Summer 2016

[NorthYorksWeather]

I agree Nick, we had a low of 8c this morning and a high of 21c this afternoon. Light breeze and clear blue skies, pretty damn perfect. 

[cheese]

6 minutes ago, Nick L said:

If it wasn't for the total absence of thunderstorms here, this would be an excellent summer.

For the general population, this current warm spell is so much better than what was on offer previously. Lovely warm days, low humidity and cool nights - what's not to love? 

Our summers are far from perfect though - most people in the world, including in the UK, prefer warmer summers to what we have on offer. Nobody is moving to the UK for the weather. My ideal weather is like today - 23C and sunny - but I understand why others want it warmer, especially at night. 

Edited August 16, 2016 by cheese

[B87]

5 minutes ago, Nick L said:

If it wasn't for the total absence of thunderstorms here, this would be an excellent summer.

For the general population, this current warm spell is so much better than what was on offer previously. Lovely warm days, low humidity and cool nights - what's not to love? 

But it's telling that this 'warm spell' has consisted of average temperatures and average sun amounts. We should be expecting this as standard in July and August, not seeing it as some kind of great achievement.

[Nick L]

3 minutes ago, cheese said:

Our summers are far from perfect though - most people in the world, including in the UK, prefer warmer summers to what we have on offer. Nobody is moving to the UK for the weather. My ideal weather is like today - 23C and sunny - but I understand why others want it warmer, especially at night. 

I don't think I've ever come across anyone who wants it warmer at night. That's usually the biggest complaint I hear when we get hot weather, that nights are uncomfortable. 

[cheese]

2 minutes ago, Nick L said:

I don't think I've ever come across anyone who wants it warmer at night. That's usually the biggest complaint I hear when we get hot weather, that nights are uncomfortable. 

And the biggest complaint I hear of UK summers is that it cools down too fast at night, meaning you need a sweater or jacket after a certain time. People would like it warm into the evening so you can walk outside in a T-shirt without feeling cool. 

Walk around any British city centre after a hot day and it feels totally different to normal - you'll see loads of people eating outside even after dark. Lots of people eating outside today too, but come 8pm I bet their won't be, even if it was a weekend.

I suppose houses in the UK are designed to retain heat so they heat up fast and don't expel it - but I guess that's why many Brits have moved to Spain or the south of France.

Edited August 16, 2016 by cheese

[Nick L]

6 minutes ago, B87 said:

But it's telling that this 'warm spell' has consisted of average temperatures and average sun amounts. We should be expecting this as standard in July and August, not seeing it as some kind of great achievement.

The average August max at Heathrow is 23.2c, yesterday it exceeded 25c. And I don't see how sunshine from dawn til dusk can be "average"?!

Edited August 16, 2016 by Nick L

[Nick L]

1 minute ago, cheese said:

And the biggest complaint I hear of UK summers is that it cools down too fast at night, meaning you need a sweater or jacket after a certain time. People would like it warm into the evening so you can walk outside in a T-shirt without feeling cool. 

Walk around any British city centre after a hot day and it feels totally different to normal - you'll see loads of people eating outside even after dark. Lots of people eating outside today too, but come 8pm I bet their won't be, even if it was a weekend.

Call me a miserable bugger, but good frankly. That's another aspect of summer I don't like, inconsiderate neighbours thinking it's acceptable to stay outside making a racket until some unsociable hour because it happens to be a bit warm.

[markyo]

2 minutes ago, B87 said:

But it's telling that this 'warm spell' has consisted of average temperatures and average sun amounts. We should be expecting this as standard in July and August, not seeing it as some kind of great achievement.

But this kind of weather is what the vast majority find very nice,cool enough for a good nights sleep,good sunshine,not to hot,just defeats me how anybody yearns for more. It's like in the winter months when some folk chase the lowest temps as being their perfect weather,just pointless. Very strange in my opinion.

[cheese]

1 minute ago, markyo said:

But this kind of weather is what the vast majority find very nice,cool enough for a good nights sleep,good sunshine,not to hot,just defeats me how anybody yearns for more. It's like in the winter months when some folk chase the lowest temps as being their perfect weather,just pointless. Very strange in my opinion.

No idea why you insist on speaking on behalf of 'the vast majority'. You are talking codswallop and are just projecting your own preferences onto everyone else. That is very annoying behaviour.

