Summer 2014

[SummerShower]

One of the more interesting summers of recent times this one, and perhaps a bit forgotten as it came after the great July of 2013.

June and July combined were very consistent (easily the best pairing of these 2 months, at the time, since 2006) and during the closing days of July I wondered whether the summer would be better than 2013 overall.. Then we had that absolute turdfest of an August, which was easily as bad as 2008, 2010, 1993 and arguably 1986.

June was warmer and drier than average but also very thundery, with a great storm in central southern England 13/14th. It had consistent warmth but didn't get above 28c during the month anywhere.  (Appreciate the regional variation in thunder here though)

July was very warm, almost as warm as 2013, and also very thundery.  There was a brilliant plume during the 3rd weekend which gave us 2 night time storms in a row.  One of my favourite July's actually for thunder this was.  Also it was consistent in warmth, with many days above 27C, but only 2 days above 30 all month (18th was 32.3 at Gravesend and 24th 30.6 at Southampton).

And then August came along to really spoil the party.  Consistently cool and wet throughout, with deluges on 10th and around 26th.  The 3rd week was unusually cool as well.  The only saving grace was that there were still some thunder days throughout the month.

We also then had a bone dry September (only may 2020 was a drier month in recent years) where summer made 1 last appearance for a while.

What are your thoughts/memories of this somewhat unusual summer?

Edited May 29, 2021 by SummerShower

[East_England_Stormchaser91]

27 minutes ago, SummerShower said:

One of the more interesting summers of recent times this one, and perhaps a bit forgotten as it came after the great July of 2013.

June and July combined were very consistent (easily the best pairing of these 2 months, at the time, since 2006) and during the closing days of July I wondered whether the summer would be better than 2013 overall.. Then we had that absolute turdfest of an August, which was easily as bad as 2008, 2010, 1993 and arguably 1986.

June was warmer and drier than average but also very thundery, with a great storm in central southern England 13/14th. It had consistent warmth but didn't get above 28c during the month anywhere.  (Appreciate the regional variation in thunder here though)

July was very warm, almost as warm as 2013, and also very thundery.  There was a brilliant plume during the 3rd weekend which gave us 2 night time storms in a row.  One of my favourite July's actually for thunder this was.  Also it was consistent in warmth, with many days above 27C, but only 2 days above 30 all month (18th was 32.3 at Gravesend and 24th 30.6 at Southampton).

And then August came along to really spoil the party.  Consistently cool and wet throughout, with deluges on 10th and around 26th.  The 3rd week was unusually cool as well.  The only saving grace was that there were still some thunder days throughout the month.

We also then had a bone dry September (only may 2020 was a drier month in recent years) where summer made 1 last appearance for a while.

What are your thoughts/memories of this somewhat unusual summer?

Very good, and pretty underrated. Plenty of warmth and some decent storms that year. The most unusual and interesting event on the 13th June where strong storms formed over the Home Counties, headed South and became a rare English export to France, where I flew out to on holiday the next day. 

We missed out by a whisker on the great European storm day on the 09/10 June 2014 too, when North West Germany, France and the Benelux had a series of MCS’s, supercells and that possible Derecho hit Düsseldorf, Cologne and Essen areas. Quite honestly never seen anything like that since on a webcam, lightning maps or radar! It was bonkers. 

 

[Earthshine]

Ignoring August it was a very respectable summer (with a return to warm conditions in September).  I was only 14 at the time.

[Summer18]

I had never suffered from hay fever in life but that summer was the one and only time I got it really bad so that’s my overriding memory of that year.

It was a decent summer though, the time around the World Cup was really warm and sunny and when the Tour De France came to Yorkshire on the 5th July it was glorious. Probably comes in second to 2013 though due to the rubbish August. We did have a decent storm in the first week of August though.  
 

 

[MP-R]

Fortunately I missed a chunk of the naff August by going on holiday on the 08th, and the month to that point was still warm and mainly sunny. It went downhill big time with the arrival of ex-tropical storm Bertha which, perhaps without which, August may have continued in the same way as June and July...? Likewise, ex-tropical storm Cristobal had the opposite effect and settled things down again in September.

June and July, however, I have very fond memories of. Plenty of warm or hot and sunny weather interspersed with thunderstorms, especially July.

[Don]

Summer 2014 was ok for warm lovers and I would certainly rate August far higher than that of 2008 as despite being somewhat cooler, it was drier and sunnier!  However, as others have said, it does seem to be a rather forgotten summer.

[Frigid]

I think I was only about 10 during Summer 2014 so my memories are a bit vague, but I can remember July 14 being very warm from the 17th to 27th. At the time I thought no July could come close in the near future but of course, July 2018. The August felt very autumnal and quite cold at times. 

Summer 2014 reminds me a bit like last summer due to how varied it was, a very underrated season.

[Harry233]

I would say summer 2014 was indeed a good summer. Admittedly as you say it wasn’t as good as 2013. Overall for me it was very sunny and quite warm although the rainfall was slightly above above average.

 

June it’s self for me was very warm, (mean max: 19.5 compared to an average of 18.1 and mean minimum was extremely high min: 11.5 compare to 9.2) it was however slightly duller and wetter than usual, almost entirely due to the last week and a few days in the second week. There was a very good spell of summer weather between the 11th-23rd which seen many days above 20.C and plenty of sunshine. I actually think Strathallan (which is the nearest met office station to me) recorded the months highest temperature of 26.5.C of all of the UK that month. I reached 26.3.C and I live about five miles north. 
 

