AderynCoch

Thunder and lightning here.

You think April was too warm this year? It was a very cold and protracted spring with a serious dearth of warm weather - the coldest for the CET since 1891.

Hi Roger, haven't clicked on this thread in a while. Thanks for you analysis of my list. Since the 6th all days bar the 11th have averaged 18C or greater. With at least a few more such days to come, it's a bit of a shame the 11th failed to reach the mark because otherwise we would have almost certainly beaten the 20-day record from 1975. As it stands we're on 13 days and counting.

Shanghai also has slightly higher summer minima and humidity. When I was there it was hotter than normal with mainly mid-to-high 30s in the day and high 20s at night. One day had a max of 39C and a min of 31C. The hostel I was staying at had no air-conditioning on the upper floor (apart from the bedrooms, thank god), so when you went up the stairs it was like walking into a wall of fire. Getting out of the shower you would dry yourself off with the towel only to find yourself covered with sweat! I'd like to do Chongqing in summer at least once. It's one huge, hectic sprawl and at night it looks like something from Blade Runner. But yes those winter stats are pretty grim, though Lima's winters give it some stiff competition with its four straight months of low cloud and drizzle, and that's a city only 12 degrees from the Equator: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima#Climate. If you had to choose between living in Chongqing or Campbell Island, which would it be? If we're taking climate and place into consideration, I'd probably go for somewhere in the northeastern USA or northern Japan: both have large amounts of snow in winter and very warm/hot humid summers. The only down sides to me seem to be 1) winter maxima being close to freezing, thus temperatures occasionally rising above and thawing some of the snow, and 2) the large amount of rain in summer, though if this mostly in the form of thunderstorms it wouldn't be a problem at all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Syracuse,_New_York#Geography_and_climate http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asahikawa#Climate The northeastern USA is sunnier in summer, but northern Japan gets more winter snowfall. Almost 300 inches per year is beyond epic (and that's just an average winter).

Chongqing's summers look a lot like Shanghai's. I've been to the latter in July and it really is like being in a sauna. It's so humid you can almost drink the air, and it stays hot at night (not just warm). I've been to the tropics of Australia in summer and it was nothing like as humid as Shanghai. Needless to say nothing in this country comes close. That said, being the meteoromasochist that I am I enjoyed the experience of trudging round in air like bathwater, so for me Chongqing's climate isn't a complete write-off. I'll raise you Campbell Island, New Zealand - the following may not be suitable for those of a nervous disposition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campbell_Island,_New_Zealand#Climate

17.8C was the UK mean. The CET (Central England Temperature) was much higher at 19.7C. We're not going to get close to that, though it will still be an impressively warm July. Does anyone know what the current UK mean is?

Impressive that we're still managing 20C daily means. The higher minima are doing their job of keeping the CET up despite the lower maxima.

That's more like it. Much less cloud around today and predominantly sunny as a result, though there was a brief shower early in the afternoon. Last night was the first rain I've seen since the 2nd. Good thing it passed through overnight instead of ruining today.

Oh aye. Those things can sure bite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqtobe Continental climates FTW.

We've also already beaten 1995 and 2006 in that regard. So it really is a notable spell of weather. By the way, did the run of 28C+ temperatures in 1976 consist of consecutive days above 27.5C or 28.0C?

November is usually pretty bland, but when it delivers snow and cold (like in 2010) it's brilliant.

A potentially excellent day ruined by disgusting amounts of cloud. This has been the general theme since Saturday, and it only looks like getting worse as the westerly influence increases.

It can also vary year to year. I doubt many would class March as a winter month but that's exactly what it was this year. Similarly I would class September 2006 as an extension of that summer. These are exceptional cases though and for the most part the meteorological definitions, though not perfect, are probably the most accurate we have (given that seasonal changes are gradual, any cut-off point is always going to be arbitrary).

Sod all here today or last night. In fact the sun is shining.

A nice day in the end but not as hot as forecast, which is a bit of a bummer. No more magically-appearing cloud please.

The foul grey blanket mercifully disintegrated here about 10am, plus we got rid of that horrible cold wind (from the south of all directions!). Just need the temperatures to shoot up now.

Not seen many wasps at all this year. That must be why I've come back into the house so many times covered with aphids. Lots of bumblebees this year though.

The cloud is certainly more broken to my west, and it's blowing through quite quickly. That satellite loop gives me hope. Far too late to salvage today of course. I just hope it doesn't come back tomorrow.

I feel your sentiments exactly Scorcher. The sun briefly attempted to come out here twice late in the afternoon and failed. It's bad enough that North Sea cloud has managed to affect us at all on this side of the Pennines (avoiding it is one of our great benefits) but for it to hang around all day sucks so badly - and not only that but some members living in North Sea cloud-prone areas have reported clear blues skies this evening while we're stuck with this crap. I'm not impressed. I'm seriously worried about tomorrow now. Someone please reassure me!

Hot curries are supposed to cool you down.

FINALLY some sunshine! The cloud today has been even worse than yesterday. I hope the higher-than-expected cloud amounts this weekend don't carry on into Monday and Tuesday. I've been looking forward to these days too much for them to be ruined by unexpected cloud a la August 2003.

Turned into a pretty nice evening with the sun coming out properly after 3pm. I hope there's less cloud around tomorrow though.

But it wasn't forecast to be cloudy here, hence it is disappointing. It should have been sunny from the word go. Having said that, the sun has just come out. Maybe I should moan more often.

Very disappointing today. Was forecast to avoid the cloud and not only is it here but it has stuck around all day. A potentially fine day ruined.