A quite horrendous day. One of the worst August days I can ever recall. And no sign of any significant improvement. I fear that's it for summer. No doubt September and October will deliver as they have so often in recent years - but for now - summer is finished. Awful awful day. I am convinced our seasons are out of kilter and I don't know why. Where else in the world can you get several warmer days in the midst of winter than you can in the heart of summer?

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A quite horrendous day. One of the worst August days I can ever recall. And no sign of any significant improvement. I fear that's it for summer. No doubt September and October will deliver as they have so often in recent years - but for now - summer is finished. Awful awful day. I am convinced our seasons are out of kilter and I don't know why. Where else in the world can you get several warmer days in the midst of winter than you can in the heart of summer?

It's quite common, places like Denver can exceed 20C in Winter and see temporary snow in any summer month.

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Just to think ....14 years ago to this date....we were topping 100f in parts of the SE.....(just adding insult to injury!).....

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Making me wonder if this August is going to end up like 1912.

 

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It looks a real possibility that this summer is going to be the wettest since 2012 for England and Wales.

Now that is bad.

 

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Thanks to being time rich presently I have now completed 2 stations data for My Simple Summer Index - an objective way of measuring the quality of the summer based on June July August with criteria of sunshine hours, dry days and mean maximum temperature.

So far I have data on Manston and Bradford, I will add further stations as time permits. (edit - next stations to be added will be London (Heathrow) and Glasgow.)

Headlines thus far:

Every year Manston scores above Bradford, smallest difference was 2013 when it was negligible at 0.57.

The year with the greatest disparity was 2008, with a difference on the Index of 22.67.

Only estimated, but provisionally, 2017 shows the greatest disparity (of 16.35) between NW and SE since 2009.

2017 looks like being the best summer at Manston since 2009, and the worst at Bradford since 2012, this is quite a dramatic difference, and explains perceptional issues on the Forum.  This helps explain the amount of moaning, and likewise positivity, location dependent.

2012 was the worst summer at both stations by some margin.

2013 was the best summer at Bradford - Index of 58.40.

Manston's mean score is 58.9 (which is better than the best at Bradford).

Bradford's mean is 49.9 (which is lower than the worst summer at Manston).

2017 looks like being ranked 12th/17 at Bradford and at Manston, 8th/17 of 21st century summers this far.

As I add more stations the database will become more comprehensive.

Simple	Summer	Index	by WI
Year	Manston	Bradford	Diff
2001	66.4	50.77	15.63
2002	64.41	47.02	17.39
2003	74.13	52.77	21.36
2004	57.46	46.11	11.35
2005	65.42	51.71	13.71
2006	70.05	57.04	13.01
2007	59.14	46.85	12.29
2008	65.77	43.1	22.67
2009	68.54	49.42	19.12
2010	62.58	49.63	12.95
2011	59.69	53.97	5.72
2012	55.1	41.11	13.99
2013	58.97	58.4	0.57
2014	56.48	53.71	2.77
2015	56.01	50.58	5.43
2016	63.76	48.87	14.89
*2017	64.15	47.8	16.35
*estimate

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For the average holiday maker and fed up mothers of bored kids, it is being a bit frustrating I'll give them that, but at least my lawn has sprung back to life once again.

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To be honest it almost seems like the weather up here got better when it got worse in many other parts of the UK. The last few weeks have not been too bad and today with blue skies and warm feeling sunshine means no complaints from me. I'm not sure how long it will last though!

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To be honest it almost seems like the weather up here got better when it got worse in many other parts of the UK. The last few weeks have not been too bad and today with blue skies and warm feeling sunshine means no complaints from me. I'm not sure how long it will last though!

I fully agree with that although we did have a very wet start to the month where at one point in time, we were running about twice as wet as average. However, things have dried up considerably here over the last few days which means that today is now our third day in a row without any rain at all (assuming that the rest of the day stays completely dry as forecast) and this means that we still have just 38.1% of our average rainfall for August at a time when other parts of the UK exceeded their average rainfall for this month in just the last couple of days or so, alone.

