The worst combined spring/summer seasons on record

[Summer8906]

On 28/03/2023 at 17:10, LetItSnow! said:

    

Pressure anomalies across Europe from May to September 1968. Unusually persistent heights to the northwest, that's why it must have been decent there. I imagine a colder version 2021 exactly really, though in a warmer world it's harder to get exceptionally cool conditions (though at times there were spells of that down here in the summer of 2021). A summer index for London would show a considerably lower number I imagine. Iceland must have had a classic July to September!

Perhaps 1968 is our winner for the south, at least - though not further north.

August 1968 in continental Europe was clearly spectacularly bad - I think this has come up before.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Summer8906

[Weather-history]

16 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

I remember some really bad periods of no sunshine that spring. Drier periods don’t necessarily mean good weather.

1991 was shockingly cold in May.

The thread is the "worst spring/summer combination" and the worst for me is cold, dull and wet.

March 1991 was very mild, July and August 1991 were above average. 

May and August 1991 were very dry. 

They offset the negatives somewhat

March-August 1987 was worse than 1991 for me but even  then April 1987 was warm. 

 

[cheeky_monkey]

2 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I remember some really bad periods of no sunshine that spring. Drier periods don’t necessarily mean good weather.

1991 was shockingly cold in May.

i remember walking to college in a t-shirt  in Chelmsford in April 1991 was 24c sunny trees were already coming into leaf...July was warm August was dry and sunny with it being hot last week 

Edited March 31, 2023 by cheeky_monkey

[Sunny76]

22 minutes ago, cheeky_monkey said:

i remember walking to college in a t-shirt  in Chelmsford in April 1991 was 24c sunny trees were already coming into leaf...July was warm August was dry and sunny with it being hot last week 

I remember it being cold and dull in April that year. Any fine weather was short lived.

People keep saying ‘May was dry’ lol. That may be the case, but it was cold and dull where I was and the half term was abysmal.

2 hours ago, Weather-history said:

The thread is the "worst spring/summer combination" and the worst for me is cold, dull and wet.

March 1991 was very mild, July and August 1991 were above average. 

May and August 1991 were very dry. 

They offset the negatives somewhat

March-August 1987 was worse than 1991 for me but even  then April 1987 was warm. 

 

87 was just a worse version of 91, with a warm April and a mixed summer. 
 

June again, was terrible though.

2 hours ago, Weather-history said:

The thread is the "worst spring/summer combination" and the worst for me is cold, dull and wet.

March 1991 was very mild, July and August 1991 were above average. 

May and August 1991 were very dry. 

They offset the negatives somewhat

March-August 1987 was worse than 1991 for me but even  then April 1987 was warm. 

 

It can be dry and above average but if there’s not enough sunshine, it’s a waste of time for me.

2001 was another year like that. 

[Summer8906]

2 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I remember it being cold and dull in April that year. Any fine weather was short lived.

I remember it (April 1991) as being very mixed, with each spell of weather short lived. Not far from an average April, maybe a bit more changeable.

Week 1 was wet and cool with a zonal west-north-westerly type, but some brighter days with scattered showers.

Week 2 was warm and sunny, temps did exceed 21 though I can't remember the absolute max. There was an attempt at a thundery low on the evening of the 12th but it didn't deliver anything; it then remained sunny but turned a little cooler for 2 or 3 days.

Week 3 was cold, with northerlies, and wintry showers. ISTR wet snow but it didn't settle.

Week 4 then turned milder, it was fairly dry IIRC but somewhat on the cloudy side. Looking at the archives, the pattern this week was ill-defined.

At the very end of the month it turned wet.

[Don]

4 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

June again, was terrible though.

I remember June 1991 being cold and Scotland having snow I think?

4 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

I remember it being cold and dull in April that year. Any fine weather was short lived.

I think some places had a little snow in April that year, too.

[SummerShower]

4 hours ago, Sunny76 said:

 

2001 was another year like that. 

2001 was a funny one..

A March that was almost as bad as this one, but contained a bit more snow.

April was very wet

May was very warm and also had many thunder days.  One of my favourite mays actually that contained the infamous 'warm front thunderstorms' on 9/10th

June was generally terrible until about the 21st but the last week did have hot weather

July was a contrast.  A very autumnal period dominated, but bookended by hot weeks

August was changeable but with short lived hot spells

So this would nearly qualify but I feel just had enough decent weather, and storms, to save it.

