Last night we were teased with a few spots of rain and a fresh breeze, which promised a decent night’s sleep, but it fizzled out before it got going!  It neither wet the ground or cooled down to a comfortable sleeping temp!   

We had a soaking, but it was dry an hour later.

For all my recent proclamations that once we got the rainy June out of the way it's been a decent summer here, what has really annoyed me this morning - and I've now decided has become a theme for summer - is the lack of settled weather in the longer range.

I just want week after relentless week of 'boring' summer weather - mostly sunny, bone dry, temps into the mid-20's, mild nights, but with the odd hot spell thrown in as the cherry.

But it seems that as soon as we get a decent spell of weather in place, the breakdown is shown to be a few days later. It's all too unsettled for my liking.

Summer has stalled

Manchester Summer Indices 

1954 143
1907 147
1956 155
1912 156
1924 158
2012 164
2008 168
1987 169
1946 170
1909 171
1931 173
1978 173
1980 173
1920 174
1923 174
2007 174
1927 175
1948 176
1938 177
1922 178
2011 179
1985 180
1958 184
1972 185
2019 185 (up to 20th July)
1916 188
1986 189
1965 189
2016 189
1910 190
1936 190
1988 191
2010 191
1966 192
1998 192
2017 192
1953 193
1963 194
1993 194
2009 194 

I can put up with the odd cooler day and I don’t even crave a heatwave these days, I think it’s an age thing.  I prefer days when I can be outside in shorts and vest top until bedtime and nights when I can sleep!  That’s pretty much how it’s been and I truly hope it lasts for a few weeks.  I can forgive June for being such a rubbish month if this weather continues through August for a change!  I’d even grin and bear a couple of sultry, sleep depriving nights and scorching, shade seeking days if that’s what it takes!  

But week after week of that 'boring' weather as you describe rarely happens, well not in NW England anyway.

But looking at it from the other side of the coin, any unsellted spell doesn't last long before we are back to forcasted settled/warmer/hotter conditions. The last few days have been a perfect example of that. In fact the last month has been typified by pleasant summer weather, punctuated by short spells of wetter, more unsettled conditions. We were very unlikely to get a repeat of last year and given the horrendous start to June and I feared that we might have another 2012 on our hands, summer since then has panned out pretty well.

I loved last summer.  The buzz, the excitement, the record breaking, the comparison to 1976 etc.  But I think I’ve grown up!  It just wasn’t practical!  It was too hot for comfort and I spent most of June and July sitting in the shade, lethargic from sweaty, broken nights!  

This month has been just right for working in the garden during the day, for sitting out in the evening and for sleeping at night!  I’ve been wide awake and uber productive in the garden (not mine, my daughter’s) because the weather has been enjoyable and useable!   

Wouldn't ya just know it!! A wet breakdown now being forecast for the weekend. Fresher conditions had been on the cards persistently, but at least dry. We'd planned a day in the Lakes. Now a big chunk of the weekend set to be a washout. 

Of course a lot of GFS runs to pass under the bridge by then, so time for things to change (fight back, high pressure, fight back!!!) but it's bloody typical of the crap climate this country generally has in terms of not being able to plan excursions/holidays/parties/events with any confidence.

As a stroke of luck, I'm off on Thursday

As it's now above 30 c with 60% h under blazing sunshine  & with very little wind . . . and yet I am still seeing people in full hoodie gear covering faces complete with jogging bottoms while hunched over their smartphones. What on Earth are the matter with them?!

Thankfully it looks like my 2 day holiday next week will coincide with some much nicer weather than this utterly miserable useless of energy we're suffering from today.

As I said on Tuesday:  Boris becomes PM and the country turns hot as hell.  Coincidence? 

Expecting to see lava running down the streets and a few lesser daemons swooping up crispy burnt maidens on my walk home this afternoon (assuming I can force myself through the heat barrier currently barring the door)

Feel cheated The storms on the night before last started just west of here and moved off northward; now today's are east of us and again moving off north. What has convection got against Chichester if Portsmouth and Eastbourne are acceptable?

Much the same in Dorset the other night when I was confident we would at least see the first lightning of the year but it was not to be. One day it will happen.

Well, at least you have your Cornish Pasties!!

No different here which just seems like a cooler version of Cornwall these days. The absolute pits for warmth or any sort of extreme. 

Completely unremarkable day. Cloudy all morning with mist down at the coast then sea breeze in the afternoon so temperatures no higher than low 20s. Nothing remotely close to the July record of 30.0C which was set was back in 1876.

Raining yet again this evening for the 8th day out of 9. It’s been a ghastly excuse for a warm spell. The equivalent of a winter cold spell producing nothing but 3C and anticyclonic gloom. A virtual certainty now that this decade will record an lower absolute maximum than even the 1960s

Wasn’t overly satisfied with the weather on my holiday in Portugal (staying around 30 miles inland from Porto). Although it was fantastic compared to the awful July we have had here, almost half the mornings had this nasty misty murky low cloud which was every bit as vile as the muck we get off the North Sea here (will post a picture when I have sorted through them). Tended to burn off by mid-morning but stick around longer on the coast. Little wonder the beaches are deserted and very similar to here at only around 24C on the hottest day. Vila do Conde was dire on Tuesday afternoon where I had a lunch under 19C overcast at 2pm when it was 25C in Aberdeen at the same time (the only real good day of this atrocious spell it would seem). Then landed in Manchester at 11pm where it was an unbelieavable 26C so the other way round to what you would expect.

Must surely be one of the worst ever summers across Portugal. The situation with the low cloud was horrific especially further south, with it spreading past the Spanish border on most days and never fully burning back on the Silver Coast, north of Lisbon. Was there on a holiday 8 years ago and locals complained it was a poor summer then but there was never anything like those issues with low cloud lasting all day long day after day.

Atlantic coast of Portugal is definitely a no go area for those wanting proper summer weather but head further east into the Douro Valley and the opposite problem occures - a stifling 36C. Incredible temperature gradient over a very short distance.

I shall assume from this then, that you don't believe in climate change/global warming?

Is Richard ever happy with the weather where he is though?

Manchester Summer Indices 

1954 143
1907 147
1956 155
1912 156
1924 158
2012 164
2008 168
1987 169
1946 170
1909 171
1931 173
1978 173
1980 173
1920 174
1923 174
2007 174
1927 175
1948 176
1938 177
1922 178
2011 179
1985 180
1958 184
1972 185
1916 188
1986 189
1965 189
2016 189
1910 190
1936 190
1988 191
2010 191
1966 192
1998 192
2017 192
1953 193
1963 194
1993 194
2009 194
1902 195
1915 196
1981 196
1928 197
1962 197
1964 197
2004 197
2019 197 (up to 25th July) 

Temperatures here last night were fine for sleeping. It does make we wonder what some people moan about. However I was woken up by damned thunder at 3am or thereabouts and that ruined my night's sleep. Goodness knows why people get excited by thorms and complain about the heat. 

Of course he won't be, there will always be something to complain about but that's just the way he is. However if it's real heat you are after then northern Portugal probably isn't the place to go. Porto has a July max of 25.3C, not that hot really and just 2/3 degrees above London. If he only ever got 24C as a max then that's rather cool but probably not anything out of the ordinary for that location. As for the low cloud well I can only imagine that's down to the Atlantic influence, just like we have in the UK, Portugal is just a lot further south but that effect must still be there. It's most certainly not the Med! I don't know exactly what Richard wants from his holidays but if it's  30C+ heat and pretty much guaranteed sunshine then I suggest doing a littel research first and going to Greece, or better still Egypt.