There is still some cloud around as I write but we're now in a period in which we are progressively seeing more in the way of sunshine  on each day than at the same time on the preceding day.

Currently around 15°C here in Edinburgh as I write and the big question now is whether or not Edinburgh Gogarbank finally gets to record its first 20+°C maximum of the year today. The actual forecast is very much touch and go on that one but if that doesn't happen today, that should happen in the next few days with the forecasts for here going possibly as high as around 27°C by next Thursday.

Sounds like bliss. Here it's sultry, milky blue skies (belying the humid airmass), no wind, 26.9 and a 19.3(!) dewpoint - it feels minging (and the neighbours aren't helping either, they're having a family day or something with loud, crap music and loads of kids yelling in the back garden.)

Same story here pretty much everyday during the warm season. Kids don't bother me as much as the constantly yapping dogs that are about the size of a shoe. 

I recently purchaced a pair of cheapo wireless headphones (CH-520s) which are very light on the head but pack a punch in sound. Great for blocking out parasitical neighbour noise and listening to music & podcasts in peace as you potter around the garden and house. 

According to all of the official forecasts, Scotland was never really expected to join the heat party until next week but the Met Office still has our maximum temperature reaching around 20°C here in Edinburgh. So far, we're up to around 18°C with the temperature not having really risen all that much since earlier on this morning.

As I write, a total of 4.7 hours of sunshine has been recorded for today so far at Edinburgh Gogarbank but although we're still seeing some occasional sunny intervals at times, there's now a lot more cloud around.

So far this month, Edinburgh Gogarbank has had only 55% of its 1991-2020 May sunshine. As Speckedjim mentioned in another thread in response to one of my posts on there though, more in sunshine is being promised for here in the coming days but if we are to get away with a sunnier than average month as a result then with just over a week left of this month for that to happen, it is now really going to have to be getting on with that as time is starting to run out in that regard.

It was supposed to be 21°C with good sunny spells here today. I’m not expecting a heatwave. No doubt the warmth will arrive on Monday when I’m back in work (and then cooler easterly weather is expected for a few days).

Feels fine at 28.1 °C. A patch of very high cloud above. Those easterlies...

Again.

You’re not helping you know? 😂

I'm just looking at the stats for Dyce (the closest major Met Office station to Aberdeen) where a total of 6.1 hours of sunshine has been recorded for today so far, but with nothing at all in the last three hours. Since the current temperature up there was still only 17.9°C, I can see your complaint now.

Here in Edinburgh, more in the way of sunshine is now coming through once again with the temperature up to 18.8°C at Edinburgh Gogarbank and bang on 20°C at Edinburgh Airport and the botanic gardens in Edinburgh. The reported figure for Gogarbank is slightly down from its highest point so far of 19.1°C and that particular station is now the only station left in Edinburgh which has not yet recorded a 20+°C maximum this year so far (even Swanston in the south of Edinburgh had one in April as reported by Jerry at the time, although it hasn't had one this month so far).

Given what is happening here now though, I still wouldn't completely give up hope of those sunnier and warmer conditions making their way up to Aberdeen before too long.

Don’t worry I’m only teasing. It’s not that bad a day just not as nice as was suggested in the forecast. Currently (still) cloudy and 19.5°C.

I know.

I had to collect my daughter from the station in town. She left Falmouth Uni this morning where it's not what you'd call warm, all wrapped up, and arrived to just over 28C in Dorchester with the train particularly hot. No air con. The conductor asked if she could make a complaint about the overheated train. As he was asking all the other passengers to do.

It's a lovely evening and good for sitting out in the garden. Yesterday evening was the first time this Spring where I could sit in the gloaming and not have to wear a fleece. Even better this evening with a chilled beer. 

That is a similar temperature to what we have here in Edinburgh, so you're at least making some progress towards seeing that warmth heading your way. I'll also add that regardless of where you are, it's not very often that it ends actually being cooler than forecast because in this era of ongoing climate change, it usually always ends up being warmer.

As for here in Edinburgh, the highest temperature so far at Gogarbank is 19.6°C which is close enough to that 20°C mark to suggest that the first 20+°C maximum of the year could finally be recorded there once the official maximum temperatures are confirmed by the 18z and 21z raw SYNOP/BUFR data.

Meanwhile, a couple of locations down south have got very close to the 30°C mark. One of those locations is Kew Park in London with a temperature of  29.7°C. In a different thread, I can remember Brian asking the question of whether or not Kew Gardens was actually still on-line but I can confirm that Kew Gardens is very much still on-line and you will be able to find the data for there at roostweather.com.

The other location which is close to 30°C is a place called Frittenden which is located to the SE of London, and which has a current temperature of 29.8°C. I imagine that at least one of those stations (and probably both of them) will probably see a 30+°C being recorded there once the maximum temperatures are confirmed by the 18z and 21z raw SYNOP/BUFR data.

EDIT:

I've just noticed on the BBC and on another thread on this forum, that the temperature in Frittenden actually reached 30.3°C, so they have now had that 30+°C maximum confirmed. I will therefore apologise for possibly suggesting otherwise. Of course, that isn't on any of the actual data which I have access to but then, the big agencies such as the BBC and the Met Office generally have access to a lot more data than the rest of us in the general public.

At my other local stations here in Edinburgh though, today was the warmest day of the year so far with a maximum temperature of 20.96°C at the botanic gardens in Edinburgh (this is the second day in a row that a 20+°C maximum has been recorded there) and a highest temperature of around 20°C at Edinburgh Airport.

In addition to that, today was also our sunniest day of this month so far with a total of 10.7 hours of sunshine being recorded for today so far (there is still a bit of time to go until sunset as I write) at Edinburgh Gogarbank which is really remarkable given that there has been quite a lot of cloud around for much of today, especially to my east.

With that, perhaps we are finally starting to turn the corner for this month at long last in terms of sunshine totals for this month, and perhaps we might get a sunnier than average month in the end because of that although there's still a very long way to go on that one.