I have now updated my UK wide Summer Index.
A reminder that I use the sum of : number of dry days x 0.3; (Sunshine hours/10) x 0.4; average mean maxima x 0.3 to get a score per month per station. These add together to give a station summer total score which measures the quality of the summer weather in each location.
Warmth, sunshine and dry days are taken as measures of the quality of a summer month. With a slight bias to sunshine hours, as when the sun is shining in summer - when the sun is high in the sky, it adds that extra perception and feeling of warmth and pleasantness. I stick with the meteorological summer month of J J A.
The record is currently by Manston with a score of 74.7 last summer (2018). The lowest score of 30.9 belongs to Lerwick in 2015. July 2018 scored 29.05 at Manston, meaning it scored almost the same in one month as Lerwick did over an entire summer.
None of these extremes fall with summer 2019. Though there was a N-S divide with the South east tending to experience a better than average summer, (eg Manston, London) and the further north you go, the summer tended to be average then worse than average in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Index runs from 2001- onwards (ie this millennium).
Simple Summer Index 2001-2019 by Whether Idle |
Year |
Manston |
Bradford |
Glasgow |
London |
Lerwick |
Eastbourne |
Yeovilton |
Armagh |
Stornoway |
2001 |
66.4 |
50.8 |
45.2 |
65.5 |
33.2 |
68.8 |
61.3 |
45.3 |
40.2 |
2002 |
64.4 |
47.0 |
43.5 |
58.3 |
39.6 |
62.7 |
57.0 |
42.3 |
37.0 |
2003 |
74.1 |
52.8 |
51.6 |
69.9 |
43.8 |
72.6 |
62.1 |
50.4 |
39.1 |
2004 |
60.3 |
46.1 |
44.9 |
62.0 |
42.3 |
64.7 |
56.2 |
47.4 |
38.7 |
2005 |
65.4 |
51.7 |
51.7 |
61.4 |
34.2 |
70.7 |
63.0 |
45.7 |
34.8 |
2006 |
70.1 |
57.0 |
57.4 |
65.8 |
40.0 |
70.9 |
67.6 |
52.8 |
42.9 |
2007 |
59.1 |
46.9 |
45.8 |
51.7 |
35.4 |
61.8 |
51.6 |
41.4 |
39.7 |
2008 |
65.8 |
43.1 |
42.5 |
54.2 |
38.2 |
60.0 |
49.0 |
40.6 |
39.1 |
2009 |
68.5 |
49.4 |
46.9 |
56.2 |
44.7 |
67.5 |
51.1 |
47.0 |
40.6 |
2010 |
62.6 |
49.6 |
48.5 |
59.3 |
35.4 |
66.2 |
60.4 |
48.0 |
36.1 |
2011 |
59.7 |
54.0 |
48.7 |
53.3 |
36.3 |
63.8 |
49.0 |
44.4 |
37.8 |
2012 |
55.1 |
41.1 |
42.1 |
49.7 |
36.7 |
58.7 |
44.0 |
38.4 |
39.1 |
2013 |
62.3 |
58.4 |
57.3 |
65.9 |
37.8 |
68.4 |
63.8 |
55.6 |
42.7 |
2014 |
62.1 |
53.7 |
55.2 |
62.4 |
37.2 |
62.8 |
60.8 |
48.0 |
42.7 |
2015 |
56.0 |
50.6 |
45.0 |
56.9 |
30.9 |
60.4 |
57.0 |
44.0 |
30.7 |
2016 |
63.8 |
48.9 |
43.0 |
57.9 |
38.4 |
61.7 |
57.1 |
42.2 |
34.8 |
2017 |
65.4 |
47.5 |
37.2 |
59.5 |
36.0 |
67.2 |
54.6 |
41.5 |
40.1 |
2018 |
74.7 |
62.8 |
55.7 |
72.8 |
39.9 |
73.8 |
66.6 |
53.3 |
39.4 |
2019 |
66.4 |
49.3 |
47.5 |
61.7 |
35.4 |
65.1 |
57.7 |
43.0 |
39.4 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
mean |
64.3 |
50.6 |
47.9 |
60.2 |
37.6 |
65.7 |
57.4 |
45.9 |
38.7 |
All stations |
median |
64.4 |
49.6 |
46.9 |
59.5 |
37.2 |
65.1 |
57.1 |
45.3 |
39.1 |