Summer 2015 overviews and opinions

[Wildswimmer Pete]

One of the nastiest "summers" in my over 60 years' experience.  "Summer" '15 is up there with 1962, 1963, 1986 and '87.  A crapfest of cold winds, limited sunshine, rain and the almost unending Sc dross. 

[Jon Somerset]

The west country didn't have the wash-out the north-west had, but we had lots of heavy cloud this year with many days becoming lacklustre. Some pleasant sunny days but in short supply and rarely consecutive, with any heat being very short-lived, sometimes just a few hours, like on 22nd August. While the south-east baked we could often be about 10 degrees cooler and stuck under sunless skies. June started cool but sunny with some promise, which seemed to be delivered at the beginning of July with the one stronger plume we experienced. Hope has diminished over the last two months and August has been a huge disappointment with only about four really sunny days, one of which was very cool. Lots of rain to end the month, and more to come it seems. Not one period of sustained high pressure which is very bad.
Not as horrific as the 2007/12 stretch but still bad. 5 out of 10.

 

Thank heaven I had two weeks of the continents heatwave in June.

[damianslaw]

Here in the Lake District we have seen no spell of decent weather lasting more than 3 days at best - rain one day dry the next cloudy the next... days starting off ok then turning wet and vice versa... very poor overall. Max temps have been woeful in the main and means only propped up to average levels thanks to average min temps. Winds have been predominantly from a SW- NW direction off an anomalously cold NE atlantic..

 

It has been lacklustre.

[snowrye]

Im not complaining about the summer here,been pretty good in my opinion,just the last few days have been autumnal,would love a cracking autumn leading to a belter of a winter for all of us in the south-east

[hillbilly]

Im not complaining about the summer here,been pretty good in my opinion,just the last few days have been autumnal,would love a cracking autumn leading to a belter of a winter for all of us in the south-east

Your chances in the south east of getting a good winter are about the same as those in the north getting a good summer !

[J10]

Not for first time in the the past 10 years, June was the best summer month, Sunny and dry, with about half the normal rainfall. Quite happy with NW winds. Cool on the thermometer but the large amount of sunshine more than offset this. 7/10

 

July In many ways quite an uneventful month, slightly cooler than average, slightly duller than average, and slightly wetter than average, but in each instance not by much. there was often a repeating pattern of a few good news, followed by a few bad days. One disappointing feature was the number of damp drizzly days. 5.5/10

 

August (so far) another rather mixed month, with again a spell of good days followed by bad days, wetter than July, but with the rain tending to be more concentrated in wet days, rather than a higher number of damp days. 19-21st August will go down as the worst 3 day spell of the summer, with the following day the 22nd an unexpected bonus hitting 25c into the afternoon, when another washout was forecast. 5.5/10

 

2015 very much one to forget, by no means good and a lot worse in the early part of the decade.

[jy]

M y take on this summer is that it has been mainly dry,unusually windy and pleasant without ever being hot.As a gardener,that makes it quite useful,except having to do a hell of a lot of watering.I was in my local garden centre today and the staff agreed with me as to the numbers of folk complaining what a wet summer it had been in our area,a number of my customers have been under the same illusion.

[Azazel]

dire...mainly for the notable absence of storms/big convective showers and heat with an almost constant stiff gale blowing.

 

My friend thinks 2012 was worse, but I honestly don't remember it so I must have blocked it from my memory:p

[Wynn D Woo]

June was a sunny month and both June and July were very dry with the grass going brown. August though has been a real let down often dull and wet and a big step down from the previous two months.

Overall the summer has been largely usable but with a bias of the better conditions to the first half with August conspiring to make it forgettable in years to come.

[virtualsphere]

After two decent summers in 2013 and 2014, this summer has generally been poor here, although by no means as bad as 2012 and 2008.  Earlier this month I'd have expected it to beat 2007 too but August has turned out poorer than I'd expected, so now I'm not so sure.  This summer now feels more like a reversed and slightly less wet version of 2007 which had a poor June / July and reasonable August, with June being the reasonable month this time around.

