Well try as I might, I cannot see any signs of any real improvement in the weather for the rest of August, apart perhaps from a short lived blip next weekend which is of course a Bank Holiday weekend.

If that happens ( and it's doubtful ) it will be a welcome break from the below average temperatures and the cool north/north westerly winds which have been bothering us for a good many days now. Beyond the BH weekend the prospects are no better with Atlantic Lows threatening to dominate from the west as we head towards the official meteorological start of Autumn.

Moley

We have had a reasonable run this year though.

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Lets be careful out there !

True enough K and the first 2 months of summer were not bad at all here in London and The South East. The spectacular thunderstorms were a bonus to me !

Having now had a look at all the main computer models it seems they are all pretty much in agreement, which is a rarity. A brief spell of settled weather at the start of the Bank Holiday weekend, followed by some pretty awful weather from next Monday onwards.

Moley

They keep forecasting overnight temperatures down to nearly zero in places but the last 2 nights haven't got into single figures. Do they know what they are talking about ?

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Lets be careful out there !

I leave home (by foot initially) at 5am and was expecting really cold conditions this morning. But I didn't even need to zip my jacket fully up. So I agree Kremmen, and wonder what has gone wrong with the professionals predictions?!!

Yes I think they do by and large Kremmen !! Last nights minimum at Raf Northolt was 8c, the first time it has fallen into single figures for a long time though. Bournemouth recorded a minimum of 3c, which given it's coastal location and the fact that surface sea temperatures ( sst's ) along much the south coast are above average this year is quite surprising. The soil type in that area probably contributed to that to an extent, but that's still a bit nippy for Southern England in August.

I also believe that yesterday was the first day since June 4th where nowhere in the UK reached 20c, a run of 75 days which is not bad for a British Summer. Below is a brief summary of 20c+ days in the UK so far this year. It's a bit difficult to read but I hope it gives a good idea of what we've experienced so far: ( Courtesy of UKWeatherworld member and contributor 'Butterfly'.)


The first date to reach 20 deg. C. in Britain was 9th March with 20.5 deg. C. at Gravesend, Kent; since then 20 deg. C. has been reached or exceeded on 16th March, 1st-4th April, 21st April, 28th-30th April, 15th-21st May, 27th May to 3rd June, and from 5th June to at least 18th August. If today proves not to have reached 20 deg. C. anywhere in Britain, then this will end a run of 75 days. 43 days of 25 deg. C. or more occurred on 19th May; 6th, 8th, 9th, 12th-13th, 17th-19th, and 22nd-24th June; 2nd- 4th July, 10th July -2nd August, and 4th-8th August; days of 26.7 deg. C. (80 deg. F.) or over occurred on 17 days, i.e. 18th June (though 17th exceeded 26.7 deg. C. in the Republic of Ireland), 3rd, 10th, 12th and 16th-26th July, 29th July and 7th August, and only 18th July (32.3 deg. C. at Gravesend in Kent) reached or exceeded 30 deg. C.

Moley

Definitely colder indoors this morning. I think the indoor residual heat is now starting to disappear.

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Lets be careful out there !

I found these stats on Ukweatherworld this morning :

Quote:

Here is a list of all road weather stations reporting air temperatures at or below 3 degrees over the last 24 hours.

A338 Breamore (Hampshire) 1.2 06:14

A303 Thruxton (II) (Hampshire) 2.0 05:46

N20 Charleville (Co. Cork, Republic of Ireland) 2.0 03:40

HA1 A38 Heathfield (Devon) 2.1 05:50

A3057 Stockbridge (Hampshire) 2.3 05:44

A38 Halfway House (Nr Liskeard, Cornwall) 2.4 05:00

Fiddlers Elbow (Merthyr) 2.5 04:10

A4226 5 Mile Lane (Vale of Glamorgan) 2.7 03:20

A30 Two Bridges (W of Launceston, Cornwall) 2.9 05:00

A38 Buckfastleigh (Devon) 3.0 05:00


As far as I know most of these are located at known frost hollows on the road network in their areas, but nonetheless I think these are still notably low values especially for the far SW of England. Some of these would not be unusual in winter.

