Least Favourite Summer Weather Pattern?

[AderynCoch]

Out of that list it's got to be number 2, but there is an even worse pattern for me - a prolonged NW/SE split delivering warm, sunny weather not a million miles away but giving persistent heavy, frontal rain here together with near-perennial dullness (July 2010 being the absolute pits). I think I need to have a lie down just thinking about it.

EDIT - on second reading option 3 comes close to describing the latter scenario, but July 2010 was even worse than this as I not only got the cloud but got washed out as well.

Edited June 30, 2011 by AderynCoch

[damianslaw]

3,5,6. Number 3 is really frustrating, but I was in Belgium when it happened in an extreme fashion in August 2009 and got a great 2 week heatwave ending with a 40°C record breaker. Only SE England got to tap into the incredible heat which built over the continent, so it would have been really annoying if I'd been at home. The brief heatwave we just had affected NE England with some spectacular thunderstorms, so sometimes 5 isn't too bad. Number 6 is absolutely horrible when I'm at home, but great when I'm in the Lake District as the Pennines usually allow the Lakes to enjoy great sunshine with pleasant temperatures and no cloud on the fells.

Of the 6 by far the best for this part of the country is 6. NE winds usually mean lots of sunshine and dry weather and temps can easily climb into the low 20's thanks to the shelter. Indeed NE/E winds in summer are great for the Lake District.

The worse synoptic is one not mentioned and that is of a northerly tracking jet but with a weak azores high meaning plenty of southwesterly/westerly airstreams with their associated muggy humid low cloud drizzle for this part of the country- hate such conditions at anytime of year.

Northerly airstreams can be good, but the best is high pressure directly overhead but increasingly difficult to achieve as the summer wears on and the atlantic gets its act together.

[Lettucing Gutted]

My least favourite summer patterns would be warm core/tongue anticyclones centred over Britain and any Spanish Plume because they give hot and humid weather which I hate. It makes days uncomfortable and nights sleepless. My favourite summer patterns would be cold Northeasterlies through to cold Northwesterlies. They don't always give low cloud. If the air is sourced from a colder than normal North Pole they can give excellent sunshine and convective activity. As for low pressure systems; if they are filled with Maritime Tropical air they can feel almost as uncomfortably warm as an Azores High especially by night (think August 2004 - cyclonic yet both very wet and very warm). However if they contain unmodified Maritime Polar air they can be quite invigorating with "clean crisp sunshine" and showers in between similar to clean Northerlies.

[Thundery wintry showers]

The worse synoptic is one not mentioned and that is of a northerly tracking jet but with a weak azores high meaning plenty of southwesterly/westerly airstreams with their associated muggy humid low cloud drizzle for this part of the country- hate such conditions at anytime of year.

I think of that as essentially a cooler version of 3 (the NW-SE split)- same principle but high pressure generally centred to the SW rather than the SE and throwing up weak ridges into the south.

Sometimes that pattern can bring warm sunshine to the SE while the north stays mostly cloudy and windy (e.g. August 1998) but I strongly remember that last week of August 2008, when it was grey and drizzly nationwide, even in the normally favoured south-east.

[Alex95]

Of the 6 by far the best for this part of the country is 6. NE winds usually mean lots of sunshine and dry weather and temps can easily climb into the low 20's thanks to the shelter. Indeed NE/E winds in summer are great for the Lake District.

The worse synoptic is one not mentioned and that is of a northerly tracking jet but with a weak azores high meaning plenty of southwesterly/westerly airstreams with their associated muggy humid low cloud drizzle for this part of the country- hate such conditions at anytime of year.

Northerly airstreams can be good, but the best is high pressure directly overhead but increasingly difficult to achieve as the summer wears on and the atlantic gets its act together.

It might seem odd, but I don't mind warm drizzly weather in the Lake District too much if I'm just there for a weekend, though it isn't very nice on the fells. At home I'd hate that though! If I'm in the Lakes for a week though it gets a bit monotonous, and I begin to crave sunshine, like in August 2008.

[damianslaw]

It might seem odd, but I don't mind warm drizzly weather in the Lake District too much if I'm just there for a weekend, though it isn't very nice on the fells. At home I'd hate that though! If I'm in the Lakes for a week though it gets a bit monotonous, and I begin to crave sunshine, like in August 2008.

Such conditions can plague the lake district for whole chunks of the summer especially during the second half when the atlantic reinvigorates - warm sectors are the curse with their associated low cloud and drizzle, meaning poor visibility and mist/fog on the fells down to almost valley level at times - very very dissapointing and the accompanying warm muggy air makes for very 'clammy sweaty conditions' for walking in. August especially usually sees such conditions at some stage and for this reason - I never rate August, July is the last 'true' summer month here in terms of dry sunny calm weather, I think many in the Highlands would also agree with me here. April and May despite being much cooler than August are on average in terms of dry settled sunny weather much better than August.

Edited July 1, 2011 by damianslaw