Spring 2021: Moans, Groans, Ramps and Banter.

[Azazel]

4 hours ago, Nick L said:

I'm despising this "spring" as much as anyone but this is utter nonsense.

Nah, ask Mapantz who has to constantly tell people in here to stop guilt tripping eachother.

Maybe ‘revel in others misery’ is a little hyperbolic but there are certainly a number of posters who seem to make a habit of posting remarkably upbeat posts when the weather is crap with impeccable timing and then they always follow it up with ‘I JUST DONT UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE CAN LIKE HEAT’

honestly, every single year. It’s baiting, pure and simple. 

[Weather-history]

4 minutes ago, CreweCold said:

I think the main point of interest is that when all said and done, if trees don't properly come into leaf until May, you've essentially only got 4 months of proper greenery. By September, the leaves start to turn again.

I remember the spring of 1996, that was bad. Consistently cloudy and chilly, then it suddenly changed at the end of May like a switch. That spring was delayed. 

[AderynCoch]

1975 must have been bad.

[LetItSnow!]

Finding it quite grating the amount of whining & bickering that seems to occur at least a handful of times a year; infact, I think I've posted something akin to this before, but I think any guilt tripping of any weather type, COLD or HOT really needs to stop. I understand we're all weather enthusiants, but I think some people take it too seriously. On one hand, I understand the frustration of the recent & upcoming weather, especially gardeners, but another part of me thinks... Well, there's been so many mild months over the past 30 years that I think complaining about this spell is a little ridiculous. The other hand (and my personal view) is that it's so nice to see that we can still pull off cold records. I still think it's hinting at a change in our weather going forward, but that's a conversation for a different time... The short version is, (at least try to) appreciate all weather that comes along, don't bicker, & don't take it too seriously!

Edited May 1, 2021 by LetItSnow!

[hillbilly]

20 hours ago, damianslaw said:

Was that Queensbury or Mountain. I think Mountain is about 350m high. 

Mountain is part of Queensbury really,i believe it is the highest town in the country.

I actually lived on a farm several miles to the west of there close to the Lancashire border,we could see some of the Peak district hills and on a chrystal clear winters day and a good pair of binoculars we could see the Humber bridge 63 miles away

[hillbilly]

10 hours ago, al78 said:

Doesn't the surrounding topography reduce the theoretical maximum sunshine hours?

That is an interesting question.

I took these figures from the Met office 'Bradford' station,which is the nearest figures available for here and a long record but am not sure exactly where it is. It is possible that its location may be affected by the nearby hills however my old location was  very close to the hill tops so it is also possible i get sunrise early and sunset late. I think the most logical explanation of reduced hours is the hills collect cloud and many days in summer when it is cloudy here it can be clear and sunny an hour down the M62 towards flatter areas to the east of Leeds

[Weather-history]

21 minutes ago, AderynCoch said:

1975 must have been bad.

Tickles me seeing old episodes of the Good Life. You see Tom and Barbara doing all these gardening scenes/bringing in a harvest and there is not a leaf on any of the trees  and you can see their breaths! I think it was filmed during late winter early spring of 1975

 

[Arctic Hare]

1 hour ago, Sunny76 said:

I’m praying for when we get our first taste of plus 24c days, which last longer than a couple of days. 
 

I can’t wait for a 7-14 day spell of 26-30c, and warmer evenings. Ok, I’ll deal with the warm London Underground, but I’m willing to make that trade for being able to sit in the park, without feeling cold.

You can bet, the coldies will start moaning about it being abnormally hot when the first hot spell arrives sometime in late May or early June.

This year has a 1980 feel to it, which produced a very sunny April and a warm sunny dry mid May period, then it turned cooler, and there was a mini heatwave in early June, which ended with widespread thunderstorms over much of England. 

Maybe they will. But here, of all threads, is actually a reasonable place to do that. It has "Moans" is after all the very first word of its title! Personally I'd prefer a lengthy spell in the low 20s with plenty of sunshine, but to each their own of course!

