May is my favourite month, but the weather has conspired to ruin it :-(

And for the fourth time in seven years along the coast in Southampton.
The pattern of decent start to May (for about 10 days) then two to
three weeks of weather that would be bad in December - never mind May -
seems to be a common pattern since 2000, occurring also in 2000, 2002
and 2003. May and June are probably the best summer months in terms of
aesthetic quality.... everything looks so fresh and green, all the
flowers are out and when it is sunny, it often shines from an intense
blue sky.... but they seem much more prone to bad weather than the
later summer months of July, August and (technically not a summer
month, but with a high frequency of 20+ temps, maybe it ought to be)
September.

On the bright side there seems to be a correlation between Mays with
long spells of bad weather, and at least passable Junes, and summer
overall. IIRC 1983 was one of the worst Mays of recent history, albeit
in a more "blocked" way than this year.

Has there been some form of climate shift? I'm sure I remember being
taught at school that May and June tended to be settled, fine (if not
that warm) while July and August were warm but very changeable. In all
respects these days, the later summer months seem to be more
favoured..... except, unfortunately, for the aesthetic appeal of the
countryside itself which is better earlier in the summer.

Nick