Complaining about the weather?

[cee-dee]

I've been looking at some weather records. Do the following records for the July/August months seem familiar?:-

June.One of the sunniest and warmest on record, and quite dry. Over 15 hours of sunshine were recorded at Manchester Airport every day from the 14th to the 21st.

There was a notable thunderstorm on the 8th in Cornwall: 203 mm of rain falling at Camelford led to flooding, with 140 mm of it in two and a half hours, with about half of that in just one hour. There were hail-drifts up to 2 feet deep. Bridges were destroyed.

It was very warm over much of the UK from the 12th-20th. 15 hours of sunshine were recorded widely across England on the 17th. However, some violent thunderstorms affected the southwest:

Teignmouth endured flooding on the 18th. There was a notable heatwave at the end of the month, carrying on to the 7 July. The equal record high for June, 35.6C, was set on the 29th in London (Camden Square). At Kew, the temperature reached 27C (80F) for ten days, and then on the last three days of the month, 32C (90F) was recorded at a number of locations across the SE. However, the east coast was considerably cooler. Sandown (IOW) had 345 hours of sunshine, and over 300 hours was recorded across many sites in England

July. On the 3rd Plymouth had 60mm of rain in one hour, with flooding and lightning damage. The south-east was badly affected by storms; hail damage to fruit in Kent. Serious flooding in Evesham and Rhyl on the 4th.

The fine weather and hot spell across most of the country ended on the 7th, and westerlies dominated the rest of the summer. On the 12th, the River Wharfe at Otley (West Yorks) rose four feet in a few minutes following a thunderstorm.

Andover was flooded twice this month. On the 26th, the Royal Welsh Show at Aberystwyth was flooded to three feet. A dull month in Yorkshire after a warm and sunny first few days.

August. There were many heavy rainfalls, particularly on the Bank Holiday Monday (5th). 105mm of rain fell in 90 minutes at Hereford, with damaging hail and strong winds. That night 152mm fell in two storms at Rodsley (Derbyshire), leading to flooding across a wide area. Severe flooding in Wales.

The second week was very unsettled as a series of depressions crossed the country. Heavy rainfall led to many landslides in north Wales on the 10th - the railway near Bangor was blocked for 18 hours after 98mm of rain. 135mm of rain fell in just over two hours at Llansadrwn on Anglesey.

There was more flooding in Derbshire on the 11th. The River Severn was 10' over normal at Shrewsbury on the 12th. Flooding in London on the 12th-13th, particularly around Wandsworth. 99mm of rain fell at Hampton (Middlesex). At Bognor and Ventnor the highest temperature of the month was just 22C.

The year? 1957.

[chickengrandma-2008]

We know that the weather has always had it's ups and downs.  Haven't you heard them say things like, 'wettest June since 1927', 'hottest May for 50 years' or driest year for 30 years'  They say our bad weather is caused by greenhouse gases and pollution etc. So if it was just as  wet, hot, or dry all those years ago, what caused it then??:|

[cee-dee]

People remember the good Summers, some people recorded what happened, good and bad.

The records I'm looking at go back to 1900 but some are sketchy.

How about 1920:-

April. The wettest April this century, with 114 mm (4.5") of rain.

May. A heavy rainfall event on the 29th over the Lincolnshire Wolds. The "Louth storm" was probably one of the most severe this century. A depression moved north across the country on the 29th, giving 82 mm of rain at Leyland, near Preston.

A storm developed on the low's cold front. At Louth, near Lincoln, 36 mm of rain fell, and at Elkington Hall, three miles to the west, 117 mm fell in three hours. Probably even more rain fell to the west. As water fell on the Lincolnshire Wolds, the River Lud rose by 6' in 10 minutes, with flooding, destruction of bridges, small houses being swept away, and 22 people were drowned as a torrent 200 yards wide swept through the village of Louth, which formed a bottleneck at the river and its tributaries. The river rose to 15' above normal.

June. The highest temperature of the year occurred on 17 June (27.8C at Raunds).

July. A very poor summer: July was cold, very wet, and dull. Much of Britain had twice the average amount of rainfall, and Bethesda (north Wales) managed 343mm. A strong cold front gave some very low maxima on the 5th. Notable depression on the 17th led to serious flooding in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

August. Cool and dull, although not as wet as July. Heavy rain over southern Scotland midmonth, as a depression moved east on the 17th. An area from Islay to Aberdeen and the Cheviots received 25mm, with 75mm in the southeast, and 100m over the Pentland Hills. Serious flooding around Glasgow and Edinburgh. However on average it was a dry month everywhere apart from Scotland. Worksop had only 16 mm of rain all month.