Bottesford

I hasten to add no complaints about todays weather nor that that came before Wednesday either. It's a good start to summer for sure - great for the garden. But I'd certainly be disappointed with this was as warm as it got in a summer - not all of us are free to take advantage of the sun during the daytimes so pleasant evenings are a short lived treat that we want as much as possible of before the darkness intrudes again by September. Maxed here at 19.3c which is pleasant but hardly summer warm (unless you're in direct sunlight).

How is this warm spell? Well not warm enough basically! Great in the sun but chilly out of it. And naff on Weds and Thur morning under the cloud. Is 19c really too warm for you? That's about average for June and below average for the rest of summer. And yes August is far too early for a breakdown to cool - we've only just left a cool/cold extended period so needs to last a bit longer than that! Really the year should be 50% warm & 50% cool rather than 20% warm and 80% cool/cold like this past 12 months! Warmth should be April-September, cold October-March.

Thanks AWD - sounds like we should be ok but pity those on the east coast. So long as the sun charges the brickwork up in the morning it'll re-radiate it in the shady late afternoon/evenings and feel warm enough. If the sun doesn't come out till later we'll need 21c+ air temps to avoid the chill which look unlikely. Really should look at my nw-extra more shouldn't I!

Any thoughts on the low cloud potential tonight/tomorrow morning? BBC says it'll roll in tonight and be a cloudy start tomorrow. This will really impair heating my yard for a bbq later pushing it over the edge into too cold to bother. Anything in the model output that would help in knowing where or how extensive it will be? I'm not sure what data to look at - if indeed it is available.

Back to sunshine again after early mist/cloud evaporated (gone by 8am completely) so a much better day than Weds or Thurs with sunlight available when its most useful to me. Could do with these temps rising a bit - minima of 9c and just making it to the high teens is 'ok' but this really feels more like a mid spring spell than summer. Just 3c up would do as a start (6c would be perfect). Still its only early summer plenty of time yet - I hope!

Thanks TWS. This kind of cloud really is the party pooper of settled spells in spring and early summer - generally hard to forecast but make huge differences to how the weather feels at the surface. Fingers crossed for improvement. Trying to brighten here now - but struggling it seems!

Anyone any thoughts or info from the models on this ruddy North Sea low cloud problem we're being afflicted by? I can see it burning off eventually today but are we likely to see it roll in again during the rest of this 'warm' and 'sunny' spell or are things going to change to allow sunny mornings/days too? A little info on the short range would be really good - cheers!

Slate grey skies with no sign of any burn off. 11.3c with a chilly wind. Welcome back to early/mid spring!

I'm the same - the more extreme the better! I'm keen to really 'feel' -20c as well as +40c. Actually I did feel 40c when I visited L.A. in an August heatwave. Wow....

Possible but extremely unlikely. Everything would have to be perfect and France & even more so Spain would be on fire!

Well that's it - temps fall like a stone under clear skies with these relatively low dew points. Fine for walking around at 3pm but hopeless for a bbq at 7-8pm. Unlike mainland Europe temps fall fast in this country even after fairly warm days so to get warm nights you need the hot days- or high humidity. No use being 22c while you're in the office only for it to be 16c when you finally sit down at home.

Never head to SE Asia, India or any jungles then! High 30s with very high dew points not uncommon. Our humidity/heat is extremely tame in comparison.

At the end of the day both extremes of cold or hot are hard to deal with when you're not used to it. The UK rarely gets any extremes so no surprise most folk want the outdoor temp to roughly match what they want indoors which to most I'd say 21c seems to be ideal. Us weather lot want extremes and for me that can be both ends of the spectrum. Personally I don't find a problem being hot unless its artificially induced - like our stuffy office in winter when its too cold to open the window but ends up like an oxygen free hot box eventually. No doubt my opinion is somewhat swayed by living in such a cool house where only 22c+ temps allow it to be warm enough to reliably open the door/window into the evening.