Unquote:

The lowest overnight minimum I can find from official reporting weather stations is 2.7c at Bournemouth ( Dorset ) and Benson ( Oxfordshire ). Raf Northolt recorded a minimum of 6c. Whilst no records were broken these are nonetheless pretty chilly temperatures for this time of year, especially for the South and South West of the UK.

I hope to have a closer look at the weekend prospects, but at first glance Saturday and Sunday are looking reasonable, but Monday could be very disappointing.

Moley

As those of you who read my posts regularly will probably know, I'm not one to defend the professionals without good reason. When they get things wrong I will be amongst the first to say so, but on this occasion I think they got it spot on. Temperatures across our region were unusually low last night, with several official weather stations recording a ground frost. Whilst not record breaking, it is quite exceptional for the 3rd week in August down here in the south:

Official figures here :


Just had a look at the overnight minima and several stations in southern England recorded subzero grass minima:



http://www.met.reading.ac.uk/~brugge/amextremes.html



12-hour values ending 2014Aug21-0600GMT
Min Grass 12h Yesterday
Temp Min Rain Sun Location
(C) (C) (mm) (h)

5.6 3 .2 05.3 Shawbury
3.4 2 .0 //./ Shobdon
3.4 0 .2 Hereford Credenhill
4.2 -2 tr Pershore <------
5.5 3 tr //./ Coleshill
6.5 3 .0 //./ Church Lawford
5.3 3 .0 //./ Little Rissington
5.5 2 .2 05.7 Brize Norton
2.7 -1 .0 Benson <------
6.7 0 .2 High Wycombe
6.3 5 .0 05.4 Wittering
6.4 4 .0 //./ Holbeach
5.6 2 .0 Marham
8.1 .. .2 Weybourne
5.8 5 tr //./ Bedford
5.8 2 .0 //./ Rothamsted
5.0 1 tr 06.4 Wattisham
5.2 3 .2 Andrewsfield
8.0 5 .0 Shoeburyness
8.9 6 001.0 Chivenor
6.8 1 .0 03.4 Filton
6.3 4 .0 //./ Liscombe
11.5 7 .0 Scilly St Marys
8.0 3 .0 07.4 Camborne
6.4 1 .0 Culdrose RNAS
7.8 4 .0 //./ Cardinham
6.0 2 .0 Plymouth
5.9 3 tr Dunkeswell
4.8 1 .0 11.8 Yeovilton
6.0 2 .0 Northolt
5.5 -1 .0 06.6 Lyneham <------
3.5 -1 .0 Larkhill <------
4.2 -1 .0 Boscombe Down <------
4.5 3 .0 Middle Wallop
6.8 2 .2 07.8 Odiham
4.7 1 .0 South Farnborough
3.6 2 .0 08.1 Charlwood
.0 St James Park
7.6 3 .0 07.0 Heathrow
7.1 2 .0 //./ Kenley
8.3 .. Gravesend
9.0 .. Langdon Bay
7.8 5 .0 //./ Manston
12.1 10 .0 Isle of Portland
2.7 -1 .0 10.3 Bournemouth Hurn <------
10.7 8 .0 St Catherines Point
5.7 1 .0 //./ Thorney Island
8.0 .. Solent MRSC
5.0 .. .0 Shoreham
6.1 3 .0 07.2 Herstmonceux

Local conditions will always vary according to a number of factors, and places just a few miles apart will reflect that. As an example from the above list, The Isle of Portland recorded a minimum of 10c, but Bournemouth recorded a minimum of -1c. Now admittedly they are some 43 miles apart, but both locations are on the south coast.

Moley

In the 90's/100s in the deep south, driving to Florida Sunday it's cooler there.