[Sunny76]

6 minutes ago, SummerShower said:

2001 was a funny one..

A March that was almost as bad as this one, but contained a bit more snow.

April was very wet

May was very warm and also had many thunder days.  One of my favourite mays actually that contained the infamous 'warm front thunderstorms' on 9/10th

June was generally terrible until about the 21st but the last week did have hot weather

July was a contrast.  A very autumnal period dominated, but bookended by hot weeks

August was changeable but with short lived hot spells

So this would nearly qualify but I feel just had enough decent weather, and storms, to save it.

I thought we had some severe storms on a midweek evening in July 2001? Maybe I’m getting that mixed up with May. I do remember a violent storm in the early evening that summer in London. 

[SummerShower]

5 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

I thought we had some severe storms on a midweek evening in July 2001? Maybe I’m getting that mixed up with May. I do remember a violent storm in the early evening that summer in London. 

There were widespread storms around weds 4th in July, but Friday 13th also rings a bell so could be then.

In May the warm 2nd week had storms and the following weds, 16th, had thundery showers that were widespread 

[Sunny76]

1 minute ago, SummerShower said:

There were widespread storms around weds 4th in July, but Friday 13th also rings a bell so could be then.

In May the warm 2nd week had storms and the following weds, 16th, had thundery showers that were widespread 

I think the Wednesday sounds about right. I don’t have much recollection of that summer for some reason. 

[Summer8906]

47 minutes ago, SummerShower said:

2001 was a funny one..

A March that was almost as bad as this one, but contained a bit more snow.

April was very wet

May was very warm and also had many thunder days.  One of my favourite mays actually that contained the infamous 'warm front thunderstorms' on 9/10th

These are surprisingly common, given how unintuitive the concept of a warm front thunderstorm is. Invariably the fronts approach from a point between south and east.

Another notable example was late on June 1 1997, and a threatened occurrence on May 7 1993 (which actually came to just cloud). Also, IIRC, August 7 1992 (followed by cold front thunderstorms on August 8!)

Most common in late spring when easterlies reach a peak. Maybe worth starting another thread for this?

47 minutes ago, SummerShower said:

June was generally terrible until about the 21st but the last week did have hot weather

I don't remember June 2001 being terrible, though it did have two shortish unsettled periods, one mid-month and one at the end.

47 minutes ago, SummerShower said:

July was a contrast.  A very autumnal period dominated, but bookended by hot weeks

August was changeable but with short lived hot spells

So this would nearly qualify but I feel just had enough decent weather, and storms, to save it.

A long way from qualifying for me due to the frequent warm weather and mostly fine May/June, even if a number of months were changeable. March 2001 was pretty poor but not half as much as 2023, and April unusually changeable and Atlantic-dominated, though not as bad as 1998 or 2000. With most of the countryside in a form of lockdown in March and April due to foot and mouth, severely restricting outdoor leisure options, it's just as well the weather wasn't so good, perhaps!

Edited March 31, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

8 hours ago, Weather-history said:

The thread is the "worst spring/summer combination" and the worst for me is cold, dull and wet.

March 1991 was very mild, July and August 1991 were above average. 

May and August 1991 were very dry. 

They offset the negatives somewhat

March-August 1987 was worse than 1991 for me but even  then April 1987 was warm. 

 

1985 has surely got to be worse than either, IMV. The spring had occasional fine spells but was mostly cool and changeable, and the only non-transient fine weather in summer, IIRC, was the first few days of June, and first half of July (with Live Aid the final fine day).

On the other hand, Jan, Feb and the entire autumn were amongst the best on record.

Edited March 31, 2023 by Summer8906

[Summer8906]

23 hours ago, Summer8906 said:

1985 has surely got to be worse than either, IMV. The spring had occasional fine spells but was mostly cool and changeable, and the only non-transient fine weather in summer, IIRC, was the first few days of June, and first half of July (with Live Aid the final fine day).

On the other hand, Jan, Feb and the entire autumn were amongst the best on record.

