Yes I was 18 in that summer too – although I had already finished my first year at uni as I started at 17. It was a cracker, although I was out of the country for most of July (in Africa, so still hot!)

It was a fantastic summer overall, with an 18+ July CET and a 19+ August CET. I was fortunate to have summer holidays in a school career for the best part.

But June, other than the last week, was nothing to write home about.

In Southampton, the mean maximum for August was above 27°C. There was near-constant heat from late July to 23rd August, and more 30+ days in July as well as a couple at the end of June.

The late July-early August period was very humid in the Winchester area at least. We had tropical nights, and a fan and all windows open all night. Some of the tarmac roads in the Twyford area were patches of liquid in places.

This year's ruining humidity was in that late June heatwave. I remember seeing wbt forecasts of up to 30°C and it felt it. Had to stand in water up to the neck to get cool, even with a breeze. Other heatwaves this year have mostly avoided such humidity.

For those keeping tabs, it's also the 40th day of summer (since June 1, i.e. 65 days so far) that has been hotter than the corresponding date in 1976.

The swifts have now left London skies for another year. One of the early signs of the changing season. 

First is the falling quiet of the dawn chorus, in mid July. Then the swifts go. Then the football season starts, back to school clothes and stationery fill the shops, and before you know it it’s strangely dark after dinner. 

I was told today that Halloween outfits have just appeared in one of the local supermarkets. 

Just searching my metaphorical depths for a link to the thread title...

Thought I’d take you all back down. Call it a memento mori.

(OK, call it meaning to post in a different thread but realising too late and leaving it there).

That’s what I thought. Only had the four here in the far south (so far).

🙂🙂🙂🙂

All the BBQ and gardening stuff has been cleared from my Tesco.  Thats always a sign of Autumn.  No sign of Halloween yet though!  But lots of back to school stuff

Back to school stuff always appears at the end of July, it used to irk me as a kid in the 80s! And the wholesalers will be in full-on Christmas mode, if you fancy a selection box just go to Makro. As a morning person (check the time of this post) it's now almost dark when I get up - although there's still some light to the NE, but it's still full blazing sun when I go to bed. It'll still be light at bedtime for me for a few weeks yet. 

It is, however, comforting to know that we're losing 3 minutes of daylight a day, and each day the sun is 0.3 degrees lower in the sky; it's around 10 days away that it starts to noticeably lose its strength down here.

Sadly none of that matters much in terms of heatwaves, at least for a few more weeks, as it can still get into the mid 30s even in a month's time. This year really has been remarkable, and yesterday's 32C here epitomised it! Look at the synoptic chart with a low passing by and you'd expect a showery day, perhaps a bit more organised rain as the occluded front went by, but the reality was more like being in the Med.... windy, hot, and at times very humid indeed. 

Even today, after all that stuff, the MetO raw still has 26 here (the heatwave threshold being 27)... there are two days of 22C (a whole degree below average!) then a run of 26/27/25/26 - on the warm side in an ordinary summer, but of course this is anything but. I do feel, however, it's a harbinger of what's to come when/if I live to be into my 60s...

EDIT: And the 18z GFS has 27/24/25/28/31/28/27/30 for the next 8 days, so that's the next heatwave right there!

Dont panic Capt Mannering!  Next week looking hot and extended all the way on long range ECM

In the olden days, I'm sure our ancestors dreaded the onset of colder and darker months. I assume thats when most illness and deaths occurred. 

It's why the winter solstice was so celebrated.

Indeed, and arguably the last paragraph particularly so, but we have various ways to help overcome this fear or dread of the colder, darker months. Sitting by the fire with a good book or binge-watching. Why not?  This can take us up to Christmas with its cheery lights, but can also trigger sadness and illness when we see others enjoying the festival.

So another way is to plan, beginning now in August by buying indoor bulbs such as scented Paperwhites to stagger flowering in pots going well into the New Year. Treated Hyacinths another. Plenty of options. Then, at least in the South by the time we get to mid January with noticeably lengthening daylight, look outside for snowdrops and we are almost there, perhaps with SAD on its way out. Or if you hate gardens and plants, try a daylight bulb and sit under it for an hour or so every day. Or try and get out and about, especially on sunny days. Vitamin D tablets? I swear by those too in the darker months.

But planning ahead with outdoor Tulips or whatever planted in November and the images in your mind of the colour to come in April and May help me navigate the Winter too. Of course March and April can be the cruellest months. I try different colours each year, composting the old bulbs so I don’t end up with a mismatch and fire blight ridden plants.

It’s largely in the mind how we approach winter, though it’s easier said than done. 

I still do. I absolutely despise Winter. It has no redeeming qualities at all in my eyes. Miserable weather, miserable darkness. Vile

I used to be the same with Autumn, although these days, Autumn is largely an extension of summer 

On 31 Aug 1989, Washington DC had a dull day with persistent light rain and drizzle. The wind was moderate NE and It did not feel summery at all with a max temp of only 21 C. I had to wear a coat. 🙂

Not looking forward to the winter either, especially with prospect of violent gales and driving rain.

29.3c to 28.7c

That doesn't happen very often 

I just don't understand why all the summer stuff gets cleared in early August. It gets more and more difficult to get bbq charcoal after July. Surely if temperatures are still in the 20s or higher, keep selling it - even if it's in smaller volumes!?

It's because they order it in many months in advance, so once it's gone it's gone. They'll use long-range forecasts, but none of those forecasts ever pick up record-breaking months like the one we've just had! 

I like the crisp clear frosty mornings, and returning home to a roaring fire. However, such weather has become rarer than rain in July!

(Actually we had a brief downpour this morning much to my surprise - but again, half an hour later you would never know it had rained at all)

The 6z GFS has 36 here next Wednesday! That happened a couple of weeks ago and stayed much the same every through every single consecutive run, before cooling a couple of degrees in the final couple of runs. We ended up with 34.7 here (29th July)... I've never seen such inter-run consistency before. The other models eventually caught up, the MetO raw had 25 a week out but ended up at 34 come the day.

I hope it doesn't happen again, but the way this summer's going you'd be mad to bet against it!

That is almost ten degrees (9.5°C to be precise) warmer than the average daily max here for July. It just goes to show the geographical extent of the heatwave. You would expect the average max to be 23.9°C here if the heat anomaly had been to the same extent nationwide. (It was in reality 19.8°C).