At least the lucky Scots don't have the experience of waking up several times in the night, drenched in sweat... be careful what you wish for, folks!

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/wx3.jpg 

It's good fun seeing you suffer Darren. Seeing as you take great pleasure in relishing miserable cold weather in summer 😉 😅😅

It will go back down but this time no silly low 10 to mid teen temps here mostly just tad below average to average temps.  Today warm spell didn't bring wall to wall sunshine yet but not sure why we cannot get sunny days in any temperatures, not always have to be reserved to the heatwave or very warm spell but on average temps or a bit below.  

It does have its benefits - last night I'd have missed a great dispaly of noctilucent clouds had it not been so silly warm and I'd been unable to ge back to sleep 

Good fun, eh? I'll remember that next time you're whinging in the MO thread, or writing off entire seasons in the first week! 😁

The difference with "miserable cold weather", of course, is that you can still get out and do things and more importantly get a good night's sleep. I defy you, Moomin, to get a good night's sleep when it's 33C in your bedroom. Just try it! (Or you can have a portable a/c running loudly, and 25C instead if you prefer - that's what I had last night). And it means the roads are populated by zombies in the morning - not much fun either.

I would be one of them if I were out and about, but thankfully I'm not.

...and of course today will be day three of the heatwave, 27C is the forecast max and that's right on the threshold. Sod's law, isn't it, that those who despise heatwaves end up with one, while those gagging for them miss out!

Was meant to be sunny spells for London today now The  Met Office showing constant cloud and subdued temperatures till late afternoon 

Must be honest, I never really struggle to sleep no matter how hot the room is.

It was a bit challenging on that 40c day 2 years ago, but generally, just a fan will suffice for me, but then I have always been a good sleeper.

I do, of course, jest with you, but we don't really get enough warm to hot days to ever make it unbearable for me.

Each to their own of course, and in truth, an ideal summer would be daytime temperatures around 20-23c and nighttime comfortable around 12-14c.

But I will take the heat when it comes too! 

And I'm a changed man anyway, you will never see me writing off a season too early any more.

As such, I'm definitely not writing off summer yet, and I hope that August will give us some decent weather.

I find it a paradox that our efforts to address energy use/loss by better building materials and insulation could in some cases force us to go for air conditioning to cool our homes in summer - putting up our energy use back to where we started. Is this a fair take on the present situation? I've not looked at the "energetics" seriously. I wonder if Q has? 🤨

Well, the insulation in my house is the same as it was 40 years ago, aside from the new windows... thanks to the warming climate, it's crossed the threshold from "bugger me, that was a warm night" to "I need a/c to even think of sleeping" when we have our hottest summer days.

Judging by the number of a/c (as opposed to heat pump) condensers appearing locally, it seems that people in much newer (and thus much better insulated) houses than mine are succumbing too.

Give it another 20 years and I reckon you'll see a/c units everywhere down here... a bit like if you go on holiday to warmer countries now. Technically you need planning permission for a/c units, FWIW, but nobody bothers and the council here at least couldn't care less - they have more pressing matters to attend to with their limited resources. Oddly the a/c companies themselves either ignore the planning issue entirely, or outright lie about it! (Sample link here , it was the first Google match when I searched).

The actual rules are here - the a/c companies saying they're legal without planning conveniently ignore the "must be used solely for heating purposes" bit!

https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/heat-pumps/planning-permission-air-source-heat-pump 

That really stupid for a permission just to install a unit? Other countries don’t and do what you want.

Flight home on Sunday night was cancelled so I ended up being subjected to a 7 hour train journey on Monday from which I was able to enjoy astoundingly varied, interesting and beautiful skies for the entirety of the journey. This is just a taste of what I was treated to. It will have weather enthusiasts all around the world salivating in awe:

Retford, Nottinghamshire

Tadcaster, North Yorkshire

Newton Aycliffe, County Durham

Alnwick, Northumberland

Dunbar, East Lothian

Back home and It's a case of having to endure a life not worth living in what is resembling a plot from a dystopian horror movie in which a cloud seeding experiment has gone disastrously wrong.

Even days that are forecast to be sunnier, like today, see cloud just sitting there the entire time for no apparent reason while even the likes of Peterhead and Fraserburgh manage to enjoy sun. In fact everywhere else does because it is only here that is subjected to hellish grey skies every single day. 29 on the trot now, smashing the ludicrous 26 in a row in 2012 that was thought to be so bad for summer it would have no chance of ever being equalled never mind beaten.

It's awful Richard. Edinburgh has had 40% of average sunshine and it's the 24th!!

It would also be good to have some decent longer dry spells across much of the UK before the inevitable autumn deluges begin. Water levels in this area are still high and there isn't much capacity for absorbing heavy rain. This will only get worse as evaporation rates and temperatures drop

I am having my garden a complete make over with new patio on 16th Sept as the men are available to work so should be good timing as September is reliable month for settled and then some rain to help to water the new turf so i don;'t need to water at all as I am on water meter so rain will do the job and ground won't be so dry at that time of the year.

And rain in Manc by the end of the working day.

Today is cloudy once again.

Both ECM and GEM have a low ruining the first weekend (the end of their runs). GFS has it drier, but the AH only properly ridging well over the UK later in the week, and before we're on the fringe of it.

The general forecast in my mind is:

Friday 2nd (travelling down) - dry, 21-22c

Sat & Sun - mostly cloudy, chance of ppn. cooler. 19-20c

Mon-Wed - dry, sunny spells 21-22c

Thur - fine & sunny, warmer. 23-24c

Fri (travelling back home) - warm & sunny - 25c

And I reckon that weekend and the following week will be the best spell of the summer 

But today although cloudy has been bright at times and much better than the constant rain that was forecast just a few days ago. That said yesterday was worse than originally expected with quite a bit of rain at times. Swings & roundabouts as they say.

Been cloudy due to the pest south rain sliding and I notice how many times it rain slide to the south this summer more than the Midlands.  Just imagine how much snow they get in the south in winter with those frequent sliders and snow on the ground for many weeks.

If you want warm and sunny weather, skip the Westcountry and just come to Kent... we're usually warmer in the summer and this year is no exception. Forecast for Leysdown for the next week, as an example, from the MetO:

https://ukwct.org.uk/weather/leys6.jpg 

It will end up warmer than that, too. As an example, Saturday has gone from 21C two days ago to 24C today, and even today - we've had 21.6 rather than the 20 that was modelled.

LOL, just wait 'til you get on the Tube. 😂

Hot weather, especially with added humidity, in London sucks, as you'll soon find out!

(The best weather for sightseeing in London is something like tomorrow will be - a bit of a breeze, scattered clouds, highs in the low 20s).

So about average for London then. I've always thought that London as a world tourist destination has just about the perfect summer climate for visiting. Not too hot but warm enough to be pleasant almost all the time. A reasonable amount of sun and not that much rain.