Summer of 95

More rain this morning, that's all of July and August without a completely dry weekend. None since 3rd-4th June in fact. That never happened during the 07-12 period. This summer is pushing for the dullest July/Aug combination on record as well: 2010 221.8 hours, 1957 224.3, 2008 225.0; 2023 so far 213.7. 1957 seems to have been 2023 on steroids- June was the sunniest on record and still is, May was also sunnier and drier than normal. Then July and August (and September) were horribly wet and dull, though that year August was wetter than July instead.

Cloud, cloud, cloud again.... these last few days have had a lot more of it than forecast, with 21C temps instead of the forecast 24, and they haven't been totally dry either. While July was a 2007-12 type summer month, this month reminds me of several 1998-2005* summer months; somewhat warmer and drier generally but often very cloudy, humid feeling without lengthy dry spells and usually at best brief spells of 25C+ temperatures. And the annoying feeling that it would get warm if the sun could come out properly. *2003 was neither sunny nor especially dry round here

Hanoi - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG Check out the climate in winter there. It's shockingly cool and dull for that latitude (Feb and Mar are duller on average than here!)

No, it's Grinshill. Although Nesscliffe is in the picture (it's the hill with trees on towards the left)

Stayed sunny here all day for once and up to 26C. Can clearly see the boundary with the cloud over Wales in the distance

Almost totally cloudy here since about 10-11am, was some blue earlier but not completely cloudless. Total waste of warmer air

Maybe do Parliaments instead of PMs (who keep changing without an election?) 1997-2001 stands out for its poor weather; 3 of the 4 winters were nearly snowless and there was only one really decent summer month (July 1999). Excessive rain and flooding were a constant feature of that one. 2015-17 also had a lot of rubbish especially in the winter. The sunny June of 2015 (election was in May); decent enough May, hot spell in July, thunder in Sept and that crazy wind in Nov in 2016 were all that stood out. 2010-2015 stands out for its variety, months and seasons at all times of year varied from brilliant to terrible in that one. The brief 2017-2019 one had loads of interesting weather; the snow of winter 17/18, the summer of 2018 and the record warm days in February and July of 2019, then it ended with the very wet autumn of 2019 (but the really awful Feb 2020 was in the next one).

Somebody must have told you by now, they start drawing in after the Shrewsbury flower show

Last completely dry weekend here? 3rd/4th June. That's 8 weeks ago. Not sure even 2007 or 2012 managed a run like that!

Can anyone on here remember July 1965? That seems to have been an absolute disaster of a summer month around these parts- Shawbury had a mean max of 17.4C, 119mm of rain and 104 hours of sunshine. Not as dull as 2010 or as wet as 2007, 2012 and potentially 2023, but that combination of cold, wet and dull surpasses any July, including 1988 (which had a very poor 17.8 C, 102mm- less than 2023, and a surprising 154 hours, nearly twice what 2010 had). I don't think I've seen it mentioned in Historic Weather or anywhere else on here. Was it as bad across the country?

Rain most of the day again here, a lot of that horrid stuff that looks and feels like drizzle but is actually as wet as "normal" rain. Temp has gone up to 18C (wow, it's July) since the main band passed. Something I'm keeping an eye on: July 2023 hasn't had a single pressure reading of 1020mb or above round here. Or anywhere in the UK except some far southern parts. (edit: and Shetland, oddly. When it was north of one of the lows presumably). And the charts don't show any until the morning of Aug 1st (long way off for charts I know). From what records I can find, to not exceed 1020 would be unprecedented here in July for at least 40 years, probably longer. 1988 and 2007 managed it

For sunshine and rainfall, it's so far been poor but not terrible. July 2010 (which was warmer) is in a league of its own for lack of sunshine round here, an atrocious 86 hours which has nearly been reached this month. For rainfall it's above average so far but not exceptionally so, though a few wet days could change that. The lowest absolute maximum for the second half of July since 1988 is 20.8 in 2009- having fallen just short yesterday (20.7 according to the synop) that one could fall if the forecasts of 17-19 right through till the end of the month come off.

Days 21C or above at Shawbury in "poor" Julys: 2020- 5 2015- 7 2012- 7 2009- 7 2007- 6 1998- 4 1993- 10 1988- 0 2023 so far; 4, and the forecast is 17/18/19 every day for at least the next week. Average max for 91-20 is 21.1, and 20.9 for 81-10 so 21 is bang average over the two periods. No escaping it, this month has been poor and could well end up worse than any of the 07-12 lot on this measure (all the others in that spell had at least 10). 2020 really was dire until the last couple of days.

