Recalling record-breaking 10 Aug 2003,I was at my mother's home watering
her outside plants very early on and feeling the burning heat of the sun on
the neck area by 8.00 BST.
In those days BBC teletext provided hourly updates of Cities and large towns
across the UK and for London the 9.00 BST temp was shown as 26C,by the time
I was home the equivalent temp at 10.00 BST
was 31C so we have a long way to go before matching those high temps so
early in the day.A rise of 5C(9F) in one hour was truly remarkable.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................

On Sunday, July 14, 2013 9:56:56 AM UTC+1, Jared Nigel Fruyton wrote:
Recalling record-breaking 10 Aug 2003,I was at my mother's home watering

her outside plants very early on and feeling the burning heat of the sun on

the neck area by 8.00 BST.

In those days BBC teletext provided hourly updates of Cities and large towns

across the UK and for London the 9.00 BST temp was shown as 26C,by the time

I was home the equivalent temp at 10.00 BST

was 31C so we have a long way to go before matching those high temps so

early in the day.A rise of 5C(9F) in one hour was truly remarkable.

.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ....................................

Teignmouth (Ant Veal's site - which I use as a proxy and is a fair measure of max temps) was recording 25.6C at 0821.

http://www.teignmouthweather.co.uk/current.html

On 14/07/13 09:56, Jared Nigel Fruyton wrote:
Recalling record-breaking 10 Aug 2003,I was at my mother's home watering
her outside plants very early on and feeling the burning heat of the sun
on the neck area by 8.00 BST.
In those days BBC teletext provided hourly updates of Cities and large
towns across the UK and for London the 9.00 BST temp was shown as 26C,by
the time I was home the equivalent temp at 10.00 BST
was 31C so we have a long way to go before matching those high temps so
early in the day.A rise of 5C(9F) in one hour was truly remarkable.
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ................................


Yes I agree the current temperatures are far from exceptional, and I
have experienced hotter conditions, however it is remarkable the
contrast between this summer so far and the previous summer. Is it also
starting to become notable just how little rain has fallen around here
since the beginning of June and particularly, the last fortnight with no
sign of any change out to five days. I'm wondering if some places might
experience a totally dry month, which must be unusual.

On Sunday, 14 July 2013 13:52:49 UTC+1, Adam Lea wrote:

Yes I agree the current temperatures are far from exceptional, and I have experienced hotter conditions, however it is remarkable the contrast between this summer so far and the previous summer. Is it also starting to become notable just how little rain has fallen around here since the beginning of June and particularly, the last fortnight with no sign of any change out to five days. I'm wondering if some places might experience a totally dry month, which must be unusual.

In 31 years I have never had a completely dry month, the closest being May 1989 with 2.2 mm and August 1995 with 1.9 mm.

Rainfall here since the beginning of June is 20 mm. This month the only rain to fall was 4.0 mm on the 2nd but I would not be all that surprised if no further rain fell this month. That at least would be a record dry spell. The grass is beginning to look a bit strawy but there's some way to go before Warlingham Green becomes Warlingham Brown as it has done on a few occasions in the past.

Tudpr Hughes, Warlingham, NE Surrey, 556 ft.

On 14/07/2013 18:37, Tudor Hughes wrote:
In 31 years I have never had a completely dry month, the closest being May 1989 with 2.2 mm and August 1995 with 1.9 mm.
Rainfall here since the beginning of June is 20 mm. This month the only rain to fall was 4.0 mm on the 2nd but I would not be all that surprised if no further rain fell this month. That at least would be a record dry spell. The grass is beginning to look a bit strawy but there's some way to go before Warlingham Green becomes Warlingham Brown as it has done on a few occasions in the past.
Tudpr Hughes, Warlingham, NE Surrey, 556 ft.

This part of Devon is now looking brown.

Only 1.5 mm of rain this month. There was 25.3 mm in June but the
heaviest fall produced just 3.6 mm and did little to replenish the soil
moisture deficit.

The 160+ hours of sunshine so far this month haven't helped either and
everything is now so tinder dry that I am waiting for the first
countryside fires to start.

Yesterday evening was so warm and humid coupled with the dryness of the
countryside gave it that scented smell that reminded me of a
Mediterranean evening. Just right for an evening's swim in what was a
surprisingly warm sea. Such a change from a month ago when the SSTs were
well below normal.

--
Nick G
Otter Valley, Devon
20 m amsl
http://www.ottervalley.co.uk

On Sunday, July 14, 2013 9:56:56 AM UTC+1, Jared Nigel Fruyton wrote:
Recalling record-breaking 10 Aug 2003,I was at my mother's home watering
her outside plants very early on and feeling the burning heat of the sun on
the neck area by 8.00 BST.

In those days BBC teletext provided hourly updates of Cities and large towns
across the UK and for London the 9.00 BST temp was shown as 26C,by the time

I think it depends where you are. Here in west Cornwall Culdrose on the Lizard plateau was 23.5C @ 08:00 today, this pool of very warm air drifted westwards and Land's End recorded 28C (remarkable enough in itself for that location - I must ask if it's a record) around 10:00, it then dropped back as the sea breeze set in together with some sea fog patches. In Penzance it was 24 by 09:30.

The surrounding sea puts a bit of a lid on things, so although there has been virtually no sea breeze in Penzance recently, the maximums were limited to 27.7C yesterday, 27.6C today. These may seem modest by inland standards, but the highest temperatures ever recorded in Penzance a-

29.9C in June 1976 (Official station - data via Philip Eden)
29.7C in July 2006 (my station - sheathed thermometers in a standard Stevenson Screen)

Looking back to 2003 I recorded 4 days 27C, the highest 28.3C on 8th August, so this spell is up there with it in this location, and with some time to go may well eventually prove more notable.

Graham
Penzance