Wildswimmer Pete

Not in Merseyside. We've had particularly lousy Augusts the past few years. As I posted earlier on I can count the number of decent Augusts I've experienced during the past 60 years on my ten fingers (I've discounted my 9 years' childhood) . This week we've had a front stall on top of us for several days resulting in steady, cold rain, something that happens far too often. Edit: Despite it being dry and breezy, my washing is still damp. I'd expect that in winter but not in so-called high summer.

Looks like July is ending as it began - but for three hot days disappointing temperatures and mostly cloudy during waking hours. Current mid afternoon temp: 18.3C in what we describe to be "high summer". Oh well, tomorrow sees the start of the first Autumn month.

August Bank Holiday was originally the first Monday in the month, but was moved to the last Monday in 1965. The inevitably bad Bank Holiday weather followed to the new late August BH. Coincidence? Not stats, but actual personal experience.

Decent day yesterday but today started fine but the cloud bubbled up, now with heavy showers. Torrential rain forecast later with possibility of thunder will at least make the day interesting. Current temp. about 19C but very humid.

In Scotland the summer holidays start at the beginning of July through to mid-August.

Can't find 1976 - the best summer in living memory.

I've endured nearly seventy Augusts and most of them have been at best indifferent, at the other extreme absolutely horrendous. August 1962 was especially horrific - cloud and rain every day except for one fine day. The decent Augusts I can remember can be counted on the ten fingers of my hands.

That's because in my location - NW England - the last decent August I can remember was during the 1990s. Since then August has become another Autumn month.

Back to the usual very low standard of the Northwestern English "summer": cold NW wind, thick cloud, heavy rain with an appalling 15C on a late July afternoon. Utter Little improvement on the horizon. As far as I'm concerned August has now become yet another Autumn month. Think that I need to dust off my SAD lamp.

Last night min: 16.9C. Current temp in back garden: 30.7C Previous shower during afternoon but towering cumulonimbus dissipated. Still cloudy but dry.

A nice hot day with just about the right amount of cloud to avoid burning. Overnight min 18.4C . according my weather station and my mate's vehicle thermo we reached 29C. Bear in mind this is a spot reading for my location. Current temp is 20.1C. Dry all day after overnight thunderstorms. Pressure 1009mb

That's the problem with welded rails. They buckle in hot weather and snap during extreme cold. The old days of short lengths of rail joined by fishplates were far better. They allowed an amount of expansion or contraction to occur to prevent buckling or snapping. It's those fishplate couplings that led to the diddly-dum, diddly-dum you may recollect from the wheels crossing the couplings during the days of steam.

There are very few times we have heatwaves like the current one. Cool showers or baths are quite cheap even with a water meter. There are some nifty table-top air coolers that use evaporation to cool the room. They use little electricity and you need to keep the water reservoir topped-up. Look on Ebay or Amazon, plenty of them at various prices.

Too true. The British winter annually culls thousands of the sick and/or elderly. Ill-heated houses of those who have to choose between heating or eating. Breathing in winter-cold air causes the blood to thicken which in cases of heart trouble (in my case congestive heart failure) can worsen the condition or even lead to a fatal heart attack. Edit: it's vert easy to keep cool during heatwave; run a cool (not cold) bath or go swimming. Open water is free otherwise indoor pools often have concessions that reduce the normal admission charge. I have a membership for my local pools so my monthly DD covers for unlimited swims.

Your June might have good but here in Merseyside up in the radioactive badlands north of Watford, we endured days on end with steel grey skies, heavy rain and maxina below 10C On one day we only achieved a max of 8C! There is a world outside the M25!

Glorious day yesterday but spell of cloud during the morning. We travelled the 25 miles to Nantwich Outdoor Brine Pool to go have a swim but was not to be - long queue for admission and pool was packed so they had a "one out, one in" policy - the queue wasn't moving so mission was aborted. We arrived early morning hoping to beat the queues. 50 miles' driving and fuel wasted. Got a dip in Hatchmere back on the way and a drink in the adjacent pub so the mission wasn't all in vain. When I went to bed around midnight the outdoor temp was 23C. Woken by a spectacular of thunderstorm around 2am however the outdoor temp when I got up this morning was still 18C. Hope this amazing weather continues after the cold, wet and cloudy grotfest of June and up to now an indifferent July. You coldies will be avidly anticipating the approach of the lousy British winter so let us heat and sun lovers enjoy the current weather especially as the British so-called "summer" is so breathtakingly short. I don't really understand why staycationers pay over the odds to be confined in their hotels looking out at the almost permanently overcast British skies with rain sheeting against the windows. I've had so many British "holidays" ruined by the lousy British weather.

The cold, dark, nights are purgatory for those of us who suffer from SAD. Winter also brings all those heating bills. And yes, I do have a SAD lamp but it can't replace proper sunlight.

The cloudfest continues but currently dry with 17C which is definitely below par for a late July afternoon.

A vile day after the past week's decent weather. Almost continuous rain and cloud with no bright periods although I'd forgive it if we get a thunderstorm overnight. Looks like it'll be blazingly hot next week, the weather I like the most, especially after one of the coldest, wettest Junes I can remember during the past six decades.

Another Autumn day. Chilly, that blasted NW breeze carries on and but for one sunny interval around lunchtime, cloudy. So far other than that one hot day, this so-called "summer" has been cloudy, often wet, windy and cold. Edit: On cue, the cloud melts away just before sunset.

Same here, grey with a current temp of a very substandard 17C.

Runcorn. Just upriver from Liverpool.

Another autumnal day. Overnight min: 14C, I think we managed a schorchio 18C. Morning cloudy with heavy showers but now dry with sunny intervals. Needless to say we are still enduring that now semi-permanent cold NW wind. Looking at the forecast for the next week or so, I've written off this "summer".

Overnight min: 14C, max temp in my garden: 23C. However the cloudfest continues with some brief sunny intervals in the afternoon but not enough to trigger the formation of thunderstorms. I was looking forward to a thunderstorm but nothing. Needless to say that dratted rain has just started.

Yet another Great British "summer" day: Overnight min: 14C, max temp a roasting......................err.............17C. Needless to say, the usual slate-grey sky from morning to evening obviously accompanied by the mandatory rain.