Even when we did last get some rain, that still amounted to less than 1 mm of rain over the course of that day. We are expecting to see some rain tomorrow, especially during the morning but that is forecast to be lighter and patchier as it gets towards the east coast of Scotland, so we might not see any really high rainfall totals from that either and the weekend is forecast to be mostly dry once again. If that happens and if we were to get exactly 1 mm of rain from tomorrow's weather system (which is looking odds on to actually happen), we will then be running 5.7% drier than average for this month so far going into Monday.

Even though more rain is forecast for tomorrow, the fact that this is now looking rather likely (and not just possible) would have been completely laughable given the miserable start to the month which we had, and especially when you consider that it is already no longer possible for large parts of England to have a drier than average August this year due to what has happened over the last few days.

 

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Been dry here all day, with spells of sunshine.

But it's still crap. There's loads of cloud about and it's cool (high-teens).

At it's height just after mid-July, I'd have given this summer a 7/10. Now it's around the 4/10 mark.

We haven't had what I would deem a 'beach day' (temp upwards of around 24c, unbroken sunshine) for weeks, certainly since before the kids broke up.

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Been dry here all day, with spells of sunshine.

But it's still crap. There's loads of cloud about and it's cool (high-teens).

At it's height just after mid-July, I'd have given this summer a 7/10. Now it's around the 4/10 mark.

We haven't had what I would deem a 'beach day' (temp upwards of around 24c, unbroken sunshine) for weeks, certainly since before the kids broke up.

I've started to temper my expectations somewhat. 

Dry and a warm feeling sun on your face is good for this part of the world.

Depressingly, you have to bank days like today as decent summer weather. 

Just been out for a walk in the sun and it does feel lovely. Dizzy heights of 18C. 

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Thanks to being time rich presently I have now completed 2 stations data for My Simple Summer Index - an objective way of measuring the quality of the summer based on June July August with criteria of sunshine hours, dry days and mean maximum temperature.

So far I have data on Manston and Bradford, I will add further stations as time permits. (edit - next stations to be added will be London (Heathrow) and Glasgow.)

Headlines thus far:

Every year Manston scores above Bradford, smallest difference was 2013 when it was negligible at 0.57.

The year with the greatest disparity was 2008, with a difference on the Index of 22.67.

Only estimated, but provisionally, 2017 shows the greatest disparity (of 16.35) between NW and SE since 2009.

2017 looks like being the best summer at Manston since 2009, and the worst at Bradford since 2012, this is quite a dramatic difference, and explains perceptional issues on the Forum.  This helps explain the amount of moaning, and likewise positivity, location dependent.

2012 was the worst summer at both stations by some margin.

2013 was the best summer at Bradford - Index of 58.40.

Manston's mean score is 58.9 (which is better than the best at Bradford).

Bradford's mean is 49.9 (which is lower than the worst summer at Manston).

2017 looks like being ranked 12th/17 at Bradford and at Manston, 8th/17 of 21st century summers this far.

 

This is very interesting thanks. Couple of questions:  Where do you obtain the current August data from? I seem to be able to only find data for a particular month on the Met Office site a week after the month has ended? 

Also I know you wrote about the factors considered as part of the index but I can't find the post. Are  you able to detail again? 

If sunshine is a big factor in the index, I would imagine coastal areas will fair significantly better than inland areas. It should be as sunshine is a key necessity of good weather!

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What is nothing more then a very average summer's day is currently feeling very nice after the last few days.

Low humidity & 22C with a gentle breeze, and some sunshine - nothing special for August but feeling nice.

 

This is very interesting thanks. Couple of questions:  Where do you obtain the current August data from? I seem to be able to only find data for a particular month on the Met Office site a week after the month has ended? 

Also I know you wrote about the factors considered as part of the index but I can't find the post. Are  you able to detail again? 

If sunshine is a big factor in the index, I would imagine coastal areas will fair significantly better than inland areas. It should be as sunshine is a key necessity of good weather!

Hi Tim. Thanks. This has taken quite a while to do so it is satisfying that there are one or two people who share my interest in objectivity over perception. I will PM you. 

WI

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Thanks to being time rich presently I have now completed 2 stations data for My Simple Summer Index - an objective way of measuring the quality of the summer based on June July August with criteria of sunshine hours, dry days and mean maximum temperature.

So far I have data on Manston and Bradford, I will add further stations as time permits. (edit - next stations to be added will be London (Heathrow) and Glasgow.)

Headlines thus far:

Every year Manston scores above Bradford, smallest difference was 2013 when it was negligible at 0.57.

The year with the greatest disparity was 2008, with a difference on the Index of 22.67.

Only estimated, but provisionally, 2017 shows the greatest disparity (of 16.35) between NW and SE since 2009.

2017 looks like being the best summer at Manston since 2009, and the worst at Bradford since 2012, this is quite a dramatic difference, and explains perceptional issues on the Forum.  This helps explain the amount of moaning, and likewise positivity, location dependent.

2012 was the worst summer at both stations by some margin.

2013 was the best summer at Bradford - Index of 58.40.

Manston's mean score is 58.9 (which is better than the best at Bradford).

Bradford's mean is 49.9 (which is lower than the worst summer at Manston).

2017 looks like being ranked 12th/17 at Bradford and at Manston, 8th/17 of 21st century summers this far.

As I add more stations the database will become more comprehensive.

Simple	Summer	Index	by WI
Year	Manston	Bradford	Diff
2001	66.4	50.77	15.63
2002	64.41	47.02	17.39
2003	74.13	52.77	21.36
2004	57.46	46.11	11.35
2005	65.42	51.71	13.71
2006	70.05	57.04	13.01
2007	59.14	46.85	12.29
2008	65.77	43.1	22.67
2009	68.54	49.42	19.12
2010	62.58	49.63	12.95
2011	59.69	53.97	5.72
2012	55.1	41.11	13.99
2013	58.97	58.4	0.57
2014	56.48	53.71	2.77
2015	56.01	50.58	5.43
2016	63.76	48.87	14.89
*2017	64.15	47.8	16.35
*estimate

I

2011 raises an eyebrow. 2011 higher index than 2003 for Bradford? Coolest summer for CET for over 20 years  (2011) higher index number than the 4th warmest summer on record for CET?

Manchester Summer indices are 179 for 2011 and 247 for 2003

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2011 raises an eyebrow. 2011 higher index than 2003 for Bradford? Coolest summer for CET for over 20 years  (2011) higher index number than the 4th warmest summer on record for CET?

Manchester Summer indices are 179 for 2011 and 247 for 2003

Data shows 2003  in Bradford whilst very pleasant wasn't that remarkable in terms of maximum temp  for the summer months (19.9c, 21.2c and 21.6c). Certainly not a July 2006 (24.8c).  Whilst in 2003 it was a bit warmer than Manston was in 2011, in terms of sunshine Manston wins hands down and will every summer month by miles due to its SE coastal location and not being in the Pennines . Probably explains the results. 

Off point slightly but I never understood how a public park in Bradford which has many trees and is on a slope can accurately record sunshine levels.

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2011 raises an eyebrow. 2011 higher index than 2003 for Bradford? Coolest summer for CET for over 20 years  (2011) higher index number than the 4th warmest summer on record for CET?

Manchester Summer indices are 179 for 2011 and 247 for 2003

Thanks Kev, there was an error there, Index value for Bradford for Summer 2011 should be 52.47, which means that 2003 takes it by a whisker with 52.77!

Edit - now working on Glasgow and it is sometimes surpassing Bradford!

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To be honest it almost seems like the weather up here got better when it got worse in many other parts of the UK. The last few weeks have not been too bad and today with blue skies and warm feeling sunshine means no complaints from me. I'm not sure how long it will last though!

That's the irony, the jet stream has been so far south we have had many sunny days between the frequent rain bands.

I measure a summer by how many times I can sit in the garden at 6pm with a glass of wine, this week alone the total is 3 and the summer generally hasn't been as bad as the statistics suggest due to a predominance of sunny afternoons.

Oh, a its sooooo nice to see the southerners get some crap weather for a change!

Andy

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Oh, a its sooooo nice to see the southerners get some crap weather for a change!

Andy

Fortunately I was at Hampton Court today, lovely warm sun and 22c at the end of the afternoon!

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Hi Tim. Thanks. This has taken quite a while to do so it is satisfying that there are one or two people who share my interest in objectivity over perception. I will PM you. 

WI

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