Wildswimmer Pete

On Netweather's 7-day forecast for Runcorn, although the lowest maximum has firmed up to 13C on Saturday (whoopy-do). Still dismal for so-called "high summer". Still 10C below where it should be. The cold temperatures wouldn't be so much of a problem if they were tempered by strong sunshine, but not under "summer" 2016's now eternal infill. No wonder SAD is making a premature appearance throughout the UK populace.

Looks like that autumn might be starting shortly with maxima over the weekend a cold 11-12C - you couldn't make it up. I remember a July day in 1967 had a maximum of 48F (9C - we used old money back then in both meanings of the term) which was headlined in my local regional paper. That particular day I was only wearing a shirt and I was freezing in a stiff Northerly breeze. Sadly such low summer maxima during the Sixties were rare enough to for the Press to mention, are nowadays becoming increasingly commonplace over the past few years. August has become just another autumn month.

Shows the difference 12 miles can make. Orthographic lifting over the Mid-Cheshire Ridge?

After two very nice days, back to autumn - dull all day, not particularly warm and a shower during the afternoon. Normal service has resumed.

Overnight min here was 19.8C with today a bit fresher. Plenty of towering cumulus all around earlier on while now it's 8/8 with what looks like Cu.

At 2pm according to my garden sensor it was 30C, while Liverpool ATIS was reporting 28C with a DP of 16C, so obviously not humid. Temp in my garden peaked at 36C, now currently 31C. Liverpool ATIS reporting 30C with DP 19C @ 17:00Z (ie 6pm BST). A cloudless day up to now but now patchy Sc.

It's true. Domestic violence and road accidents peak roughly four days after new and full moon. There obviously is a connection between moon phase and tidal effects on the human body. After all we are basically leaky bags of water. Does anyone have any other explanation as to why the feminine reproduction cycle is 28 days, one lunar month?

The expected forecast for here didn't materialise, instead the usual damp, chilly cloudfest with the sun making an appearance just now, again as expected to lead to yet another unseasonably cold night. Tomorrow? I'm not holding my breath. As for the forecast 30C on Tuesday I've got binoculars ready to watch the 633 Porcine Squadron flapping past.

While yesterday felt like summer, today is back to October. We had to go to Glasgow and when we arrived around 7:30am the weather typically Glaswegian - grey and chilly. However coming coming back down through the Southern Uplands the drizzle began (again quite normal) however dropping down into England the expected clearance didn't happen and crossing Shap we were in up in thick cloud, from there on the rain increased in intensity through the Lakes, Lancashire and Manchester, the rain only let up when we got back home in Runcorn around 2pm. Again a case of October in July. Meanwhile the expected warmth expected this weekend has well and truly been kicked into the long grass with a scorchio 16C expected - sadly you can't make it up.

To quote the old saw: there are lies, damn lies and then there are statistics. The sunshine figures don't even show half of the truth. Under the conditions we've experienced the past few years, most of any sunshine is during the small hours before the inevitable grey lid slams down. Those of us who are up and about during conventional waking hours see little or no sun, hence the prevalence of SAD which shouldn't be a problem through the summer months. Sunshine recorders record ALL sunshine whereas what interests most of us is sensible sunshine, to borrow Nouska's excellent term.

Probably because a lot of us are beginning to show the symptoms of SAD.

Be careful! I was recently castigated for using "The howling wind" as a throwaway remark.

Unfortunately I've had to endure more lousy British summers that I'd like to think about but the outstanding grotfests that come to mind are 1962 (awful), 1963 (slightly less awful) 1986 and 1987 (for being so cold and showery). However still being miserable they all saw some usable sunshine. The past few summers have been increasingly cloudy with temps. like you'd expect in October. As I've said elsewhere, during the past few summers any sun has been in the small hours before most of us wake up and by the time it's breakfast time the grey lid has slammed down until the evening when it melts away to leave another cold night. We could do with a type of sunshine recorder that only records sun during the waking hours to get a better picture. Does anybody know the underlying cause of all this cloudiness?

Same here. Woke up at 7am to blue skies, 8:30am the grey lid has well and truly slammed down.

Awful day that wouldn't be out of place in late October or November. Felt very chilly when I went out in the afternoon (in fleece-lined hoodie and knee shorts) explained by the miserable 14C breeze. Moderate to heavy rain that began in the early hours and kept up all morning. Currently Liverpool ATIS reports 14C with DP 12C, showers in the vicinity, pressure 1009mb. Currently dry, roads still wet, the breeze has dropped out, I'd say now F1,

It was the same here, nearer to the coast. Exceptionally dull with moderate to heavy rain all morning.

Never heard of the "figure of speech"? The term "throwaway remark". This wasn't a formal weather report. "Trust me a howling gale is something i doubt you or many will have experienced," How presumptuous. For your information I have experienced Force 11 gales in the past. "i have worked up on the north coast of Scotland" I was brought up on the windy Wirral coast - meanwhile the name of the nearby (to me) town Helsby is a contraction of Hell's Bay. I've also observed the weather for over 60 (SIXTY!) years.

At lunchtime on what is alleged to be a high summer day, according to Liverpool ATIS temp 15C and cloud base at 800ft. Incredibly dark for the middle of the day. Heavy rain all morning and now what feels like a cold, howling gale. Really couldn't make it up.

Bear in mind much of any sunshine recorded during this and the past few "summers" occurs during the small hours. Unless you are working shifts or nights, for those of us who are up and about during conventional waking hours (8am to 9pm) the grey lid has already slammed down only to melt away approaching sunset leading to yet another unseasonably cold night. Never mind the green snot on the thickness charts, what really bothers me is the appearance of the blue patches, together with the possibility of SNOW showers at the tops of the Scottish mountains in bloody JULY!!!! Looks like I need to unpack my new SAD light which I shouldn't normally need until October. Mind you the British climate seems to have degenerated into a permanent autumn.

Yes, during the Little Ice Age including the 60-year Maunder Minimum.

Yet another chilly, grey day. Forecast 19-20C - the reality: 16C at lunchtime on a supposedly "high summer" July day. That's the temp reported by Liverpool ATIS. Yet more rain last night. However patches of blue sky showing from the West - wonder whether I could actually catch some rays as my tan has faded.

Yet another British "summer" grotfest. Currently so dark I need room lights, light rain, Liverpool ATIS reporting 17C (here also 17C) with DP 15C. Pressure 1007mb. Another chilly, overcast day. Whatever happened to the warmer, sunnier conditions expected for later this week? If anything conditions now are even worse. Fine, warmer weather is always promised in 3-5 days' time, but tomorrow never comes. It's not just a case of "jam tomorrow", I'd like at least some butter on our current dry, stale bread.

I lived through the Sixties (I was a teenager), the summers here on the Wirral were typically mixed. However I remember 1962 and '63 were awful, basically same as we have experienced this past four or five years. Of course That Winter was the filling of that unpleasant sandwich. Summer 1959 was a scorcher and we had to wait until 1975 for the next hot one, followed by the record summer of '76. For some reason (possibly subconscious - I was only 12 at the time) I won't holiday in the Lake District - the appalling summer of '62 put me off the area for life.

The past few years August has become an Autumn month. Meanwhile Summer 2016 now appears to be stillborn. The past three or four weeks wouldn't have been out of place in October or even November. A total washout together with non-ending cloudfest.

Another chilly cloudfest today. I look forward to the day this endless overcast eventually lifts.