Today I met a few friends in a nearby park. What was it like? Well... before we met up, I wandered around town trying to find a pair of cheap gloves. Quite seriously, I needed them! But as it's now May all the shops are in "summer mode" and have cleared away most of the gloves. I eventually found some at a market stall. And I wore them, too!

All that said, I think given the exceptional social circumstances of this spring, most pub/cafe owners would strongly prefer the April we've just had to a mild and wet one. Even with tents, my experience is that far fewer people want to go out for a bite/pint in the rain than in chilly sunshine.

Edited May 1, 2021 by Arctic Hare

[Weather Enthusiast91]

How did people manage to moan about the weather before Netweather forums existed? 

Edited May 1, 2021 by Weather Enthusiast91

[I remember Atlantic 252]

been surprised in a way, been amazing since 12th April, great dry 3 weeks, but as expected have to pay for it with daytime rain, Tues looks very wet, my guess for one of wettest May's on record

[Arctic Hare]

7 minutes ago, Weather Enthusiast91 said:

How did people manage to moan about the weather before Netweather forums existed? 

"Old man yells at cloud" about sums it up.

[hillbilly]

57 minutes ago, AderynCoch said:

1975 must have been bad.

Yes 1975 was a chilly spring and so was 1996 but they were more than made up by the Summer warmth,however 1986 was not so fortunate by giving us the coldestFebruary,April,August and September to this day to add to a dire summer!

[NEVES SCREAMER]

In my book we have had one proper summer in the last 15 years and two in 25 years. We seem to get all sorts of crap. Floods. Cold. The one thing we never get is nine or ten weeks of glorious hot and humid weather with temps up in the high 20's at least. Shorts. T shirts. B B Q 's. Air con. Sun screen What is the point in the UK. It is just endless cold miserable dross.

[I remember Atlantic 252]

battle to keep sane after tomorrow, we had most of lockdown 31 Dec to 11th April dry, but this next week now open again rain

[Nick L]

7 minutes ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

In my book we have had one proper summer in the last 15 years and two in 25 years. We seem to get all sorts of crap. Floods. Cold. The one thing we never get is nine or ten weeks of glorious hot and humid weather with temps up in the high 20's at least. Shorts. T shirts. B B Q 's. Air con. Sun screen What is the point in the UK. It is just endless cold miserable dross.

Just not our climate to get that more than once a few decades. Similar to having two months of deep cold. It happens, but rarely.

The UK, sadly, has a bland climate. That's why some of us choose to travel across the pond to see storms!

[Frost HoIIow]

1 minute ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

In my book we have had one proper summer in the last 15 years and two in 25 years. We seem to get all sorts of crap. Floods. Cold. The one thing we never get is nine or ten weeks of glorious hot and humid weather with temps up in the high 20's at least. Shorts. T shirts. B B Q 's. Air con. Sun screen What is the point in the UK. It is just endless cold miserable dross.

It's always been like that though for as long as I can remember and I'm in my early 70s. Hence why people go on holiday to Spain or other Mediterranean countries. And some people especially the elderly go and live there as it's healthier being in the sun and warmth, they tend to extend their life expectancy by a few more years doing that. It's well known that a lack of Vitamin D can cause a whole myriad of inflammatory problems - arthritis, stroke, heart disease, depression (which can be through inflammation), even some cancers, all of these issues can get worse the further north you go in Europe.

[NEVES SCREAMER]

5 minutes ago, Frost HoIIow said:

It's always been like that though for as long as I can remember and I'm in my early 70s. Hence why people go on holiday to Spain or other Mediterranean countries. And some people especially the elderly go and live there as it's healthier being in the sun and warmth, they tend to extend their life expectancy by a few more years doing that. It's well known that a lack of Vitamin D can cause a whole myriad of inflammatory problems - arthritis, stroke, heart disease, depression (which can be through inflammation), even some cancers, all of these issues can get worse the further north you go in Europe.

Yeah well. I've had a few beers and I'm just having a good moan about the British weather. As you do...

