Bottesford

Not a cloud in the sky all day here and a nice high of 23c. Same tomorrow and Sat except maxes go to 26-27c. Perfect stuff!

I would agree. Forget the solstice periods when you either have wonderfully long days or horribly short ones, it's the inbetween times that would benefit most from staying on BST all year. The plunge in late October is especially dangerous - the evening rush hour suddenly in darkness and at a time when traffic volumes are at their yearly max (well sure were in Nottingham anyway - Oct-Dec was always the worst). And also in late Feb & early March daylight is wasted before many are awake whilst we still have to flick the switch at 5 or 6pm when almost everyone is awake and doing things. Perhaps if GMT was only for mid Nov to mid Jan it'd be ok!

Not if you're a gardener it wasn't! Everything a month behind which in the UK's short warm season means very limited crops for peppers, tomatoes & the like. However, March was fun - did like seeing heaps of snow coupled with enough daylight to actually see it properly!

I think nature this year has done a lot better without that dreadful cold spring of 2013. That really set everything back. This cool August has slowed things but that's nothing on last years garden strugglefest! For me, this has been the hottest & most sunny year (and especially summer) I have ever experienced. Winter was mostly mild, dry & sunny, spring was mostly warm, dry & sunny. Summer was extremely hot (34c) early June then settled into 25-28c daily in July before we hit the chilly (sub 20c maxes) August. As is normal here, most rain for the year came from storms in summer - so on that front great too. And all I needed to do was move a few hundred miles east... ha.

Just look at March 2013 (and to be honest most of that 'spring') to see just how March & Sept are really part of the previous season weather wise but part of the next season light wise. Autumnal weather comes October onwards... lets just let the summer crops finish off in September - sure don't want them wiped out by any cold conditions just yet.

Continues cool over here too although now looking good for warming up properly again with temps lifting towards the low to mid 20s by Thursday & the weekend. At last! My peppers & tomatoes suddenly looking quite miffed with this coolness.

Yes Christmas... 'an island of joy in a sea of despair'.. ha ok I'm not quite that bad in winter but definitely November & January are real low points for mood - very restrictive months for doing fun things. Good for getting in some pc gaming or working on software projects but since I'm on the computer all day for work doing it all evening & weekend too is not good! Anyway, back to the balcony to harvest chillies and trim the tomato plants of decaying leaves....

I put on my fleece for the first time since early May - a sad day! But then we were watching outdoor theatre till midnight so to be expected. Only 17c today here with a howling chilly wind with some sunshine. Still no heating yet and I suspect won't be any until whenever the system is switched on for the winter. But don't need it yet as got one or two windows open still.

Prefer light mornings and light evenings... I think 7am is early enough for sunrise but evenings I'm much happier with it closer to 10pm!

Because it keeps it warmer in the evenings for longer - vital if you want to enjoy the garden after work with maxes only in the low 20s.

Ah perhaps it was worse this year but I know last year felt endlessly cool until later in June.... But gladly I no longer have to deal with that nasty low cloud stuff off the sea! Although I'm told Berlin suffers endless low cloud & low temperatures in winter - can go several sunless weeks. Although this winter was mostly sunny & mild - lovely it was!

June 2013 was often cool & cloudy for eastern areas due to endless low cloud from the North Sea and the Ely winds that ran from late Jan to sometime in July. The exception was the weekend of my wedding (21st) when a big Atlantic depression made itself very felt! After that things warmed up and summer got going - well bar the odd chilly drizzly weekend we got in July from our friend the North Sea - those low SSTs after the freezing spring really had an effect.

18c is fine for hoovering & cleaning in but I wouldn't want to sit for hours working on my pc at that temp. Even with a jumper on my mouse hand would eventually ache from the chill!

Still don't think the building heating is on but certainly all the windows are closed tonight - only 12c under heavy rain. Dreadful conditions.

I guess you might be more grumpy about it if you'd worked in a very warm office in July then to find you're freezing to death on a Cornish beach come your August summer hols.... Jet heading north - good - can already see forecasts for here putting us back into mid 20s next week - woo!

