What Did You Think of Summer 2022?

[Methuselah]

2 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Why does 1975 and not 1976 not feature, is it because records don't go back that far.. I suspect 1976 would be top, and 1975 perhaps fifth in that list? Interesting to see 1984 doesn't feature, that summer was really a west was best type, it was exceptionally dry in the Lake District, drier than this summer.

Rather too many double negatives methinks, Damian? As for myself, I remember 1973, '75, '76, '83, '89, '90, '95, '97, 2003, '06, '13, '18, '19 and '22. But we are human, we augment our memories throughout our lives?

[Sunny76]

2022 was excellent in the London region and a welcome treat after the disappointment dull summers of 2021(very poor), 2020(apart from the two hot snaps in June and early August) and 2019 which was just a 2 week affair of very hot weather in July.

2018 was probably slightly better, but I still preferred 2022 as the good weather held on into the main school holidays, even if we had to trade in a poor May.

I might change my mind about the storms, as while it wasn’t great, we did get a few distant rumbles of thunder and a notable stormy afternoon on the 24th May( my birthday) even though that’s not the main part of summer. There were lots of on and off showers with thunder and lightning during that afternoon.

Maybe not quite a classic like 1976, or 1995, but on a par with 1975,83,84,89,90, 94(first half of that summer) 2003.

Better than 2006, and I didn’t rate 1997 as it was way too unsettled and cloudy. I class that as a mediocre summer and a forgettable one.

2013 and 14 were decent, but the latter was let down by a poor August.

So yeah, 2022 is the best summer overall since 2018, and we probably won’t get another one again until 2025 or 26. I hope we don’t have to wait 6-7 years for another decent one.

[Bristawl Si]

Brill

[Notty]

Great summer for me. I think we will only really appreciate it when the weather turns this weekend.

[Daniel*]

Not in league of 2018 although of course August 2022 was better, however, this May was really quite poor, so it didn’t seem like a particularly long summer, early June wasn’t great either. Generally too warm and dry for me, but it will be among best in terms of useable weather. This summer completely catched us out warmest summer on record at London Heathrow 1948-present.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Daniel*

[Captain Shortwave]

For the region I am in this has been the hottest summer on record, (Mean of 18.3c across all three months), the 3rd sunniest and 4th driest on record. The rainfall one was heavily impacted by a couple of rain events in August that resulted in some areas received above average rainfall for August whilst others record virtually no rain whatsoever.

This will go down as a brilliant summer and one that lasted pretty much the entire duration with any poorer weather being a blip. June was on the whole decent but unremarkable with one day exceeding 30c. July had three spells where 30c was exceeded, the middle spell saw the local record maximum temperature be broken two days in a row (Rising from 36.7c to 39.9c). August, saw the most prolonged spell of very warm to hot weather of the entire summer, several of those days also record unbroken sunshine from dawn til dusk. The second half of August was more mixed but consistently warm. 
The notable features of this summer were not just the lack of rain, but the lack of days plagued by North Sea most/low cloud. The last of course is how dry the airmass was during all of the hot spells we saw. This lack of humidity helped a lot to make conditions more bearable, this probably benefitted the August spell the most due to the temperatures not being overly excessive.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Captain Shortwave

[markyo]

Toughest for working in for at least 2 decades. Far to dry, temps way way above the comfort level.  Found it the worst summer since 2003 overall.

[davehsug]

Opinions will obviously be based on location. Here, June was predominately cool,cloudy and breezy and often wet. July, cloudy but warmer, with the obvious exception of the 2 day heatwave. August easily the best month, but even then often plagued with cloud, especially the later part, but again warm.

Overall, decent, but apart from the heat, lacking anywhere near enough sunny days to qualify as any more than okay. Not to forget, not 1 single rumble of thunder throughout. 

[BlueHedgehog074]

5 hours ago, Daniel* said:

This summer completely catched us out warmest summer on record at London Heathrow 1948-present.

I know what you mean. It seem to take a while for the weather to warm up (at least during the first part of the season), and then before we knew it, we had those recording breaking temperatures later in July.

Edited September 2, 2022 by DiagonalRedLine

[Schnee]

1 hour ago, markyo said:

Toughest for working in for at least 2 decades. Far to dry, temps way way above the comfort level.  Found it the worst summer since 2003 overall.

My views agree with this. It's been tough working in the sun, gone through alot of ibuprofen and paracetamol. I'm just not made for the heat, tried to climatise but I can't seem to adapt. On the flip side, affording winter heating for me won't be an issue...LOL!