[al78]

1 hour ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

In my book we have had one proper summer in the last 15 years and two in 25 years. We seem to get all sorts of crap. Floods. Cold. The one thing we never get is nine or ten weeks of glorious hot and humid weather with temps up in the high 20's at least. Shorts. T shirts. B B Q 's. Air con. Sun screen What is the point in the UK. It is just endless cold miserable dross.

That is why the package holiday industry took off when flying became affordable to the masses. The UK's default climate is changeable with frequent cloud and rain. We did have nine or ten weeks of glorious summer weather in 2018 which rivalled 1976 for CET and we  had two months of glorious weather last year in April and May, but summers like that are, on average, once or twice in a lifetime. The UK is not the Mediterranean. The only thing I am concerned about is the apparent increase in stagnant weather regimes which bring months like April-May 2019 or February 2019, i.e. too much of one type of weather. The stagnant weather patterns where we get stuck under a ridge or trough in the jet stream often brings us destructive weather, either from flooding rains, a barrage of windstorms (in winter), or heatwaves and drought which can badly affect agriculture and are harmful to health.

[Snowy L]

6 hours ago, markyo said:

Certain folk on here seem to forget, you don't order what weather you would like down to every detail...This April has been cool i admit, record breaking but on the plus dry and with a good deal of sunshine on my travels. Surely this record breaking should be of interest? Just as record heat has been to those who crave it in summer, the last 2 summers prove it. 

Just a thought....We've just had the coldest winter since 2010 i believe, now the coldest Spring, is that correct? If so this happens 12months after the world stopped moving, stopped travelling, stopped polluting by a massive scale. The figures this Summer could be very interesting to those climate sceptics!

Means nothing if the rest of the world is still warming and therefore most likely noise.

[Portsmouth Sun]

1 hour ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

In my book we have had one proper summer in the last 15 years and two in 25 years. We seem to get all sorts of crap. Floods. Cold. The one thing we never get is nine or ten weeks of glorious hot and humid weather with temps up in the high 20's at least. Shorts. T shirts. B B Q 's. Air con. Sun screen What is the point in the UK. It is just endless cold miserable dross.

What do you expect when you live on a little island exposed to the Atlantic at a northern latitude?

[NEVES SCREAMER]

It used to be an average of 3 good summers in 10. Now it seems 3 good summers in 25. If this is global warming they can shove it where the sun dont shine. Which is normally the UK. 

[stainesbloke]

Back to cool weather here, only recorded 12°C today. Tomorrow looks awful as a deep low develops over C Europe, moving NE. Plenty of showers to come next week and still cool, though next weekend might hit the dizzy heights of 21°C

[NEVES SCREAMER]

40 minutes ago, Portsmouth Sun said:

What do you expect when you live on a little island exposed to the Atlantic at a northern latitude?

I expect 3 good summers in 10 like the 70's 80's and 90's . Not endless grey crude. 

[rwtwm]

2 hours ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

In my book we have had one proper summer in the last 15 years and two in 25 years. We seem to get all sorts of crap. Floods. Cold. The one thing we never get is nine or ten weeks of glorious hot and humid weather with temps up in the high 20's at least. Shorts. T shirts. B B Q 's. Air con. Sun screen What is the point in the UK. It is just endless cold miserable dross.

This is the moaning thread, so I'm not gonna snipe for your opinion. I am really interested as to the two that you think make the grade though.

2013 and 2018 were fairly special IMO. 2006 I'm sure is one based on the 15 years comment. 2003 seems too close for you to go out to 25 years. '96 maybe? That doesn't stand out in the memory for me, but my memories get fuzzy that far back. I think 95 was top tier though.

[summer blizzard]

I think some of you were spoiled by the 89-06 period which was extremely anomolous.

The historical average for a 16+ June is 10 years, the average for July 18+ is 7 years and August 18+ is 10 years. We've had 3 such June's in 18 years and 3 such July's in 15 years, only August can have disappointed some.

In the 89-06 (17 year period) period though we had 1 June but 4 July's and 4 August's.

My point is that what we have seen since 06 is normal for June and July and that you've been spoilt by the period before.

Edited May 1, 2021 by summer blizzard