July 2014 was actually slightly drier and sunnier than 2013 which was even more impressive as July 2013 had 137% of average sunshine (2014 had 148%) it was warm although not especially, the maximums were high at 22.0 (compared to 20.1) although the minimums were slightly lower than average 10.7 compared to 11.1. The month was quite identical to July 2013 but the heat didn’t seem as strong, there was hot days thrown in but most of the month was generally warm, there was some cooler weather as well from time to time but never on a noticeable scale and the closing days were extremely warm. Just shy of 28.C which was the warmest days of the year (24th and 25th).

 

August however was a lot more disappointing it was very wet, cool and quite dull. It was also very windy as well. 
 

I had good memories of that summer it was a good one. Not one of the best but definitely way better than average.

[Weather-history]

Thunderstorms during the 2010s were rare as hen's teeth up here.

Summer 2014 did produce a good night one

There was a big cell that just missed here on 10th June 2014

It was decent summer up to August but if I was being honest, I would gladly put 2014 into the meteorological histroical bin, I didn't care much for it. A pretty boring year here.

[Sunny76]

I was the ripe old age of 38 then, so remember it well lol. 
 

That being said, 2014 does actually feel like a long time ago now. 
 

The Brazil World Cup was warm and sunny all the way through, and it reminded me of the June and July of 1994, although 94 was slightly hotter I think. 
 

Like others said, it wasn’t as good as summer 2013, but it was almost as good, with plenty of hot sunny weather, and another summer with a classic overnight thunderstorm. Think the London storm was on a Thursday night after the World Cup finished. The storms were quite long lasting also. Similar to the overnight storms in July and august of 2013.

It did seem like a return to some decent summers after the dreadful run between 2007-12, but unfortunately it was a return to the milder winters. You can’t have it every way I guess lol.

August was poor, but I wouldn’t class it was a bad summer, as we had a return of heat in the first half of September that year with another overnight storm.

[Thundery wintry showers]

I was up in the Vale of York that summer, June was warm and quite dry but rather cloudy, I remember getting a couple of thunderstorms when I had a trip to Norwich around 8-10 June.  July 2014 was pretty similar to July 2013 in that area of the country with spells of warm/hot dry sunny weather and some thunderstorms late on in the month.  I also remember some quite big ones coming up from the south late on 19 July.  August 2014 was cool and wet as others mentioned, but I wouldn't put it in the same class as the likes of August 2008, as sunshine amounts were well up to the average.  I remember a thundery washout on the 8th and an autumnal depression on the 10th sandwiching a sunny day on the 9th.  September 2014 was warm and dry but, like June, surprisingly cloudy.

Thus, personally I tend to remember the summer half-year of 2014 as having a particularly good July, ratherthan summer.

Edited May 31, 2021 by Thundery wintry showers

[Harry's House]

I was living near Amesbury, Wilts before moving Pagham in August 2015. For me, the year 2014 was the most thundery since 2006. Of particular note were overnight storms with frequent lightning of 13/14 June from an MCS moving, exceptionally, from a NW'ly direction; then two consecutive nights of activity 17/18 and 18/19 July, again with very frequent lightning.

Although September was a very dry over the country as a whole, there were further storms at times from the evening of 18th to the afternoon of 19th.

[Sunny76]

26 minutes ago, Harry's House said:

I was living near Amesbury, Wilts before moving Pagham in August 2015. For me, the year 2014 was the most thundery since 2006. Of particular note were overnight storms with frequent lightning of 13/14 June from an MCS moving, exceptionally, from a NW'ly direction; then two consecutive nights of activity 17/18 and 18/19 July, again with very frequent lightning.

Although September was a very dry over the country as a whole, there were further storms at times from the evening of 18th to the afternoon of 19th.

Strange as the storms were forecast for the Friday night, but London got hit on the Thursday night, into Friday morning of the 17th July. It was a memorable storm. Lasted for an hour at least.

[SummerShower]

42 minutes ago, Sunny76 said:

Strange as the storms were forecast for the Friday night, but London got hit on the Thursday night, into Friday morning of the 17th July. It was a memorable storm. Lasted for an hour at least.

Yes I seem to remember now the thursday into Friday storms were forecast to move up the western side of the country only and being pleasantly surprised to see a distant light show to the south just around midnight.  This ended up being pretty good and the better storm of the 2 nights here.

 

[damianslaw]

Despite the poor August I'd rate it as a good summer. June and July often dry warm and sunny. July was very good, not quite on a par with 2013 but decent all the same.

 

[cheeky_monkey]

the first summer of three  (2014-16) i spent in the UK before returning to Canada..was living in Ruislip NW London at the time..dont remember much about June ..but July was very warm humid and thundery got above 27c on 17 out of the 31days and above 25c on 24 days..boy did i miss my AC from my house in Canada ..so August was a bit of a blessed relief being much cooler 

[Sunny76]

5 hours ago, cheeky_monkey said:

the first summer of three  (2014-16) i spent in the UK before returning to Canada..was living in Ruislip NW London at the time..dont remember much about June ..but July was very warm humid and thundery got above 27c on 17 out of the 31days and above 25c on 24 days..boy did i miss my AC from my house in Canada ..so August was a bit of a blessed relief being much cooler 

August was poor with lots of cool days and dull weather. It felt quite autumnal at times. But June and July were both sunny and hot. 

[North-Easterly Blast]

In actual fact August 2014 was the only month in that year where the month's overall CET was below average; many other months of that year were well above average, especially the January to April period of 2014 and also the autumn (Sep to Nov) of that year.

Edited June 3, 2021 by North-Easterly Blast