Sorry to quote my own post, but interestingly July 1985 had as much as 120% average sunshine in Southeast and Central Southern England (see Monthly Weather Report:)

MWR_1985_07 | Met Office UA

DIGITAL.NMLA.METOFFICE.GOV.UK

I lived in this area at that time and don't remember it being that sunny; my memories are of a fine warm spell until the 13th (the Live Aid Saturday which was famously hot), and then dull and wet for the remainder of the month except for a temporary 2- or 3-day fine spell around the 23rd-25th. Maybe the first 13 days were outstandingly sunny and this more than compensated for the poor conditions for the remainder of the month. It did have 3 more rain-days than usual though, but marginally less rain than normal: that would accord with my memory of the second half of summer 1985 being dominated by frequent, though not especially heavy, frontal rainfall.

Edited April 1, 2023 by Summer8906

[Sun Chaser]

In my lifetime, 2012 is the obvious option but 2015 has to be up there too. In March-September, only April resulted in a good month - not overly warm but sunny and dry at least. March was a borefest, May/July/August were cool and Atlantic dominated. June featured a fair bit of high pressure and was rather sunny here but still very much on the cool side, only one day reached above 23C here! September I don't remember well but apparently was very cool as well. The entire season had ONE day above 25C here, on June 30th.

2016 a potential contender with a particularly awful April and June, saved by a decent (not amazing) May and August and a 3 day plume event in July. Everything else was forgettable. Also only four days above 25C this year which is still pretty poor.

I see a lot of moaning about the weather lately on this forum but I'm so glad we're out of the dark days of 2012-2016 when good weather was a lot harder to come by.

Edited April 4, 2023 by plymsunshine

[Sunny76]

9 hours ago, plymsunshine said:

In my lifetime, 2012 is the obvious option but 2015 has to be up there too. In March-September, only April resulted in a good month - not overly warm but sunny and dry at least. March was a borefest, May/July/August were cool and Atlantic dominated. June featured a fair bit of high pressure and was rather sunny here but still very much on the cool side, only one day reached above 23C here! September I don't remember well but apparently was very cool as well. The entire season had ONE day above 25C here, on June 30th.

2016 a potential contender with a particularly awful April and June, saved by a decent (not amazing) May and August and a 3 day plume event in July. Everything else was forgettable. Also only four days above 25C this year which is still pretty poor.

I see a lot of moaning about the weather lately on this forum but I'm so glad we're out of the dark days of 2012-2016 when good weather was a lot harder to come by.

I agree 2012-16 was a poor period for good weather. 
 

2014 was a good summer though, apart from the poor August.

[Sun Chaser]

11 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

I agree 2012-16 was a poor period for good weather. 
 

2014 was a good summer though, apart from the poor August.

I was close to saying with the exception of 2014, but we had to pay for a good March-July period with a terrible August and with the preceding winter being the complete grimmest of my life weather wise.

[Frigid]

My versions of the worst combined spring and summer would be warm and humid. Spring 2017 and Summer 2022 would fit the bill.

But general opinion would be something like Spring 2012 and Summer 2012, the stats are simply atrocious and astonishing.. Wettest April and June on record, can't beat that for a worse period of weather. 

[Methuselah]

I reckon 1972 will take some beating: a mostly snowless and boring winter followed by an absolutely diabolical summer. Did July even reach/exceed 21C in London? 

[B87]

On 05/04/2023 at 17:11, Methuselah said:

I reckon 1972 will take some beating: a mostly snowless and boring winter followed by an absolutely diabolical summer. Did July even reach/exceed 21C in London? 

The average high for July 1972 in London was 22.3c. It was dry but very dull, with only 150 hours of sun. June 1972 was as cold as June 1991.

[Thundery wintry showers]

On 31/03/2023 at 10:22, Summer8906 said:

An extraordinary month by the sounds of it. To have a combination of cool and extremely dry is almost unheard of in the summer months.

I remember reading in Philip Eden's 1990s Telegraph articles that it has historically been common to get dry and sunny but cool Junes, but rare to get that combination in July and August.  It's been masked by the recent warming trend in the UK climate, but the Junes of 2008, 2009 and 2015 were all dry and sunny but cool in many areas of the UK, relative to the 1991-2020 average.

A further nuance though is that it's rare to get cooler than average Junes that are very dry, but plenty of very dry Junes have had a close to average temperature, e.g. 1925, 1975, 1995 and 1996. 

As for the original question, although I wasn't around then, the first two years that sprung to mind were 1912 and 1954.  1912 had a dry sunny April, but was especially dull in the summer months.  1954 was a bit less dull but had less in the way of sunny spells in the spring.  Both years had notoriously cool dull wet summers.