In summer my definitions are (when talking maxes): sub 16c is 'very cool/cold', 17-19c is 'cool', 20-22c is 'normal/average', 23-25c is 'warm', 26-28c is 'very warm'; 29-32c is 'hot' and 33c+ is 'very hot'. If our summers could (using those definitions) split like this it'd be perfect: 0% very cool 3% cool 15% normal 35% warm 20% very warm 10% hot 7% very hot

Many many many many people want 30c! Me included. You could ask the same of who wants -10c - most would say no, then come on here and find the total opposite! Remember vast tracts of the populated world spend most of the year at that temperature or if nothing else have it for the majority of their summer season.

Yes nothing frustrated me more than last years bank holiday move and our weather! Decided to go for a bbq for bank hol - spent what was usually the bank hol weekend getting garden ready in shorts & t-shirt under very warm sunshine then spent the actual bank holiday grilling under pouring rain 11c with everyone inside with the heating on and me passing burgers in through the window. Horrible. But yes great start to summer - scares me a little that it'll break just in time for my wedding and even more so that I'm spending all my free time doing wedding prep or at work so not really getting much chance to enjoy this weather. Hopefully more of a theme this year as we're long overdue a better summer.

Just been out for a lunchtime walk - yes indeed it is lovely in direct sunlight or if doing activity but if you sat in a shady spot in the strengthening wind you'd rapidly chill. Even more so this evening.

Well I for one would love to see those temperatures again. After last years poor overall 26.8c max it'd be good to feel heat again. Lovely as this current spell is its not warm enough to sit out in the evening nor can I leave my door or windows open once the sun moves round (2pm) as air temps are lower than desired house temperature. 25c is the ideal to please most but much like how people hype -10c or below (which is very tough going too don't forget) I want to see 30c+ again - and preferably over a decent period of time instead of a single day. I think we'll get 30c this year (perhaps late July I'll go for) but 35c is pushing it so I doubt it although love to be proved wrong! I'll be honest though - I don't want 35c on my wedding day. Even at 1400 feet altitude that's still hot in a suit, top hat & tails!

I'd certainly wish it as I'll have no problem sleeping and for once the words "it's too cold in this damn house" won't be spoken!

Excitement I guess! Raw power of nature... They also generally come at the best time of year too - in summer. I'm really only keen on the warm, humid thunderstorms though. Those cool ones from endless low pressure are rubbish in comparison as you loose the whole 'atmosphere' that you get from warm, damp air which builds... then explodes!

Yeah don't fancy that sort of winter - well certainly not in my present house! Should have moved by then anyway so won't bankrupt me trying to keep warm hopefully.

Yep much better outlook than last year (how glad I was to be out the country half of last June!). Just hope the latter part of the month delivers - 3 weeks on Saturday specifically!

Certainly felt the coldest. Always not warm enough throughout with no warm spells except those couple of days earlier in the month (20c+ is warm not 15c!). Lets hope summer makes up for it as its been a grim old 12 months.

The main thing I've preferred about this spring compared to 2012 is the easier time I've had in the garden! Although last year varied more and had much more warmth around it was a pig to deal with in the garden due to the dire wet & cold middle bit. The warm March got everything going and I planted things out only for it to come to an abrupt halt in April. Many things struggled to grow or just plain stopped. The fantastic end of May spell really helped but couldn't make up for the terrible middle bit (nor the cack that followed). This year has been substantially easier as it started cold which simply delayed everything then warmed up slowly (and I mean slowly!). It has rained but it hasn't been endless heavy rainfall for weeks - we've had a decent slice of sunshine this spring and the garden looks good for it. If this spring had a warm sunny end like last year then this one would win hands down. I don't mind loosing March to snow & cold if April & especially May are decent. However if we continue in this cold fashion then this will equal spring 2012 for me. Spring 2012 - terrible for garden but better overall for warmer weather. Spring 2013 - easier for garden but unexciting and cool/cold weather for almost the whole time.

wow what a contrast to my place! A somewhat different equation for me: Victorian coach house + no cavity wall + limited loft insulation + painted white + surrounded in tall houses/trees (little to no sun in winter) + detached + exposed to east wind + old fashioned central heating with back boiler + thin or no double glazing + windows facing only east or south east (built into hillside) = coldest house ever where heating still rumbles on into June and starts again in August! It was cold feeling when I went downstairs yesterday at 16.5c and again this morning simply as the heating hasn't been on and it wasn't sunny. Had to boost it but then gladly it could stay off for the rest of the day. Total contrast!