www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Sorry to be so parochial, but I don't get out much!

I hope I'm wrong about this, but this "summer" seems to be going the way of the previous three up here: weeks of cloud and/or rain and/or wind with little in the way of sunshine. As far as I can remember, in each year this has followed a spell of unseasonably hot weather in late spring/early summer.

Anyone else noticed the same trend elsewhere? Or perhaps I'm just imagining it all...

Paul

Gawd,,, and i was feeling sorry for myself after a week of poor weather, here in South Dorset.

These last 4 summers have been awful.

2006 was glorious both Up North (where I used to live) and in SE Wales

2007 was abominable

2008 in S. Wales was dreadful (worst August I can ever remember)

2009 in S. Wales was just as bad (worst July I can ever remember)

2010 has been dry in comparison (apart from the last few days) but again it has not been hot.

What's most frustrating is seeing temperatures soar a mere 70 or 80 miles east (on practically the same line of latitude).

It's been 22C in Abergavenny today but peaked at 26.5 in Wiltshire. It's only bloody 60 miles away!

Quite how NW England has a hosepipe ban God only knows.

From the cosy perpective of Heathrow Airport (second only to Gravesend I think in regularly scoring the highest UK temperature of the day), 2010 has certainly been the best year so far since 2006. It's very dry indeed. Interestingly, this is what the Met. Office had to say about June 2010 in the UK - Wales did alright by their reckoning:

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/2010/june.html

I wonder what they'll make of July...

Dave

What do they mean by Wales, though? Certainly in Swansea it has been quite cool (this is where I work), whereas in Abergavenny (where I live) it has been slightly warmer and sunnier.

What's frustrating is that prior to summer there was high pressure centred over Wales which saw sunny and dry conditions, however since the end of May, Atlantic fronts have been queueing up one after another and effectively creating a Maginot Line along the Severn Estuary.

Why can't these weather systems p1ss off 100 miles west? We'd all be having a good summer then.

David M wrote:
What's frustrating is that prior to summer there was high pressure centred over Wales which saw sunny and dry conditions, however since the end of May, Atlantic fronts have been queueing up one after another and effectively creating a Maginot Line along the Severn Estuary.

Why can't these weather systems p1ss off 100 miles west? We'd all be having a good summer then.

I totally agree with that!

I believe last year's washout summer was attributed to the Jet Stream being in the "wrong" place - for the entire season!

One reason I was concerned about this year's prospects is that there was a similar comment made on the local news a few weeks ago explaining why there was a succession of nasty weather fronts heading our way.

I'm just hoping the short-term forecast can be relied on, as apparently we might get to see the sun this Friday!

Paul

It's scarcely believable, Paul. Today was 19C in SE Wales yet a mere 80-100 miles due east it's in the eighties!! We have friends from Silverdale who've been in Kent this week and last night they were complaining that it was too hot to do anything.

They'll get a shock when they get home.

It's been warm to hot and dry here for quite some time now. It's actually getting to the point that I am grateful for the rain we have been forecast over the next couple of days because everywhere is looking so parched and dry but even when rain has been forecast here recently it doesn't actually materialise in any amount worth having so I am hoping this time it will happen.

Thanks to all for the comments and info.

It's a pity the MO don't produce some sort of weather variability index to give a measure of the extent of the difference in weather conditions across the country. It would be interesting to see if there was any meaningful trend from year to year. Not sure how it would work though!

To be fair, the weather was great up here yesterday as forecast - although not particularly hot.

Cloud and rain expected for the next five days though...

Paul

There is a great little map of UK-wide mean temperature on page two of the following document:

http://www.southwales-butterflies.org.u ... ry2008.pdf

Thanks for the interesting link, David.

I'm clearly living in the wrong area!

Paul