In more recent times, for me it's a close call between 1985 and 2012 (despite the memorably warm and sunny spell at the end of March 2012 and the switch-around in early April).  I remember the weather being almost relentlessly dull and wet from mid-April until the end of August, apart from a week of warm sunny weather at the end of May and a brighter spell with some settled interludes and some showers and thunderstorms in late July/early August.

[Summer8906]

3 hours ago, B87 said:

The average high for July 1972 in London was 22.3c. It was dry but very dull, with only 150 hours of sun. June 1972 was as cold as June 1991.

Do you mean the average high or absolute high? 22.3 doesn't sound bad for an average high, particularly for the 1951-80 era, and would certainly be warmer than June 1991.

[Summer8906]

1 hour ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

I remember reading in Philip Eden's 1990s Telegraph articles that it has historically been common to get dry and sunny but cool Junes, but rare to get that combination in July and August.  It's been masked by the recent warming trend in the UK climate, but the Junes of 2008, 2009 and 2015 were all dry and sunny but cool in many areas of the UK, relative to the 1991-2020 average.

I would agree to some extent about 2008 as I remember that being dry and sunny but (apart from around the first weekend) not especially warm, and there were some unusual days of westerly conditions, cool breezes but long spells of sunshine.

June 2009 on the other hand seemed, to me, decidedly warm. I'm surprised it was below the 91-20 average in some areas. (In fact, since 2009, I'd only rate one June higher - 2010 - and two about the same - 2014 and 2015).

Talking of the latter, 2015 I remember being "not so warm" but again sunny, with plenty of 20-25 days, and would be surprised if it were cool. (I believe, IIRC, that we haven't had a sunnier June since 2015). June 2015 did I think feature some very strong sunshine and high UV, which might have contributed to a perception of warmth. By contrast, the air generally seemed warm most of the time in 2009.

1 hour ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

A further nuance though is that it's rare to get cooler than average Junes that are very dry, but plenty of very dry Junes have had a close to average temperature, e.g. 1925, 1975, 1995 and 1996. 

Again hard to believe 1996 in particular was close to average. 1995 I can see, ironically, because the first half was cool and it only turned warm around the 18th.

1 hour ago, Thundery wintry showers said:

As for the original question, although I wasn't around then, the first two years that sprung to mind were 1912 and 1954.  1912 had a dry sunny April, but was especially dull in the summer months.  1954 was a bit less dull but had less in the way of sunny spells in the spring.  Both years had notoriously cool dull wet summers.

In more recent times, for me it's a close call between 1985 and 2012 (despite the memorably warm and sunny spell at the end of March 2012 and the switch-around in early April).  I remember the weather being almost relentlessly dull and wet from mid-April until the end of August, apart from a week of warm sunny weather at the end of May and a brighter spell with some settled interludes and some showers and thunderstorms in late July/early August.

The second half of summer 2012 in general, in fact, wasn't so bad, rather changeable but on the warm side and frequent - albeit rather short - settled spells. Also the changeable spells weren't too severe. I'd rate August 2012, in fact, as only one of six decent Augusts since 2007 (the others being 2007, 2009, 2013, 2016, and [according to second-hand reports, I wasn't here] 2022).

Edited April 27, 2023 by Summer8906

[B87]

41 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Do you mean the average high or absolute high? 22.3 doesn't sound bad for an average high, particularly for the 1951-80 era, and would certainly be warmer than June 1991.

That was the average high. The coldest July on record at Heathrow was in 1954 with an average high of just 19.2c. I can't imagine how awful that would have been.

[B87]

36 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

I'd rate August 2012, in fact, as only one of six decent Augusts since 2007 (the others being 2007, 2009, 2013, 2016, and [according to second-hand reports, I wasn't here] 2022).

August 2007 was very cool here. I'd have chosen August 2019 over 2007 for actually being warm and sunny.

[Summer8906]

On 27/04/2023 at 21:14, B87 said:

August 2007 was very cool here. I'd have chosen August 2019 over 2007 for actually being warm and sunny.

Here 2007 was mostly settled but 2019 mostly unsettled.

2007 had fine weather until the 11th, then 10 days of cool unsettled weather, but then fine and warm for the final week again. So not brilliant, but "good enough" for August.

2019 had about a week of warm sunny weather leading up to, and including, the bank holiday weekend, but otherwise was persistently unsettled and rather cool.

Edited April 29, 2023 by Summer8906