Best and worst years in the 2000’s

[Harry233]

From best to worst

2003: My sunniest year on record, January with its ridiculously mild spell before the blizzard an extremely sunny spring and heatwave just before Easter. A decent summer with some very good spells of warm weather and a very sunny autumn. Let down slightly by the summer while good being not especially sunny.

2006: A decent winter, a very snowy spell in March, a cracking summer throughout I actually had a good August that year despite it having a poor reputation, a very warm September and a wet end which was needed after months of dry weather.

2009: A good year for variation, winter was quite snowy despite being average, another good spring with plenty of warm sunny days, a good first half of summer, very wet November and a phenomenally cold Christmas and end of year.

2005: Winter had a few good snowy spells despite being quite mild, a rather disappointing spring followed though, a good summer with some very warm weather in the middle of July and a good autumn with a cold end of year.

2004: Some good wintry weather, a poor April was followed by a very good May, a pretty poor summer although August was very interesting with its heavy, thundery showers and humid feel and a good September followed with a white Christmas to cap it off.

2007: Start of the not so good years, a very mild winter although with a good snowy spell, a very good first half of spring before a pretty horrid May-August, a very good autumn and December followed at least.

2001: A very good winter, cold January, massive blizzard in February, a very good May but a pretty uninteresting six month spell from then aside from that very mild October. December was record breaking sunny at least.

2000: Probably a bit too young to remember this year properly but can recall a pretty poor winter and spring. Summer was OK with the second half of July and August being decent. Autumn was poor we didn’t have any unusually wet weather aside from September although the December was good that year.

2008: A poor year weather wise, a mild and wet winter, the northerlies at Easter were pretty interesting, a good May, another poor summer with August being especially bad although the second half of July seemed pretty decent. Autumn was pretty uninteresting aside from that northerly blast in October although December was pretty decent.

2002: Without a doubt the worst year for weather, a horrible mild, wet winter a boring spring, a very wet summer although it was warm in August, a very poor autumn aside from September which wasn’t bad and a horrible dull December. No month recorded above average sunshine that year and only April and September recorded average, also the wettest year only April and September were drier than average.

 

[B87]

2003

2006

2005

2004

2001

2009

2002

2000

2007

2008

[cheeky_monkey]

2000 was dreadful from memory..winter was a write off ...spring nothing to see here..summer was poor and the Autumn was the wettest on record...it did snow on Christmas day where i was thats about it.

[Thundery wintry showers]

2003 was my favourite year of this decade, mainly due to its high sunshine totals.  The summer wasn't as sunny as the spring or autumn, but in Tyneside it had some big thunderstorms, including some on my birthday (22 June).  Next up were probably 2006 and 2009, mainly due to the record-breaking hot sunny July in 2006, and the snowy February, thundery summer and snowy late December in 2009.  In fourth place is 2005, which I think of as a "very nearly year", in particular the summer would've ranked as one of my all-time favourites had it not been for the extremely dull last third of July.  5th place goes to 2001 - in Tyneside this year had a snowy March, a very sunny May, thundery wintry showers 8/9 November and a snowy end, but the summer and especially September weren't great.

My least favourite year of that decade was undoubtedly 2002 - apart from some decent warm sunny weather in late March and April I don't have many positive memories of that year's weather.  2000 and 2004 also lacked positive memories but were saved by snow events - post-Christmas 2000 and the dramatic frontal snow squall on 28 January 2004 which gave thundersnow for some.  Also 2004 was a thundery summer, if wet and fairly cloudy.  2007 was another "least favourite" candidate but the April in particular saved it.  2008 was saved by the period from February to mid-April, February for its record-breaking sunny spell from the 8th-19th and late March/early April for late snowfalls and some convective storms, I had a particularly potent thunderstorm in Norwich on 11 April 2008.  

Edited June 23, 2020 by Thundery wintry showers

[Met.]

I only started following the weather in 2007 so I have no records from before that, just a few memories.

Worst of that lot, 2007 probably because of the awful summer, mostly, but there was a lot of convection where I lived at the time.

Best was 2006 by miles followed by 2003.

[Summer of 95]

2006 was certainly the best. The only really sunny summer that decade (though August was a letdown), the biggest snowfall of the decade in March, plenty of frosty weather in winter (even in the mild December) and some decent convective setups.

2005 had such brilliant synoptics that never delivered, except in late June and part of July. Late Feb/early March should have been like 2018, August much warmer and late December much colder and snowier. It just seemed to keep being as frustrating as possible. Still wasn't a "bad" year, but should have been awesome.

2001 was quite a good year, no season was a classic but it did get properly cold in winter and hot in summer a few times, and lacked long spells of SW'lies. April and September were the months that spoilt it.