It's remarkable how rare it is for June to be warmer than July by the CET. Even in the many years when June has clearly felt like the warmer of the two months it just doesn't seem to happen, though June warmer than August seems to be a bit more common. Last time was 1970 for June warmer than July. Compare the winter equivalent, December colder than January, which was almost becoming the norm for a time in the 90s and early 00s and is still quite frequent now.

I really can't think of a summer whose defining feature was a crap July in between a decent June and August. 1988 and 2009 both other months were nowhere near as bad but I wouldn't call them good, just better than July in both cases. On the other hand, crap July and August after good June (and often at least part of May)- that has happened a few times that I remember. 2017, 2010, 2004 (sort of; August was very warm though dull and wet), 1992- hate to say it but this summer is beginning to remind me of that one. June was hot with a few thunderstorms, July was poor except it had a better final week, then August was atrocious. This doesn't bode well for August unfortunately unless 2023 can be that strange year mentioned in the first paragraph!

July 2010 certainly wasn't sunny! By far the dullest on record round here, even duller than August 2008... June was decent but the rest of the summer was a shocker. Almost unrelenting cloudfest. 1996 was the best example I remember, gave it a brief mention on the warm years with poor summers page as the opposite. 1991 I'd say counts as well, CET of 9.5C with 2 months above 17C, despite a cold June (I remember July and August being pretty good).

2002 and 2011 were definitely the first years that came to mind, particularly 2011 (all three summer months colder than average, in one of the warmest years on record...). I think the warm thundery Augusts in 2004 and 2020 disqualify those years, even though the summers certainly qualified on the dull and wet front. 2014 was far too good a summer, I actually rate it better than 2013 round here as two months were predominantly dry, warm and sunny although with no spectacularly high temperatures. 1998 and 2000 you could make a case for; but not 1999 (brilliant July) or 2001 (not a warm year, and summer wasn't as bad as 1998 or 2000). 1996 stands out for the opposite, a decent summer in a cold year, the anti-2011.

Just occasionally it can happen, if that mysterious effect that causes rain/sleet/non-sticking snow or being bone dry round here, while it snows and sticks at the same or lower height outside a 15-30 mile radius (often the borders of Shropshire more or less) can be blasted away to affect somewhere else. That's the main issue... Regarding June 2023, the highest temp here was 28C with many days around 24-26 so I would agree with that, I'm not sure if it was the hottest June locally. It was consistently warm for me, a nice month except the final 5 days. 30C+ temps round here seem to happen almost exclusively in July and the first half of August for some reason, they are very rare in June and have never happened in May or September in the last 50 years.

The extended winter of 2012/13 had a remarkable lack of notably low minima, given the amount of low maxima, low monthly means and snowfall it had. Lowest I had all extended winter was -7C, and that didn't come in any of the snowy spells but in the foggy one in December. Even the practically snowless winters of 1999/2000 and 1991/92 beat it on that count, the much milder 2006/07 and 2018/19 more or less equalled it, while 2001/02 hammered it (-12C during the New Year cold spell). I remember noticing it repeatedly at the time and remarking on it, how it actually didn't seem particularly cold at night even during the January spell when there was snow on the ground for 10 days straight.

Visible here now! Not the brightest ones I've ever seen but quite a few of them. First this year

Here 5 miles N of Shrewsbury we got sod all once again. 5 minutes of rain around 2000 after hearing thunder off to the NW about 1830, and saw a flash to the south about 2030. Probably had about 1-2mm of rain at most here in the 3 days, and nothing near a direct hit from a storm (6-7 miles in every direction).

The Shrewsbury area anti-weather forcefield has truly surpassed itself this weekend..... humidity and bits of drizzle. 10 miles away in every direction yesterday epic storms, and again they magically deteriorated as they approached this evening. More drizzle. That lightning strike map from last night with the hole around here.... even after 35 years in this area I find that incredible. I hope the Metoffice and national archives store it

Yesterday... where is the hole???And this evening we've had another 15 minutes of drizzly rain.....

That lightning strike map now saved on my phone for posterity. The best Shrewsbury Area Weather Hole I have ever seen, even beats any snow one. And there have been some corkers over the past 20-30 years (hello winter 2009-10). Especially given it was there on the rainfall radar too... Smack In the middle of a continuous line from Wiltshire to Fort William and this area still missed it. Unbelievable even by our standards! Any chance it could be filled today? Been mostly cloudy so far, leftover muck from everywhere else's storms yesterday

Here 5 miles N of Shrewsbury, about the same W of Shawbury and about 12 miles SE of Oswestry and S of Whitchurch we got.... jack all. Heard thunder to the east and west, saw lightning in the distance to the west, while it was bone dry here. It rained lightly for about 15 mins twice, barely enough to wet the ground. Probably got less than 1mm of rain which was not thundery (it was after the storms had gone 5-10 miles away in every direction). Another special epic miss for this area!