Edited August 16, 2016 by cheese

[B87]

3 minutes ago, Nick L said:

The average August max at Heathrow is 23.2c, yesterday it exceeded 25c. And I don't see how sunshine from dawn til dusk can be "below average"?!

You said 'warm spell', and now you're talking about 1 day?

For the first half of this month we've averaged 23.7c, which is pretty much exactly as you'd expect, and we've had 94.6 hrs of sun, which is about 10 hrs down on where we should be. Don't forget we've had a mix of sunny days and then days with only 3-5 hrs of sun.

http://www.meteociel.fr/climatologie/villes.php?code=3772

Edited August 16, 2016 by B87

[Nick L]

Just now, B87 said:

For the first half of this month we've averaged 23.7c, which is pretty much exactly as you'd expect, and we've had 94.6 hrs of sun, which is about 10 hrs down on where we should be. Don't forget we've had a mix of sunny days and then days with only 3-5 hrs of sun.

10 hours down is hardly gloomy. The very fact you're dissatisfied with near average summer conditions just smacks of unrealistic expectations. It's like a winter fan being unhappy that it's not consistently a couple of degrees below normal - we live in a temperate climate and achieving that is rare. 

[markyo]

Just now, cheese said:

No idea why you insist on speaking on behalf of 'the vast majority'. You are talking codswallop and are just projecting your own preferences onto everyone else. That is very annoying behaviour.

No idea where your coming from,i speak to a lot of people with my job during the day,they say much the same. Your opinion is different obviously but codswallop mmm thats a old one to say the least. People do enjoy this sort of weather,nobody and i mean noboy i know enjoys the hot humid nights you bang on about so much.

[B87]

2 minutes ago, Nick L said:

10 hours down is hardly gloomy. The very fact you're dissatisfied with near average summer conditions just smacks of unrealistic expectations. It's like a winter fan being unhappy that it's not consistently a couple of degrees below normal - we live in a temperate climate and achieving that is rare. 

I am not dissatisfied with August, it has been exactly as you would expect a British summer to be. I was a bit disappointed with the sunshine hours in July, and felt cheated out of a summer month with one of the worst Junes ever.

This 'warm spell' as you call it is what an average summer is. 

Edited August 16, 2016 by B87

[Nick L]

1 minute ago, B87 said:

I am not dissatisfied with August, it has been exactly as you would expect a British summer to be. I was a bit disappointed with the sunshine hours in July, and felt cheated out of a summer month with one of the worst Junes ever.

This 'warm spell' as you call it is what an average summer is. 

No, it isn't. Maximum temperatures are widely 2-3c above average. You can argue with me as much as you like, but facts are facts.

[B87]

6 minutes ago, Nick L said:

No, it isn't. Maximum temperatures are widely 2-3c above average. You can argue with me as much as you like, but facts are facts.

23.7c for the first half of August here, is not 2-3c above average. It's exactly as you'd expect. We've had a couple of 27c days but also a couple of 20c days. Both are normal.

I even posted a link of our conditions so far this month, you can see for yourself that we haven't had temps 'widely 2-3c above' normal.

1 day of slightly above average temps is not a 'warm spell'.

Edited August 16, 2016 by B87

[Weather-history]

Another lovely day

 

[I remember Atlantic 252]

7 hours ago, Summer Sun said:

Kinlochewe (Highlands) is the UK's hot spot currently at 26C / 79F

yeah, this setup seems more typical of May, where Scotland often gets best weather with the east winds

[Jon Somerset]

If it wasn't above average, then the average would be lower.

I can't recall a period in August like this one recently - it must be years ago. All recent Augusts have been cool affairs in these parts, some with rain, and more recently with sun. It feels like old times and I rue the breakdown that is due. My lawn is looking brownish for the first time in years.

As regards the arguments about what people do and don't like - let's just accept we're different. I was born in the 1959 heatwave, and my theory is that is why I love hot, sultry weather. I enjoy warm sticky nights and sleep very well. That's why I nip down to the med when I can to get a fair share of continental heat. But others (including my partner) love cooler autumnal days. I know several Dutch people who uniformly love cold winter days with light grey skies. Some feel calm when they hear the rain. 

Whatever floats your boat.

[cheese]

This is the only thing I dislike about this kind of set up.. today was 23C and sunny, now it's 16C and clear. None too warm. Past few nights have all fell to 10C.