2002 just varied between tedious and boring (most of the summer) to absolutely vile (late Jan, Feb, November and December), and it started so promisingly with that cold first week. 

2007 is famous for its "summer" but other months had their moments: snow in Feb, warm sunny April, some nice weather in August, dry autumn. Better than 2008 for me. 

[Philipsfd]

August to December 2007 was a dry spell but it just seemed incredibly boring and still does thinking about it now. Nothing stands out about that period; everything seemed neither here nor there.

To give examples; September and October both dry and mild but not exceptionally so (although I think October may have been close to 'exceptionally dry') and both months felt 50-50 between sunny and cloudy weather. November I can remember a lot of gloomy, overcast and mild days, broken by the occasional unbroken-sunshine type of day. December had a lovely sunny and crisp second week with heavy frost on at least two mornings, but other than that I seem to recall it being exceptionally dull and very mild.

 

On the other hand...2004. It might not be considered a classic and the summer tends to get poor reviews, but I found August rather extraordinary. Warm and humid, but the real story was the near daily occurrence of evening thunderstorms, at least in the first two thirds of the month. The evening of 24th October also saw some big Autumn thunderstorms. Late January also saw a heavy snowfall for Manchester one day during a very cold week - wouldn't surprise me if this was the second heaviest snowfall of the decade in Manchester, after late December 2000.

Edited June 25, 2020 by Philipsfd

[Weather Enthusiast91]

Worst: 2012 - Very wet for the majority of the year. I love listening to the rain but the weather was taking the mick that year. Lack of variety made it very boring weather-wise.

Best: 2018 - With the beast of the east, a mixed spring and autumn and a long heatwave throughout the summer, this was by far the most interesting year in my opinion. There was something for everyone that year.

Edited June 26, 2020 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Harry233]

11 hours ago, Philipsfd said:

August to December 2007 was a dry spell but it just seemed incredibly boring and still does thinking about it now. Nothing stands out about that period; everything seemed neither here nor there.

To give examples; September and October both dry and mild but not exceptionally so (although I think October may have been close to 'exceptionally dry') and both months felt 50-50 between sunny and cloudy weather. November I can remember a lot of gloomy, overcast and mild days, broken by the occasional unbroken-sunshine type of day. December had a lovely sunny and crisp second week with heavy frost on at least two mornings, but other than that I seem to recall it being exceptionally dull and very mild.

 

On the other hand...2004. It might not be considered a classic and the summer tends to get poor reviews, but I found August rather extraordinary. Warm and humid, but the real story was the near daily occurrence of evening thunderstorms, at least in the first two thirds of the month. The evening of 24th October also saw some big Autumn thunderstorms. Late January also saw a heavy snowfall for Manchester one day during a very cold week - wouldn't surprise me if this was the second heaviest snowfall of the decade in Manchester, after late December 2000.

August 2004 was definitely a very interesting month. The heatwave at the start and then the deluge in the second week with the unbelievable amount of humidity. I can remember some notable flooding in my area with the A9 having landslides and Aberfeldy which isn’t too far from me apparently had 150mm of rain in three days .

[Weather-history]

Worst year? Easily 2002. A forgettable year.

Best year? Harder to choose but I go for 2009. Started off wintry with spectacular rime on trees, amazing sunsets after Sarychev erupted, wonderful noctilucent displays, the snowiest 7 day run up to Christmas Day that I can recall. 2006 is very close to it.

2005 wasn't bad, 

Edited June 28, 2020 by Weather-history

[Sunshineandshowers84]

Best summers for West Of Scotland were 2003 where I remember Golf Courses come were completely brown by September .. 2005 was a good July followed by a brilliant June/July 2006. I remember the World Cup that year and most days during it were warm and Sunny but a pity August was dull.. From there we only had decent summer weather July 2013 and 2014.. Then 2018 from May into mid July was brilliant then August and September were very poor.

 

But most summers of the 2000s have been poor with many damp and dull with very few warm and sunny spells.. 2004 was very wet but also rather warm. It had good days but that ended into Thundery Spells and these occurred most weeks especially August. It was quite a tropical summer with many warm days but with a good number of Thunderstorms too with many places in Central Belt flooded badly in August. 
 

Only proper winters were 2002/03. Lots of Frosts that winter but also dry and that took us into the good spring and summer of 2003.. March 2006 brought the great dumping of snow to Glasgow. 2009/10 was a harsh winter with so many weeks where maximum temps were not above freezing. Only the first half of 2010/11 winter was cold with big snowfall and took till 2018 where we got beast from the East although I would say snowfall late 2010 and in 2009/10 winter was actually worse.