Ideal sleeping temp for me is when it is cool enough to you actually need the duvet but not cold enough that any exposed flesh slowly but surely freezes solid. So for me - the low 20s up to about 24c.

Freezing up in my 5th floor flat today - wind is howling through although at least we're getting some sunshine but only 19c at 1pm. Most windows now closed and I'm back in my slippers. What a contrast to two weeks ago when I was all windows open and just in shorts. My tomatoes & peppers are looking very grumpy with it too! C'mon weather patterns- shift into a new gear, I'm not done with the fun of summer yet! It does feel very like early/mid April; with this NWly blowing and it being sunny but very cool.

There's a very big difference between natural light & that provided by electrical lighting. I can't work in the garden nor on my bike under lamps nor is it worth cleaning the house when without natural light as you just can't see the dirt properly! Also try working on small electrical projects/other intricate hobbies. Sure you can aim all the desk lamps in the house at your workspace but it still is no where near as easy as sunlight which contains the full spectrum of light rather than just a small sliver of it. No for many activities they come to a halt outside of weekends during 'that' portion of the year or just hold off completely till spring. The inactivity and sluggishness of the darker half of the year does not fill me with joy that's for sure!

I always find 7pm sunset being the barrier between 'decent' and 'indecent'. 7pm or later means you can get home and be making dinner before the sun is gone whereas much before that you're struggling and darkness begins to infect the working day. We've lost an hour and you know the vice is now tightening but its still ok for now - after work you still feel like you have time to do other things. Not so in a month or so.

Yes not a great outlook for the UK nor for here. Certainly we're a few degrees up on your temperatures but in general showery, cool & unsettled. Still its been a great summer and by far the best I've ever experienced - never had such good results in the garden!

Not a chance here. Days still in low to mid 20s and nights mid to high teens. I don't think the apartment block heating system is even switched on yet so I couldn't even if I wanted to. But given I'm in shorts with the door & windows open then I don't need it! Being 5th floor (top) in a well insulated building in a place with longer, warmer summers is meaning I can go the full April to maybe late Oct without heating. What a contrast to my old place in Nottingham where we managed late May/early June to mid Sept as the longest switch off. As for the 'how can you be cold its still xx degrees' - remember we're all different in that regards and dependant on ethnic origin, where you grew up, body mass etc.

Whereas one of my school summers was 1995 - now that was a cracker! Now if only I hadn't spent it all playing Dune 2 on my computer... ooops. Altho do remember seeing the dams up in the Peak District with the flooded villages appearing out of the reservoirs!

It's not just in the UK either - a real change in things over here after the Bertha tail front smashed into us on Sunday evening. A change from high 20s days/high teens nights to low 20s day and mid teens night. It is coupled with much more cloud and a real nasty chilly wind blowing through my 5th floor flat so sadly a number of windows have had to close for first time since May. Seems like most of northern Europe has been flooded with this cooler Atlantic air but it looks set to turn warmer again next week at least. Good - not ready for the drop just yet! Agree how mid August onwards does feel very different to a couple of months back. The fresh growth & excitement of summer gets replaced with tired looking plants and a dreading sense of "oh no I only just started getting used to these good outdoor conditions and now they're going for another 9+ months!". And yeah when I was at school that awful trip to buy the new school uniform with every shop plastered with 'Back to school'. uggghhhh....

Thankfully 'cool' isn't something I've had to deal with in a long time now. The occasional storm will pull it down below 20c sometimes but otherwise its warm all the way! Folks here now thinking about summer ending... and dreading it! Outdoor bars, swimming in lakes & chilling in the park will go to be replaced with sitting inside stinky smokey bars & running from place to place minimising exposure to the long cruel winter ahead... Thankfully, not yet.

Yes, sadly sunset is on the wrong side of 9pm now. Darkness now beginning to leech away at my evenings. Won't be long till outdoor jobs are confined to weekends only