Had we got decent rain with the heat and sun, the harvest season would've been awesome. Just way too dry everywhere for my liking to say Summer 2022 was a good one. I take Summer 2022 to be an ecological disaster for the Northern Hemisphere.

[reef]

12 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Why does 1975 and not 1976 not feature, is it because records don't go back that far.. I suspect 1976 would be top, and 1975 perhaps fifth in that list? Interesting to see 1984 doesn't feature, that summer was really a west was best type, it was exceptionally dry in the Lake District, drier than this summer.

Yes, my records go back to 1980. Looking at other local temperature, sunshine and rainfall records at nearby sites I suspect 1976 would be cooler but with about half the rainfall and about 70 hours extra sunshine. It would score in the 310 range roughly so not miles off.

[Glaswegianblizzard]

I think summer here was excellent. Some exceptional warm spells interspersed by some wet interludes. Although still incredibly dry by our usual standards we also had a night of storms and some heavy downpours. Can’t really ask for much more, maybe for some of the dry hot spells to have lasted longer, don’t think we had an unbroken two week spell, but that’s a minor thing.

Oddly enough in June we were sick of the rainfall here, by mid July we were grateful for it after some of the heat we experienced.

Edited September 2, 2022 by Glaswegianblizzard

[TheOgre]

June felt mixed and average at times but we had a warm/hot sunny period between 14 and 23 June other than 18 June which was cold and wet like the Jubilee Sunday.

July was great overall but started and ended off cool and unsettling. The middle period was phenomenal.

August was the best I’ve ever experienced because of the hot sunny first half but average second half. 
 

Overall it has been a very good summer. The only thing that wasn’t as good as 2018 was the lower sunshine levels and dullness in between heatwaves. In my opinion 2022 will go down as a classic. I hope 2023 isn’t a stinker though as stinkers and stonkers tend to go right next to each other! 1911/1912, 1954/1955, 1976/1977, 2012/2013.

 

[mushymanrob]

16 hours ago, Ed Stone said:

Rather too many double negatives methinks, Damian? As for myself, I remember 1973, '75, '76, '83, '89, '90, '95, '97, 2003, '06, '13, '18, '19 and '22. But we are human, we augment our memories throughout our lives?

........... like youve just done with '73?...lol
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Really enjoyed it, love the heat, best Summer since '95.

But the lack of Thundrstorms and NLC evening displays spoilt it...

Edited September 2, 2022 by mushymanrob

[Stewart M]

Hated it!  Far too hot for my liking except for that more unsettled period we had in June.  Never-ending misery, but at least it's September now and the risk of seriois heat is rapidly diminishing.

[SnowBear]

Although for some it was glorious, perfect holiday weather for sure, to work in it isn't pleasant to say the least. 

It also effects many of the materials I use being in the joinery trade.

Paint dries too quick, the window for hand finish coach painting is 17-26°C. Also some heritage windows I refurbished the acrylic paint was drying before I could get it on the sashes.

Glues flash off quicker, so more likelihood of a bad glue joint. 

Tiredness is a danger, less sleep at night and the draining heat means more tired, more risk of mistakes, or accidents. 

Although many here on this forum may have enjoyed this summer, it is a small sample of the population as a whole. 

Many in manual working jobs were by the end of the summer just plain worn out. 

As my workshop is on a farm, I also hear from the farmers the troubles, water mostly regarding growing conditions, also chillers to keep harvested crops stored costing vastly more electricity wise. Wheat hasn't been too bad in my area, but potatoes the yield was down and had to be watered before the crop could be lifted. Maize has done OK, of which they grow a fair bit for biofuel. 

How would I sum up this summer? 

Tiring, at times dangerous, a fight with some procedures in the workshop, not good for farming or my garden. But wonderful for those on holiday, don't have to work in it, or with little physical activities during the heat of the day to do. 

[Summer8906]

On 01/09/2022 at 12:27, bringmesunshine said:

It was more of a 1975 than a 1976, more of a 1990 than a 1995, more of a 2003 than a 2018. So, very good but not quite outstanding

But was 2018 much better than 2003 though? I'd put them both in the same ballpark.

For sunshine in the south, I have the feeling 2003 had more than 2018.

Of the ones I remember (which doesn't include this summer as I was out of the country, nor 1976) I'd say these for the top 10:

1st: 1995

2nd: 1989

3rd: 1983

4th: 2006

5th(=): 1990, 1994

7th(=) 2003, 2018

9th: 1984

10th: 1996

To my mind the ones that are consistently underrated are 1990 and 1994 (one poor month but two very good months in each case), and consistently overrated (due to cloudy first 20 days of June, and mediocre August) 2018. Not sure if this whether 1990 and 1994 were especially sunny, and 2018 somewhat less sunny, in central southern England compared to other areas.

