Spring 2021: Moans, Groans, Ramps and Banter.

[weatherguru14]

We have had some excellent Julys in the last few years.. 2013/14/18 and July 2019 was pretty good as well. Apart from 2018.summers over all haven't been great. But that's the UK..Our summers are stop and start. If you like the summer weather. Like I do.All we can hope for is a settled summer and I hope 2021  goes that way. 

[weatherguru14]

59 minutes ago, rwtwm said:

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.

I know the records will probably say July 2018 was warmer than 2013. But I personally think 2013 was. 2016 August and September were excellent.. I know September is considered an Autumn month. But I go by the how the weather is. And that September was hot. 

[Guest]

2 hours ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

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. 

Normally I’m the one jumping up and down over bad weather but London has averaged 25c in July over the last 8 years. Probably the longest run of consistently high temps in its history.  

[MP-R]

20 minutes ago, weatherguru14 said:

And that September was hot. 

Only for a few days though... more notable were the warm nights and homogenous warmth/humidity. i actually thought last years September warm/hot spell was more impressive - longevity and sunshine.

[weatherguru14]

No it stayed in its 20s until late September for my recolection 

[Weather Enthusiast91]

This is the UK, not the Sahara or Siberia, which means that getting an exceptional summer or winter is something really special but something that we shouldn't really be expecting to happen too often. Though certainly no harm in wishing for it to happen, which is what the forums are for. 

Back to spring

I have a feeling that a 2012 style May is on the cards, in terms of both temperature and rainfall. I am predicting the first plume to occur around the middle of the month as a way to remind us that summer is getting nearer; lasting for around 5 days. For the remainder of the month, temps will be around average or slightly above for the time of year and there will be a mix of dry and showery days.

Edited May 2, 2021 by Weather Enthusiast91

[Guest]

Despite now frost morning still consisted of two layers and gloves. Have never ever run in gloves before into May. Still no end in sight to the cold. 

[al78]

13 hours ago, AderynCoch said:

1975 must have been bad.

Some people like to blabber on about how it snowed in June that year, but never follow on with mentioning the warm/hot temperatures which followed a week later.

[al78]

18 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!

Winter was average in temperature, so not very interesting. It just seemed cold because we have gone through several mild wet winters since the cold cluster in 2008-2010.

[AderynCoch]

57 minutes ago, al78 said:

Some people like to blabber on about how it snowed in June that year, but never follow on with mentioning the warm/hot temperatures which followed a week later.

I think the warm summer that year has been overshadowed by 1976.

I mentioned Spring 1975 with regard to the exceptionally mild winter which preceded it. There must have been a lot of early blooms which perished. 

[Arctic Hare]

14 hours 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.

I suspect it's specifically the sunshine that's important, ahead of the warmth. Nearly every list of highest life expectancies has Japan and Switzerland at or near the top, and Norway is way up the rankings too. Often all three cooler countries are ahead of Spain, Greece or Italy on life expectancy. The biggest problem the UK has isn't that it's chilly, it's that it's cloudy. Birmingham averages around 1,400 hours a year, which is pretty pathetic by world standards. Rome gets 2,500 hours and Seville 2,900 hours. Even Tokyo gets 1,900.

Given our latitude, we're not a particularly cold or (barring the far west) a particularly wet country. We are a particularly grey country. I do actually like the British weather, as I'm not particularly keen on living in a land of extremes. But when we get those stubborn spells with day after day of grey gloom and you have to leave the lights on all day even in midsummer... now that weather I will moan about with the best of 'em! The last two Aprils (one warm, one cold) have both been very sunny. Imagine if we had that much sun most Aprils. I suspect people would like the British weather much more then, even without any change in temperature.

BTW I reckon the best place for sunshine, warmth and high life expectancy may be Perth, Australia. That gets 3,200 hours!

[summer blizzard]

Just taking a look and if we can avoid heat in May and June there's a reasonable chance of the coolest Q2 since 1991.

[B87]

11 minutes ago, summer blizzard said:

Just taking a look and if we can avoid heat in May and June there's a reasonable chance of the coolest Q2 since 1991.

Let's hope not. I'd rather see spring arrive at some point rather than just having a 3 month long March.

June 1991 looked absolutely disgusting. Probably the worst June on record. At Heathrow it was the 2nd coldest on record after 1972 (av max of 17.8c), with only 135 hours of sun and nearly 90mm of rain.

Edited May 2, 2021 by B87

[Bradley in Kent]

Who knows we might even have the coldest first half for a good number of years. For me as a 20-something this is definitely the coldest run of months I've experienced. 2010 came close but April was warm.

To think this was 'normal' years ago!

I don't mind though, and let's face it when the sun is out it doesn't matter what the temperature is!

[B87]

2 minutes ago, Bradley in Kent said:

Who knows we might even have the coldest first half for a good number of years. For me as a 20-something this is definitely the coldest run of months I've experienced. 2010 came close but April was warm.

To think this was 'normal' years ago!

I don't mind though, and let's face it when the sun is out it doesn't matter what the temperature is!

I don't think this year will match the first 6 months of 2013, all of which were below average. A very cold winter, a record cold March, then a poor April-June.

Then out of nowhere, a hot July and warm August.

