bad at all. 2008 was also poor, but June was dry and often sunny, and there was at least a hot spell in late July. August was the worst month. Whereas, June and July were the worst months in 2012.

2002 and 2004 were also a bit erratic, although both had spells of good weather too, most notably in August in 2002, and first half of June and first third of August 2004. I distinctly remember the weather between the solstice and mid July in 2004 being very poor.

[Thundery wintry showers]

For me definitely 2012.  There was a spell in late July and the first half of August 2012 that I quite enjoyed, but otherwise it was a washout, especially in the case of June 2012.

2007 was redeemed to some extent for me by a high frequency of thunder and by a fairly dry and sunny August.  2008 had near average sunshine and temperatures in June & July but August 2008 was certainly a cloudfest.  I grew up in the Tyne and Wear area, and remarkably 1998 was the only cloudier than average summer of the 1990s there, but it wasn't on a par with 2012 for me.

As for the best, I recall a "trio" of summers in 1994/95/96 from my childhood which I recall comparably fondly for their own reasons - 1994 mainly for some spectacular thunderstorms and sun/warmth in June and July, 1995 for sunshine, heat and drought, and 1996 for variety while retaining above average sunshine and daytime temperatures in each of the three summer months.  As far as individual months go, July 2006 sticks out, it was like spending a month in continental France.

Edited July 22, 2022 by Thundery wintry showers

[Wold Topper]

2012 for me, even the 'Yorkshire' show was cancelled due to wet conditions, a truly awful spring into summer period! 

[RebsAbbo]

2008 for me. The years preceding had been warm & sunny months from the mid/end May into June. Julys & Augusts we’re always unpredictable. So we decided to get married in June ‘08 on that basis. However 08 saw the start of ‘summer storms’, where high winds, rain & cold were often the features of June. Our wedding day started pleasant enough with some warm sun. As we came out of church the rain started, photos were taken hastily with umbrellas quickly whipped away before the click of the camera! We all decamped to the village hall (who wants a photo taken on the lovely green anyhow?). It was bloody freezing and the wildest winds came by the evening, blew all the gazebos down! Not that we were bothered, we’d already left for honeymoon 😆.
It was localised as when we got down south to Dorset & Cornwall we did have some heat & sun.

For years since then, possibly just up until this last year or two, June has often been a wash out, dull & windy. My recollections anyway (not scientifically based).