 

In between the rain, we've had some decent sunny spells, but the trouble has been the lack of any prolonged settled spell making any outdoor plans difficult, especially during the school holidays.  August is fast becoming a frustrating month - we're definitely overdue a dry one here, as even in the good summer last year and 2013 it was a bit of a let down.  Having said that I felt the same way about July between 2007 and 2012, then we had July 2013 which was one of the best summer months I can remember.

 

On a positive note, when we have had dry weather there's been some sunshine to break through the cloud cover.  

 

The stats:

Summer 2012 - Rainfall 633mm - Days Thunder Heard 2 - Dry Days   23

Summer 2013 - Rainfall 316mm* - Days Thunder Heard 1 - Dry Days 54

Summer 2014 - Rainfall 281mm* - Days Thunder Heard 3 - Dry Days 45

Summer 2015 to 27/8  - Rainfall 428mm* - Days Thunder Heard 1 - Dry Days 32

 

*Mainly in August!

Edited August 27, 2015 by virtualsphere

[Jax]

A few storms, little rain, lots of warm days and quite a lot of sunshine...

 

 

...really do not see what people are moaning about, been a good summer (did not say great).

[hillbilly]

A few storms, little rain, lots of warm days and quite a lot of sunshine...

 

 

...really do not see what people are moaning about, been a good summer (did not say great).

Yes its been average to good in the SOUTH and SOUTH EAST ! You will find it a different story the further north and west you go and it is those who may be moaning ,parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland have had their worst summer in 50 years !

[East_England_Stormchaser91]

An average summer overall despite the unexpected record breaking temperature in July! Two storms which were candidates for storms of the decade occurred within July. So overall not too bad. I've seen much worse.

[johnholmes]

Perhaps the most unbiased view of August, at least to the 26th, and the same for summer overall may be in this link

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/release/archive/2015/summer-statistics

[Bright and Breezy]

Yes, a very average summer in my opinion. The lack of any prolonged dry, warm spells has been the most notable feature for me down in the south west. Just a brief few days here and there, haven't had to water the garden at all.

 

And yet, despite the seemingly endless stream of low pressures sitting off the northwest of the UK, my holiday in the west of Scotland saw just one afternoon of rain in 15 days. Otherwise warm and sunny while back home the rains fell. And the kids even got to throw snowballs on the mountains to make up for last winter's letdown.

 

The British weather we all love and know.

 

BnB

[Milhouse]

Persistent winds from a westerly direction have characterised this summer but the general theme has been for winds to veer more SW as the summer has gone on. Therefore the lack of anything coming from the east has mean its been a decent summer in these parts compared to the rest of the country. There have been lots of days of dry conditions with a good deal of sunshine, however much of June was disappointingly cool and windy. July was rather nice with the exception of the final week and much of August has been decent too with the odd dull and wet day here and there. Overall, considering what id expect from my location its been very average with a bit of everything.

[Stargazer]

After a very dry if rather cool and windy June and the hottest day here since 2006 on 1 July it all gradually went downhill, with a cool and wet end to August here.  Overall I'd have to describe it as a mediocre summer in these parts - no doubt far better here than in the NW but in the end pretty unmemorable.

 

Overall I'd give it a 5/10, with June being better than average, July slightly worse than average and August definitely poor (my rough scores for the previous years' summers on that scale are 2014 7, 2013 8 and 2012 2).  Much better than the dire summer of 2012 but definitely forgettable.  Rather than three hot days and a thunderstorm, 2015 seems to have been characterised here by one hot day and a bit of drizzle.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Stargazer

[AderynCoch]

Very disappointing. The good days have been far outnumbered by the bad ones so I have no hesitation in calling it a poor summer here. Lots of freezing cold NWerly winds off a below-average North Atlantic when they really weren't needed, plus not-as-cold but still strong and annoying SWerlies. I'm struggling to recall many days when it's been sunny and there hasn't been a brisk wind. It must have been the windiest summer ever. Even 1st July failed here (see Summer of 95's post for details).