[Bradley in Kent]

5 minutes ago, B87 said:

I don't think this year will match the first 6 months of 2013, all of which were below average. A very cold winter, a record cold March, then a poor April-June.

Then out of nowhere, a hot July and warm August.

Fingers crossed! I'd rather have the S / SE winds in actual summer. 

I'll remain hopeful that the lack of them now means they'll be more frequent then!

Edited May 2, 2021 by Bradley in Kent
Missing word

[Mr Frost]

2 hours ago, al78 said:

Winter was average in temperature, so not very interesting. It just seemed cold because we have gone through several mild wet winters since the cold cluster in 2008-2010.

Can’t agree with some of that.

Guess it depends on ones location but I would say it was cold and very interesting.

Cold weather and snowfall was fairly widespread/persistent throughout the Winter months - late December, most of January and first half of February. (Obviously Northern parts get the majority of the cold/snow in Winter…just as Southern parts get the majority of the warmth/heat in Summer)

Throw in the BFTE that delivered for many (rubbish for some of course) and the coldest February minimum temperature (-23C) since 1955.

January was a proper Winter month. (2.1C below average for Scotland)

 

 

 

I would take a Winter like that every year. 

Edited May 2, 2021 by Mr Frost

[summer blizzard]

15 minutes ago, B87 said:

Let's hope not. I'd rather see spring arrive at some point rather than just having a 3 month long March.

June 1991 looked absolutely disgusting. Probably the worst June on record. At Heathrow it was the 2nd coldest on record after 1972 (av max of 17.8c), with only 135 hours of sun and nearly 90mm of rain.

Probably worth saying that it's somewhat down to a lack of competition that we have this chance.

While we have had cooler than average Q2's none have racked up any significant cumulative anomoly bar 2013 (about a 3C cumulative departure from the 1981-2010 average).

April and the first half of May at least should give us a whopper of a headstart.

[Guest]

15 minutes ago, B87 said:

Let's hope not. I'd rather see spring arrive at some point rather than just having a 3 month long March.

June 1991 looked absolutely disgusting. Probably the worst June on record. At Heathrow it was the 2nd coldest on record after 1972 (av max of 17.8c), with only 135 hours of sun and nearly 90mm of rain.

Agreed, while cooler seasons are going to happen even in a warming world it doesn’t mean they are welcome, especially spring and summer. I think it’s fair to say the vast majority of the country is probably hoping and praying for a warm to hot summer given we’ve been locked up for months. 

[Eugene]

33 minutes ago, summer blizzard said:

Just taking a look and if we can avoid heat in May and June there's a reasonable chance of the coolest Q2 since 1991.

Think we're in with a very good chance of that, been a splendid year so far, hopefully a sign of things to come.

[Scorcher]

14 hours ago, NEVES SCREAMER said:

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

The last 10 years have produced some very good summers compared to average- obviously 2018 was the pinnacle but 2013 and 2014 would both be in the good category. I'm interested to know what you define as 'good'? I agree with others here that summers like 2018 aren't the norm in the UK.

[NEVES SCREAMER]

12 hours ago, Alderc said:

Normally I’m the one jumping up and down over bad weather but London has averaged 25c in July over the last 8 years. Probably the longest run of consistently high temps in its history.  

All I can say is what I experience in Dudley. In 2020  I can honestly say we got to 25c or above on about 11 days. There were 4 in late June then 2 right at the end of July. And probably about 5 or 6 days in the first bit of August which then went rubbish. September was not too bad to be fair!

[Sunny76]

1 hour ago, Mr Frost said:

Can’t agree with some of that.

Guess it depends on ones location but I would say it was cold and very interesting.

Cold weather and snowfall was fairly widespread/persistent throughout the Winter months - late December, most of January and first half of February. (Obviously Northern parts get the majority of the cold/snow in Winter…just as Southern parts get the majority of the warmth/heat in Summer)

Throw in the BFTE that delivered for many (rubbish for some of course) and the coldest February minimum temperature (-23C) since 1955.

January was a proper Winter month. (2.1C below average for Scotland)

 

 

 

I would take a Winter like that every year. 

Yes, there’s no getting away from the fact that winter 20/21 was colder than average and the coldest overall since 2010/11, even colder than 2012/13.

I tried to reply to a poster above in their early 20s, regarding the colder than average first half of 2021, and the poster mentioned how this used to be normal, and he/she recalls 2010 being the last time this happened. 
 

Well, 2013 was the last year when it was colder from January until late May, but colder than average first half years have never been a regular occurrence. 
 

Since 1980, the climate has warmed a little in the U.K, but only 1985, 86, 91, 96 and a handful of other years recording colder first halves.

My worry at the moment is, it would appear we are entering a new period of cooler summers, based on the recent winter and colder conditions being dominant, not just in the U.K. but also across the northern hemisphere. Colder and snowier weather in areas that rarely see snow, could be on indication we are moving into another 85-88, or 2008-12 period. This coming summer will be a telling sign, and it won’t surprise me if we fail to reach 32c this time round. 

[markyo]

Thank god that awful April has gone, all that sunshine(record breaking), light winds, lack of rain...what a pain that was.....

[Nick L]

For talk about the upcoming summer, please use the new thread: