Because he’s richardabdn and his writing is a kind of meteorological poetry. 

Come on Richard, you were writing off June last week and already we've had four sunny days out of six and over three weeks without measurable rainfall stretching back to 13 May.  See the positives 

Actually, we weren't too far away from that here in Edinburgh not too long ago as we had got to 19 days in a row without any rain before those showers and thunderstorms which had already been affecting England and Wales, decided to wander this way for a couple of days at the very beginning of this month. Those showers and thunderstorms obviously didn't make it all the way up to Aberdeen but had that blocking area of high pressure not slipped away just far enough north at that time for those showers and thunderstorms to reach us, I could have easily have also being talking about having gone 23 days in a row without any rain like Richard, as that blocking high has since re-asserted itself to the north of us, thus causing it to become bone dry here once again.

Here, I'm just enjoying that lovely sunshine whilst it is here. The outlook if for it to become generally more unsettled next week but to me, that just serves to cause me even more, to make the most of this much better weather whilst it is here (after all, that could then be "it" for our summer once that more unsettled weather arrives).

25c here 

Another absolutely stunning afternoon in Manchester. 

Perfect. Sunny and clear and feels great in the sun. 

19C/10C 

CLOUDY HERE.. Even felt a few spots of rain. Do not require dismal weather this Saturday as PSJ has its 10th anniversary Party In the Park event. Then a residents event the Saturday after,,,,  

An off, bright but cloudy day in London today.

I am alternating rapidly between optimism and pessimism for the prospects at the moment. We keep getting dodgy and wet op runs on both ECM and GFS yet there remain many (often a majority of) ensembles showing extended spells of hot weather.

Can't speak for the UK regions you mention, but here in the west of Ireland this spell of weather is without precedent relative to this part of the year (or at least since the onset of records going back to 1945) The daily maxima, while very warm, are not that unusual in this part of the world in late May/early June, but it is sheer longevity of them that is breaking all the records. The east of Ireland, on the other hand, like the east coast of the UK, is experiencing somewhat cooler temps, but still warmer than normal overall. This current temp chart really just shows what is going on the mo. 

The exact opposite of normal. 

Yes another perfectly clear summer's day here today.

Feels a bit bizarre! 

It's alright for you to say that, with being in quite a sheltered spot in the western half of the UK.

Personally, I would be sparing a thought if I were you, for those of us here on the east coast who have had to put up with cooler temperatures and that North Sea muck (i.e. the east coast haar and low cloud), thanks to that summer easterly.

If you were ask me in six months' time whether or not, I would want to be seeing an easterly, it would be a different story of course. The sad thing is though, is that we never seem to get those easterlies at that stage of the winter when I could do with seeing them.

Usually it's me stuck under the crap when we get a north-westerly. Thankfully there haven't been many of those this year at least. In all fairness though, I would be fuming if were me who was stuck under the cloud, so you have my sympathy.

As for the last point, it would be the opposite. I would be dreading an easterly six months from now. The one in late February-early March was hideous enough, thank you.

When it's the west bearing the brunt, I rarely see any sympathy from those in the east (especially those in the south east).

I just hope that when the flow returns to something from a general westerly direction, it's much more a SW'ly, so that the North Wales mountains shield us.

What we've seen all too often in recent years is a straight westerly (or slightly north of a straight westerly), which leads to the effect of the North Wales mountains channelling cloud (with the resultant rain) into NW England off the Irish Sea.

Having lived on both the west and east coasts, I would rather have the west coast any day. Even thought the west bears the brunt of rainfall, the rain usually passes through quickly to give bright conditions. The breeze off the Irish Sea is also never as chilly as off the North Sea. The SSTs always see to that.

Talking of which, I was wondering where we stand currently with SSTs around the British Isles? The low cloud and muck infesting the east coast earlier this week was due to the temperature inversion so nicely aided by the North Sea. But I think in this case the very warm air aloft must have contrasted even more markedly with below average SSTs? Either way the low cloud, drizzle, murk, and chilly conditions experienced even in June are just simply horrendous. 

We've gone (as you might expect) from cooler than average SSTs at the beginning of May to mostly slightly above average now:

Average hours of sunshine per year:

Morecambe - 1507.3

Blackpool - 1566.5

Scarborough - 1553.0

Cleethorpes - 1539.8

Boulmer - 1547.0

All much of a muchness really. The only difference between the west coast and the east coast is rainfall.

Indeed:

Sunshine:

Rainfall:

Interesting, many thanks for that. The culprit then must be the unusually warm uppers. Not even the June sun could burn through it.

I think the Met Office sun average maps are a bit off mind you - Church Fenton gets 1574 hours as per the 1981-2010 norms, but is in the 1400-1500 range on the first map. Likewise, Heathrow gets 1633 hours but is in the 1500-1600 range and Cambridge gets less than 1500 but is in the >1500 range. 

Couldn't agree more. Even in locations away from the east coast such as Cambridge, any wind from the east is greeted with dread in the winter and spring months. Even recently this June we can be plagued with continuous cloud and murk, with temperatures in the low to mid teens.

17th consecutive day here now with temps into the 20s here (currently 23c). Feels even more humid and oppressive then recently, and that's saying something. Reached 26c yesterday.