We have had one barbecue all summer here mainly due to how unsettled it has been and we haven't been invited to any. That is a barbecue record low for me! On the one day we did have one, it was warm but we sat through three showers.

I can't speak for everywhere but here in the North West, it has been average to poor as Saint said. Even most of the better days have seen rain. The stats are a bit skewed by this as a 25C day with hours of sun also most likely saw numerous showers too.

The weather has now turned cooler and mixed and the rest of August looks to carry on like this. It does have that 'summer is over' feel to it now.

I know today was never going to be a great day but I've been stuck under an endless stream of showers for some hours now. Temp 11.5C, just dismal for August. There isn't much else nearby on the radar so I guess it's just sheer bad luck with the alingment but once something like this takes hold it can be hard to shake off.

---

I know today was never going to be a great day but I've been stuck under an endless stream of showers for some hours now. Temp 11.5C, just dismal for August. There isn't much else nearby on the radar so I guess it's just sheer bad luck with the alingment but once something like this takes hold it can be hard to shake off.

Looks like you're in the firing line for the showers forming over Blackpool. Another heavy batch on its way. Just shows how localised these showers can be and how you can get stuck either in them or out of them. It hasn't rained at all YET here in Warrington and has been quite bright this morning.

Yet another dire, grey and drizzly evening that is utterly useless for doing anything outdoors 

Absolutely sick to death of it. Might as well be mid-winter already for all the opportunity there is for outdoor activity. In fact it's worse than that as evidenced by my step count for the past week. Every week from mid-April to mid-September last year I hit at least 70,000 steps and the same was true this year until now. Last week was so dire I failed to even hit 50,000. That was worse than any week from the entirety of last winter and in fact the worst since the atrocious late November last year.

Absolutely sickening 

---

 It hasn't rained at all YET here in Warrington and has been quite bright this morning.

I'll whisper it, but it's been a nice day here. A bit lacking in warmth, but mostly sunny this afternoon and light winds. And no bloody rain!!

---

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
2019 195 (up to 12th August)
1915 196
1981 196
1928 197
1962 197
1964 197
2004 197
1952 198
2000 198
1930 199
1974 199
1979 199 

---

 

I'll whisper it, but it's been a nice day here. A bit lacking in warmth, but mostly sunny this afternoon and light winds. And no bloody rain!!

After my moan yesterday morning about the showers, and it was pretty dreadful, conditions improved markedly into the afternoon. By mid/late afternoon it was really quite sunny.

---

 

I'll whisper it, but it's been a nice day here. A bit lacking in warmth, but mostly sunny this afternoon and light winds. And no bloody rain!!

 

About 10 mins after I posted that, it started raining.

Another day chalked up for the 'it rained' column.

 

---

 

 

About 10 mins after I posted that, it started raining.

Another day chalked up for the 'it rained' column.

 

No rain here yet though, and the Sun even briefly came out a short while ago when I was returning home from doing some shopping.

It was forecast to rain here today by around 12 noon and we're coming up to that time now. Furthermore, all of the model output as shown here at TWO was showing this area as being covered by rain by around this time.

Yet the rain radar maps are showing nothing in this vicinity in terms of any rainfall which might last for any length of time (only a nearby decaying shower is showing up nearby and nothing more than that).

This shows that the models and indeed, the forecasts have got it completely wrong for this time of the day in this part of the world. Whoever made up these forecasts and this model output should be taken account for that, and all of them in my books should be sacked immediately from that job and replaced by someone who can do that job properly.

 

---

No rain here yet though, and the Sun even briefly came out a short while ago when I was returning home from doing some shopping.

 

The post I quoted was about Monday. Don't get me started on Tuesday & Wednesday - both days riven with showers.

 

---

Why is August honestly such a sh*tter of a month nowadays? Sick to death of dodging rain and showers and getting soaked everywhere I go. I'm not even bothered about the temperatures, I just want a dry, mostly sunny day.

Thank God I'm off to Toronto and then to New York this weekend. Hopefully I'll actually see a bit of "summer".

---

I am starting to think we have had the wettest mid July-mid August period ever recorded for the region.

---

Yet another grim , grey and drizzle filled evening from this horrible drizzlefest summer. Had to cut a bike ride short as it started drizzling and only just made it back in time last night before it started lashing.

The rain totals haven't been excessive here but it's raining or drizzling practically every day with very little sun and the unrelenting awful weekends mean you can't plan any days out.  Appalling summer weather that is depressing in the extreme 

---

It’s been a mostly grey and drizzly day here too!  Not nice but I really can’t complain as we’ve seen very little rain since June.  

---

Yes, August in today’s climate is an autumn month. I’m going to do some analysis of the stats to see what’s going on here. I know it’s one of only 2 months along with December with no significant warming trend (at least it was last time I looked). Yet July is getting to be almost predictably dry and warm in the SE.

Significantly warmer and sunnier Augusts than average since 2003 here in the SE: zero

Average-slightly warm and average sunshine 2005, 2009 at a push, 2013, 2016 if were being charitable. Dull most other years, and whilst never cold, rarely very warm and often very wet.

Then Septembers warm, dry and sunny year after year, with only a few exceptions.

I get the sense the same is true of much of Western Europe. Just chance, or some kind of long term pattern shift?

---

Since 17th July and up to 13th August, a provisional rainfall total of around a staggering 174mm. I reckon it is has been the wettest mid July-mid August since at least 1931 for the NW England and N Wales region

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
2019 194 (up to 14th August)
1902 195
1915 196
1981 196
1928 197
1962 197
1964 197
2004 197
1952 198
2000 198
1930 199
1974 199
1979 199 

---

 

If I've counted correctly from Kevin's indices above, 9 of the last 13 years are in the top 40 worst summers 

---

Simple Summer Index 2001-2018 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
mean	64.2	50.6	47.9	60.1	37.8	65.7	57.3	46.0	38.6	All stations	52.0
median	64.1	50.1	46.3	59.4	37.5	65.4	57.1	45.5	39.1	51.6

---

Don't need stats to tell me summer has been mediocre in these parts. There have been decent spells and obviously a couple of heat bursts. However unlike last year it hasn't been the kind of summer where we have felt like having barbecues. 

I'm getting the impression from reading other posts that it hasn't been a great summer over most of the UK, save for a few areas that have been a bit more fortunate.

What has let this summer down for me in terms of my area has been the lack of any sustained settled spell. We haven't had a fully dry week here going all the way back to the start of June, and it has seemed that rain has never been too far away. Even the week of the record-breaking mini-heatwave in late July was not a completely settled affair, and since that spell ended the weather seems to have been worse in a lot of areas than it was previously.

---

The weather this August is just a mess. I'm in the process of moving house and I got absolutely soaked every time I stepped outside to fill the van yesterday and again this morning. It's been cold, wet, blustery and miserable.