The poor summer haters club

[Catbrainz]

I just wish this cloud would go die in a ditch. Was supposed to be a bright sunny day today. What has caused the sudden cloud. Synoptics dont scream cloudfest to me

[SunSean]

Ahh hate it when that happens- You notice the cloud burning away on the satellite and just as the clear area almost reaches you, it explodes with infill and you're back to square one! Can't we have the Jurassic clouds back from yesterday rather than this featureless rubbish please, thanks.

[stainesbloke]

Hope everyone is enjoying some lovely late summer sunshine? Looks decent in the south with pleasant temperatures in the mid 20’s°C. Lots of pointless muck further north on satellite though

[*Stormforce~beka*]

2 hours ago, stainesbloke said:

Hope everyone is enjoying some lovely late summer sunshine? Looks decent in the south with pleasant temperatures in the mid 20’s°C. Lots of pointless muck further north on satellite though

It's amazing and ruddy long overdue!!

[In Absence of True Seasons]

Great last 2/3 days for me in my ends. Temps ranging from 24-26c as a max and plenty of sun. Can't complain. Days like this have been long overdue since the start of July. Shame the days are a little shorter now than they would've been 5/6 weeks ago had we have had this weather then...

[stainesbloke]

9 hours ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Great last 2/3 days for me in my ends. Temps ranging from 24-26c as a max and plenty of sun. Can't complain. Days like this have been long overdue since the start of July. Shame the days are a little shorter now than they would've been 5/6 weeks ago had we have had this weather then...

Sounds perfect, warm but not hot, plenty of that beautiful, all-important sunshine 3 summer months of this with some interesting convection and thunderstorms, (plus an occasional heavy frontal rainfall) and I’d be a very happy man!

[davehsug]

21 minutes ago, stainesbloke said:

Sounds perfect, warm but not hot, plenty of that beautiful, all-important sunshine 3 summer months of this with some interesting convection and thunderstorms, (plus an occasional heavy frontal rainfall) and I’d be a very happy man!

Just move a bit further North and its pouring again. At least the wind has died down.

[stainesbloke]

29 minutes ago, davehsug said:

Just move a bit further North and its pouring again. At least the wind has died down.

Sorry to hear that, must be very frustrating! Hope you get some sunshine soon. Good that the wind has died down 

[BlueDomeSky]

A very un-poor and un-cloudy day! Has been throughly appreciated.

[davehsug]

A wet start to the day, followed by a btighter and drier slot with temps around 19c, and now back to persistent drizzle and heavy cloud. Summer fare on the North West coast.

[Sunny76]

On 22/08/2023 at 21:25, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Great last 2/3 days for me in my ends. Temps ranging from 24-26c as a max and plenty of sun. Can't complain. Days like this have been long overdue since the start of July. Shame the days are a little shorter now than they would've been 5/6 weeks ago had we have had this weather then...

My ends? Lol.

You sound like a London rude boy. You get me!

Hope you enjoyed your break. You went away didn’t you?

[Sunny76]

Well, here we go again. Back to grey cloudy and dull conditions. Hopefully it brightens up later.

I’ll rate Summer 2023 for each month.

June - 8/10 - Apart from the cool cloudy start, the weather was decent from the 8th until sometime after the 24th or so. Wall to wall sunshine, hot days and long clear evenings. It was the best part of the summer, and at the time I was looking forward to a continuation into July.

July - 2/10 - possibly one of the worst ever summer months for lack of sunshine, and coolish temperatures. Although the nights were warmish at times, daytime highs were very poor and sometimes chilly for high summer. The stats were say it’s warmer than previous sunny and warm Julys, but it’s all about how the conditions feel at ground level for me. It was a shocking summer month, and one I hope we don’t see again. 
 

August 5/10 - while it’s an improvement on July, that’s not saying much. A rather dull drab continuation of the vile July weather. Only since mid august has the weather actually felt like proper summer. I might rate it a 7, if next week provides more sunshine and warmth, but I’m not holding my breath.

Its been a very poor summer, in terms of sunshine and useable days.

[Summer8906]

28 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Well, here we go again. Back to grey cloudy and dull conditions. Hopefully it brightens up later.

I’ll rate Summer 2023 for each month.

June - 8/10 - Apart from the cool cloudy start, the weather was decent from the 8th until sometime after the 24th or so. Wall to wall sunshine, hot days and long clear evenings. It was the best part of the summer, and at the time I was looking forward to a continuation into July.

July - 2/10 - possibly one of the worst ever summer months for lack of sunshine, and coolish temperatures. Although the nights were warmish at times, daytime highs were very poor and sometimes chilly for high summer. The stats were say it’s warmer than previous sunny and warm Julys, but it’s all about how the conditions feel at ground level for me. It was a shocking summer month, and one I hope we don’t see again. 
 