Edited August 16, 2016 by cheese

[Relativistic]

3 hours ago, Nick L said:

10 hours down is hardly gloomy. The very fact you're dissatisfied with near average summer conditions just smacks of unrealistic expectations. It's like a winter fan being unhappy that it's not consistently a couple of degrees below normal - we live in a temperate climate and achieving that is rare. 

Bang on really. I think this is down to the unusual spell of hotter, dryer Summer months (more so July and August) that occurred when a lot of people on here were growing up.

 

Let's look at CET averages for July and August.

 

July mean 1981-2010: 16.7C
July mean 1951-1980: 15.9C
July mean 1921-1950: 16.3C

August mean 1981-2010: 16.4C
August mean 1951-1980: 15.6C
August mean 1921-1950: 15.9C

 

Since 1980 we have seen 4 of the 10 warmest Julies ever (1983, 1995, 2006, 2013), including the two warmest (1983 and 2006).
Since 1980 we have seen 4 of the 10 warmest Augusts ever (1990, 1995, 1997, 2003), including the two warmest (1995 and 1997).

 

Now let's look at the EWP for England and Wales.

 

July mean 1981-2010: 67.3mm
July mean 1951-1980: 69.5mm
July mean 1921-1950: 80.0mm

August mean 1981-2010: 75.6mm
August mean 1951-1980: 86.1mm
August mean 1921-1950: 81.6mm

 

Since 1980 we saw the 10th driest July ever (1999), and 3 of the 10 driest Augusts ever (1991, 1995, 2003), including the driest ever (1995).

 

Clearly something changed in the period 1981-2010, and people's expectations changed. What we are seeing now may actually be much more "normal" for the UK.

[cheese]

8 minutes ago, Relativistic said:

 

 

Clearly something changed in the period 1981-2010, and people's expectations changed. What we are seeing now may actually be much more "normal" for the UK.

Yes, it's called 'a warming climate', or 'global warming', or 'climate change' - pick whichever you want. In this stupid country it only seems to apply to all seasons except summer, while nearly everywhere else in the world gets hotter and hotter summers. Will winters also face a correction and return to how they were for the 1961-1990 period and before? No, of course not.

In any case, this is likely just a blip. Summers for the 1991-2020 period will be largely the same as the 1981-2010 period. Same happened in the 1980s, we had some atrociously cool summers. 

Anyway, for a weather forum people seem to have remarkably poor knowledge on their own climate. August so far has been exactly as you'd expect it to be - certainly here we are running almost bang on average. Nothing special or out of the ordinary at all.

Edited August 16, 2016 by cheese

[Evening thunder]

1 hour ago, B87 said:

But it's telling that this 'warm spell' has consisted of average temperatures and average sun amounts. We should be expecting this as standard in July and August, not seeing it as some kind of great achievement.

Looks like a few days at least of above normal temperatures and sunshine for the majority. Even if London hasn't been one of the most above average locations, many places across the country including northern and western areas have reached the mid 20's including up to 27C in the Highlands of Scotland. That is not average for them.

Not a heatwave but another warm sunny day here, the 5th good day and the 2nd of 100% sun in a row, so a nice little spell this.

[Relativistic]

1 minute ago, cheese said:

Yes, it's called 'a warming climate', only in this stupid country it seems to apply to all seasons outside of summer and not summer itself, while nearly everywhere else in the world gets hotter and hotter summers.

Any need for that? Move somewhere else if you don't like it.

This Summer feels so normal to me, even on the warm side. People are overreacting. I'm sick of the moaning on here, it's all so childish. Maybe I should take my own advice and get away from this thread.

[cheese]

2 minutes ago, Relativistic said:

Any need for that? Move somewhere else if you don't like it.

This Summer feels so normal to me, even on the warm side. People are overreacting. I'm sick of the moaning on here, it's all so childish. Maybe I should take my own advice and get away from this thread.

Exactly - normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Neither good nor bad. Just what you expect in a typical British summer. The way people are fawning over this summer as if it's anything special or to remember you'd think we've just had a 1995 or 2006 repeat. In reality it just looks good compared to the crap that preceded it.

Edited August 16, 2016 by cheese

[Relativistic]

1 minute ago, cheese said:

Exactly - normal. Nothing out of the ordinary. Neither good nor bad. Just what you expect in a typical British summer. The way people are fawning over this summer as if it's anything special or to remember you'd think we've just had a 1995 or 2006 repeat. 

Or maybe there are people on here who appreciate the current spell of weather more than any other kind in Summer? Many are extremely grateful not to be experiencing a repeat of 2006 or 1995.