 

In absolute terms it hasn't been as bad as stinkers like 2007 or 2012 but what propels this summer into the "vile" category is how the heat has kept on teasing and teasing without ever getting here (apart from 30th June but that's it really). Repeated heat surges from the south which have either clipped the SE of the country or stayed on the near continent. The Atlantic really has ruined this summer, and it's quite disgusting how persistent the general pattern has been. I've said this before but weather patterns never seem to stick around like this when they're favourable.

 

In short, bugger off. I've had enough. At least autumn can't get my hopes up.

[Weather-history]

Worst summers for Manchester

1954 143

1907 147

1956 155

1912 156

1924 158

2012:164

2008 168

1987 169

1946 170

1909 171

1931 173

1978 173

1980 173

1920 174

1923 174

2007 174

1927 175

1948 176

1938 177

1922 178

2011 179

1985 180

1958 184

1972 185

1916 188

1986 189

1965 189

1910 190

1936 190

1988 191

2010 191

1966 192

1998 192

2015: 192

1953 193

1963 194

1993 194

2009 194

11th June was one of the best days

30th June was a hot one

Thunder drought finally broke on 1st July evening

Edited August 31, 2015 by Weather-history

[Snowyowl9]

Better than summer of 1988 at least.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Snowyowl9

[hillbilly]

Where is 2012 on that list??

[Man With Beard]

A summer of two halves here. June and most of July were excellent - almost all days above 20C and mostly sunny. End of July was poor - August started OK but here we have been stuck under a front dividing hot/cooler for much of the past three weeks, a few sunny days, a few hot days but many rainy days. I think if I balance everything out, it has been about average

[stainesbloke]

Very disappointing. The good days have been far outnumbered by the bad ones so I have no hesitation in calling it a poor summer here. Lots of freezing cold NWerly winds off a below-average North Atlantic when they really weren't needed, plus not-as-cold but still strong and annoying SWerlies. I'm struggling to recall many days when it's been sunny and there hasn't been a brisk wind. It must have been the windiest summer ever. Even 1st July failed here (see Summer of 95's post for details).

In absolute terms it hasn't been as bad as stinkers like 2007 or 2012 but what propels this summer into the "vile" category is how the heat has kept on teasing and teasing without ever getting here (apart from 30th June but that's it really). Repeated heat surges from the south which have either clipped the SE of the country or stayed on the near continent. The Atlantic really has ruined this summer, and it's quite disgusting how persistent the general pattern has been. I've said this before but weather patterns never seem to stick around like this when they're favourable.

In short, bugger off. I've had enough. At least autumn can't get my hopes up.

Yes, strange how the heat has repeatedly tried to come up from the south but has either clipped us or just stayed the other side of the Channel. That for me has been far and away the most frustrating thing about this summer. Paris, for example, not a million miles away from London, has had a gorgeous summer. Today typifies that scenario....London, 20 and rain. Paris, 29 and sunny. Normally there's nowhere near such a big difference in general conditions but this year it's like the UK is 1000 miles from Europe. Highly annoying!! Must have been even worse up in Liverpool. Edited August 29, 2015 by stainesbloke

[Mokidugway]

This summer has been pathetic here ,sun amounts ok and pretty dry but COLD ...

[Chris K]

A "meh" Summer here. It could have been worse as we have had usable days for outdoor activities most of the time. Certainly no washout Summer like 2012...

 

More notable is the "cooler" feeling temperatures for most of the season to be honest. Whilst daytime temps probably still reached averages, the source of the airflow kept humidity lower so it felt a more "fresh" summer for most of the time. Nothing wrong with that in my books, but there has been a lack of those classic warmer periods, that would last more than the measly 24-48 hours from a 'plume' that was getting shunted away East just as quickly as it was pushing North.

 

Just to illustrate - number of days that a max temp of >25C was recorded during each meteorological summer month of 2015:

 

June - 1 day
July: 3 days
August: 2 days

 

Just a quick lookback at Spring as well, where we often see some spikes of warmth now and again - a lack of that this year too. Using our local weather station stats, only 3 days across the whole meteorological Spring managed to hit 20C or above.

Edited August 29, 2015 by Chris K