August 5/10 - while it’s an improvement on July, that’s not saying much. A rather dull drab continuation of the vile July weather. Only since mid august has the weather actually felt like proper summer. I might rate it a 7, if next week provides more sunshine and warmth, but I’m not holding my breath.

Its been a very poor summer, in terms of sunshine and useable days.

Still out of the country (edited: looked at the forecast for the next week now).

The final week of the month looks absolutely dire for southern Hampshire, endless rain and temperatures mostly below 20C.

If it's been "ok" since mid-August (i.e. a week or so) but otherwise bad, I'm seriously wondering whether this will end up the worst July/August period since about 1974.

And if autumn is anything other than drier and sunnier than average, I'd probably rate 2023 as the worst weather year of my lifetime in the UK, what with the second-wettest March of my lifetime, a terrible first half of January, and a rather meh April too. We desperately need a good autumn, otherwise we may as well go into hibernation until spring 2024!

 

Edited August 24, 2023 by Summer8906

[SunSean]

The question is, now that we have descended back into our default 2023 low pressure pattern, will it be just for a few days/week or is this now locked in until October? Hopefully we won't have to wait til 2024 for another beautiful day like yesterday!

[Summer8906]

4 minutes ago, SunSean said:

The question is, now that we have descended back into our default 2023 low pressure pattern, will it be just for a few days/week or is this now locked in until October? Hopefully we won't have to wait til 2024 for another beautiful day like yesterday!

If we had three terrible months (July, August, September) that would be very unusual, and I think would literally be the first time since 1974.

2017 almost did it but the first half of July was decent.

Hoping things improve soon as I'm back in the UK before too long.

Met Office forecast seems to suggest the first part of September is a write-off, which is very unusual. Normally in summers as dire as 2023, September is better.

Meanwhile much of the northern hemisphere is suffering the opposite problem, extreme heat and dangerous and devastating fires.

I think few would disagree that, for the temperate northern hemisphere, summer 2023 will be one for the trash can of history, hopefully not to be repeated any time soon.

Taking the international picture as well as the UK conditions, I think I'd award it, meteorologically, the title of "worst summer of my lifetime".

Edited August 24, 2023 by Summer8906

[Sunny76]

14 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

Still out of the country (edited: looked at the forecast for the next week now).

The final week of the month looks absolutely dire for southern Hampshire, endless rain and temperatures mostly below 20C.

If it's been "ok" since mid-August (i.e. a week or so) but otherwise bad, I'm seriously wondering whether this will end up the worst July/August period since about 1974.

 

 

This wasn’t an average summer by a long shot. It’s up there with the worst.

Luckily the weather did improve over the weekend I had down in Devon. It rained on the first day, but Saturday and Sunday were warm and sunny in Dawlish. Still had to have a fleece to hand though, when it clouded up in the mornings and feel cool in the breeze.

[Summer8906]

Just trying to work out whether this July/August has been the worst since 1974 by listing the "usual suspects" since, along with any spells of fair weather.

I've been out of the UK so others who have been in the UK all summer might be better able to comment.

1978 - few days of fine weather in July just before mid-month; last 10 days of August mostly fine; southern England drier and slightly sunnier than normal. - Likely less bad than 2023

1980 - a week or so of fine weather from July 21st; last 10 days of August mostly fine. Southern England slightly drier than normal in August - likely less bad than 2023

1985 - fine first 13 days of July, hot at times; short fine spell in fourth week of July. Little good weather in August. Likely less bad than 2023

1986 - fine and warm spells at times for first three weeks of July. Nothing in August. Likely less bad than 2023

1987 - fine first 12 days or so of July and fine weather quite frequently in mid to late August. Likely considerably less bad than 2023

1988 - very brief 3-day fine spell in July. First week fine in south in August. Further fine spell of 3 days or so around 16th. Likely somewhat less bad than 2023

1992 - perhaps the closest. Fine last 5 days of July, warm but not that sunny first week in August. A close-run thing?

1993 - good first week of July and fine, dry second half of August. Much less bad than 2023

1998 - warm, sunny dry August. Much less bad than 2023

2007 - acceptable August. Less bad than 2023

2009 - decent August. Less bad than 2023

2012 - frequent fine weather after mid-July. Less bad than 2023

2017 - good first half of July. Less bad than 2023

2021 - week of hot weather in July, last 10 days of August mostly dry and fine. Somewhat less bad than 2023

To me, all those look better than 2023, with the strong caveat I haven't been here. 1988 and 1992 perhaps running the closest.

