Wildswimmer Pete

Here in NW England, Winter 81-82 was almost as bad as That Winter: 62-63. Weeks of lying snow and exceptionally cold nights.

I was half-awake this morning but on Radio 4's "Today" Dame Slingo said that while the rest of the world is warming substantially NW Europe will cool - exactly as has happened to the UK over the past few years. Apparently this cool period could last for a decade.

Is that like the 100 days of snow Nathan Rao forecast last year? Regarding winter 62/63, in my area the coldest winter in the 20th century started in mid-December '62, while the cold finally relented in the last couple of days of February '63. I was there!

I'm a bare-skin winter swimmer - it's what I do.

That's a floating jetty comprised of interlocked plastic units. 17C cold? No - this is cold

Made the most of the last decent day for a while - air temp of 21C but the stiff easterly resulted in significant windchill from wet skin. Went swimming in my local river (Weaver), water temp 17C which is a bit below par for early September, should be 19-20C.

Overnight min here was 10C. Sunny first thing but the Sc infill developed before lunch, but fortunately it dissipated from about 2pm to give a warm, sunny afternoon. I was just in T-shirt, the past few days needed a fleecy hoodie. Currently clear and 13C @ 9:15pm

Went swimming in my local lake (Hatchmere, Delamere Forest, Cheshire), water temp was a significantly below normal 16C (61F)*. At this time of the year one would expect 19-20C, 16C is more early October. For over 10 years I've been recording water temps every time I go swimming outdoors, summer or winter, everywhere from the Channel coast and Loch Ness. Mine is a calibrated bucket thermo so avoids the reading changing after being removed from the water. * a palindromic temp! How do I insert an image? the system won't let me post from a Flickr url.

8C min last night and the inevitable Sc infill has formed - forecast was sunny but there you go. Cloudy all day every day now in the UK.

Sunny periods this morning but the Sc dross back for the rest of the day. Nowadays, whatever direction of wind, whatever type of airmass, low or anticyclone, the same result - Sc dross for most if not all of every day from breakfast to dusk.

Out with a friend on a delivery to Chorley. Bloody cold and showery day, we managed a scorchio 14C which is well down on what it should be. Under showers temp dropped to 11C. Now we have the promise yet again of "jam tomorrow" early next week with high pressure finally taking residence over us and some decent temps. No doubt this is just a repeat what's happened all too often during this past "summer", with the HP quickly batted out of the way by yet another *&%$"! low pressure.

When you get to my age you don't know whether you'll see another summer. That's why lousy summers like this one seriously cheese me off - every poor summer's day is another lost from my now limited allotment.

Quite wet last night with cloud clearing around breakfast time. The day's Sc infill arrived on time by lunchtime but sunny intervals developed during the afternoon. Afternoon temp was around 20C but didn't feel too warm due windchill from the stiff breeze. Light shower around 5pm. Now dusk with large amounts of large Cu looking west, with what looks like a rain shadow in the direction of Chester.

One of the nastiest "summers" in my over 60 years' experience. "Summer" '15 is up there with 1962, 1963, 1986 and '87. A crapfest of cold winds, limited sunshine, rain and the almost unending Sc dross.

After a surprisingly chilly night (9.6C) the day dawned sunny and remained so all morning. However by midday what I thought to be the day's usual Sc/Cu infill had formed and that means that was it for the day. Thankfully not - afternoon turned out sunny and quite warm at around 20C or so. Looks like cloud is melting away so I suspect tonight will be another chilly one.

That was true during the 1950s and '60s. I remember the clear, sunny skies of early Septembers when I went back to school. The nastiest end to August I remember was 1963 (prior to 1967 the August Bank Holiday was at the beginning of the month), torrential rain that lasted most of the weekend. The Monday - clear blue sky. September was warmer than much of summer and mostly sunny. Indeed I remember that on the second day of astronomical autumn, the 22nd, the afternoon temp was in the low '70s F under a clear blue sky - we used old money back then. Before anyone tries to quote me stats, I'm not really interested - this post comes from my memory and describes the conditions I experienced.

Temp here dropped from 24C to 16C in two hours under this afternoon's heavy rain. Didn't think the warmth would last. Looks like autumn has now arrived looking at what we can expect this coming week.

Temp dropped from 24C to currently 16C, a drop of 8C in two hours under heavy rain. Didn't think the warmth would last. Looks distinctly autumnal this coming week. Looks like "summer" '15 is on its last legs and already crawling towards its grave.

Moderate rain with frequent thunder. Edit: now with lightning but only reflecting off clouds, I've not seen an actual stroke,

Lightning seen from Chester/N.Wales direction. Very dark looking NE towards Warrington. Edit: another flash from N.Wales/Ellesmere Port direction

Looking southwest towards Chester, sky black as ink. Listening to long wave, cracks about every second, most of them nearby. Edit: another rumble

Thick, heavy cloud, and a loud bang.

This afternoon brightened with some sun, felt warm on my bike wearing just a stringie on top. Just heard a loud bang - the matinee for an interesting night?

The third totally sunless day this week.

I remember 1965 as chilly and cloudy but not particularly wet. Winter '65 was exceptionally snowy. For two appalling wet and cold summers look no further than1962 and '63 Bear in mind my location at the time: Wirral