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Summer8906

[SunSean]

For interest, here is a leader board for sunniest summers in Heathrow since 1975. 2022 comes in a very respectable 13th while the summer previously comes right at the bottom of the pack lol. We definitely aren't due a rubbish summer after this one since we already had it the year prior! Perhaps 2023 while be even better, forming a new 75/76!

[reef]

28 minutes ago, SunSean said:

For interest, here is a leader board for sunniest summers in Heathrow since 1975. 2022 comes in a very respectable 13th while the summer previously comes right at the bottom of the pack lol. We definitely aren't due a rubbish summer after this one since we already had it the year prior! Perhaps 2023 while be even better, forming a new 75/76!

You can't directly compare the figures post-2006 as they changed sunshine recorders. That 2022 figure is in reality probably 750+hours. The raw figure you see is a good 10-15% down on the real value.

It's also why so many post-2006 summers rank so low here.

Edited September 3, 2022 by reef

[Snowyowl9]

The driest since 1976 here without a doubt no heavy showers all summer..

Never seen such little grass about..

1976 was still the most severe though longer lasting heat and extreme drought...

[SunSean]

2 hours ago, reef said:

You can't directly compare the figures post-2006 as they changed sunshine recorders. That 2022 figure is in reality probably 750+hours. The raw figure you see is a good 10-15% down on the real value.

It's also why so many post-2006 summers rank so low 

I have read about this before but it says that the old recorders sometimes tend to overburn on days where there is intermittent sunshine but not so much on clear days. There doesn't seem a way to compare years with 100% accuracy if this is the case. If the old recorders overburn then surely everything from 2006 is accurate and it should be the years prior that are adjusted somehow?

[Summer8906]

4 hours ago, SunSean said:

For interest, here is a leader board for sunniest summers in Heathrow since 1975. 2022 comes in a very respectable 13th while the summer previously comes right at the bottom of the pack lol. We definitely aren't due a rubbish summer after this one since we already had it the year prior! Perhaps 2023 while be even better, forming a new 75/76!

That probably clearly shows why I'd consider 2018 overrated, only 9th on that table, beaten by the good (but not exceptional) 1996 and the rather average (albeit with an exceptional July) 1999.

Surprisingly low results for 1983, 1990 and 2006 though. I'd expect all of these to be in the top 10. Even though each contained one cloudy month, the other two months seemed to me to be very sunny (was in Sussex or Hampshire all three years) and in the case of 1983 and 2006, two of the three months seemed very sunny indeed.

Also interesting to note that at Heathrow, 1996 was actually sunnier than 1995, due to a low June total. I was further west in 1995 and June seemed reasonably sunny, albeit not exceptional: the easterly component of the wind during June probably restricted sunshine in eastern-most counties, I guess.

Interesting also to note that summer 1985, considered by many to be the 2nd-worst summer of the 80s (after 1980) is actually in the top half of the table. August was evidently not quite as dull as I remember it (wasn't too far from Heathrow at the time).

Also captures forgotten months like August 1998 nicely. Few seem to remember that one, perhaps because June was exceptionally poor and July very cool and dull. Interesting also to note that the snow month of June 1975 was the 2nd sunniest - what a month that must have been to experience. (I was alive then but don't remember it at all).

Edited September 3, 2022 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

3 hours ago, reef said:

You can't directly compare the figures post-2006 as they changed sunshine recorders. That 2022 figure is in reality probably 750+hours. The raw figure you see is a good 10-15% down on the real value.

It's also why so many post-2006 summers rank so low here.

Maybe, but summers from 2007 onwards (with just three exceptions before this year - 2013, 2014 and 2018) have generally been cloudy, certainly in my part of the south. The 1989 to 2006 period certainly seemed to me to be far sunnier than the period since, and these figures do tend to support that.

Edited September 3, 2022 by Summer8906

[MP-R]

23 hours ago, SunSean said:

For interest, here is a leader board for sunniest summers in Heathrow since 1975. 2022 comes in a very respectable 13th while the summer previously comes right at the bottom of the pack lol. We definitely aren't due a rubbish summer after this one since we already had it the year prior! Perhaps 2023 while be even better, forming a new 75/76!

Blimey I’m surprised 1999 and 2001 are so high on that list.

[Andy Bown]

I would have voted ‘very good’ however having a holiday in Cornwall from 6th-13th August without seeing a cloud for 7/8 days was incredible! So have nudged the vote to ‘brilliant’ .