And given that to me, it's worse to have a bad August than a bad June, I'd likely rate summer 2023 worse, overall, than 2007 or 2012. "It won't be like 2007 or 2012", indeed - no, it's probably been worse!

Edited August 24, 2023 by Summer8906

[davehsug]

Just what does it take to get a bright morning? 5 days running, thick cloud with added rain/drizzle on 3 of them. So sick of 2023.

[Summer8906]

38 minutes ago, davehsug said:

Just what does it take to get a bright morning? 5 days running, thick cloud with added rain/drizzle on 3 of them. So sick of 2023.

So for the Midlands it sounds like even recent days have been poor. This does sound like a quite exceptionally, indeed historically, bad July/August in the UK away from the SE corner.

Hopefully won't be repeated for another 50 years, and hopefully we're heading for a record sunny autumn (though the first week of September probably won't contribute much, if the forecasts are right).

Edited August 24, 2023 by Summer8906

[davehsug]

42 minutes ago, Summer8906 said:

So for the Midlands it sounds like even recent days have been poor. This does sound like a quite exceptionally, indeed historically, bad July/August in the UK away from the SE corner.

Hopefully won't be repeated for another 50 years, and hopefully we're heading for a record sunny autumn (though the first week of September probably won't contribute much, if the forecasts are right).

Not quite midlands, I'm in Blackpool at the moment. 

[In Absence of True Seasons]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

My ends? Lol.

You sound like a London rude boy. You get me!

Hope you enjoyed your break. You went away didn’t you?

Haha, well, my ends currently are Slovenia! Just landed. Bit of hiking, kayaking etc on the cards now. Was in Spain at my parent's little apartment out there last week. Nice relaxing time.

View from the airport shuttle area is looking promising

Didn't you have a break as well? How'd the weather fare for you?

[In Absence of True Seasons]

1 hour ago, SunSean said:

The question is, now that we have descended back into our default 2023 low pressure pattern, will it be just for a few days/week or is this now locked in until October? Hopefully we won't have to wait til 2024 for another beautiful day like yesterday!

Wouldn't be surprised if it's a mixed bag over the coming 2 months...September usually always brings some genuinely decent weather, albeit the shorter days.  Would be very shocked if we don't get at least a few low to mid 20s days throughput Sept, and then a few high teens and sunny days in early to Mid October.

This September could very well see more days above 23/24c than this July....

[SunSean]

1 minute ago, In Absence of True Seasons said:

Wouldn't be surprised if it's a mixed bag over the coming 2 months...September usually always brings some genuinely decent weather, albeit the shorter days.  Would be very shocked if we don't get at least a few low to mid 20s days throughput Sept, and then a few high teens and sunny days in early to Mid October.

This September could very well see more days above 23/24c than this July....

Someone just posted in the MOD thread, a low pressure anomaly right over the UK for September so I'm not holding out much hope now! Did think earlier on back in Feb that June & September would be our 2 best months this year but low pressure reigns supreme this year so unlikely that September will be great. Those anomaly charts have been very accurate all year unfortunately. I remember seeing one posted for low pressure over the UK throughout July and I remember thinking surely not but it turned out 100% accurate!

[MP-R]

1 hour ago, Summer8906 said:

Still out of the country (edited: looked at the forecast for the next week now).

The final week of the month looks absolutely dire for southern Hampshire, endless rain and temperatures mostly below 20C.

If it's been "ok" since mid-August (i.e. a week or so) but otherwise bad, I'm seriously wondering whether this will end up the worst July/August period since about 1974.

And if autumn is anything other than drier and sunnier than average, I'd probably rate 2023 as the worst weather year of my lifetime in the UK, what with the second-wettest March of my lifetime, a terrible first half of January, and a rather meh April too. We desperately need a good autumn, otherwise we may as well go into hibernation until spring 2024!

 

August hasn’t been bad, it just hasn’t been good. Obviously location dependent wrt whether one’s been closer to bad or good. It’s felt like a standard September with slightly higher max and min tbh.

In true August fashion, it’s been quite meh. Dare I say it, we’re still overdue a truly bad August.

[In Absence of True Seasons]

1 minute ago, SunSean said:

Someone just posted in the MOD thread, a low pressure anomaly right over the UK for September so I'm not holding out much hope now! Did think earlier on back in Feb that June & September would be our 2 best months this year but low pressure reigns supreme this year so unlikely that September will be great. Those anomaly charts have been very accurate all year unfortunately. I remember seeing one posted for low pressure over the UK throughout July and I remember thinking surely not but it turned out 100% accurate!

Ah I see. I've been ignoring the model threads a little, as they've consistently proven disappointing in terms of anything summery, but of course, when the models are predicting poorer weather, they're nearly always bang-on accurate