This morning's speculation on TV that some places might record their warmest
September day since 1949 prompted me to search out my readings for that
year. In 1949 I was taking 3 readings a day from a single thermometer nailed
to a north facing side of a wooden shed. The lunch time ( probably around
1300 BST) temperature on 4 September was 29c and on the 5th it was 28.5c.
Today at 1300 ( BST) my screen reading was 28.0c

In 1949 the summery weather continued well into October and I didn't
register a single lunchtime temperature below 16c until 20 October. Autumn
weather arrived abruptly on the 26th when the temperature plunged from 14c
at breakfast time to 9c at lunch.

I used to write a monthly summary of the weather in 1949 and an indicator of
how times have changed since then is that I noted at the end of October a
total of 8 foggy mornings in the month ( I think if I couldn't see the end
of the road - about 200 yards away - when I left home for school at about
9 am I noted fog). I haven't registered 8 mornings with fog in the last 5
years.!

Peter Clarke
Ewell, Epsom 55m