Or a house with a cavity wall that is filled in by insulation, such as mine where it's currently 28 c throughout the house and with most windows wide open during a day of brisk winds and varied cloud & sun amounts. 

29 c to 32 c is pretty common in my famed west-facing hobby most evenings between June to August.

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That's not normal either, there is either a problem with the roof or the glazing.

Not sure I get your logic about the South East of the UK having the coolest climate in the UK. What about Scotland and Ireland?.

There is a foot thick insulation in the attic.  But it's perfectly normal for my 1950s (former council) house as our south east climate does tend to be warm and muggy with the sun still being high up in the noon sky when compared to the rest of the UK.
  It also stays cosy quite easily in the winter months where it doesn't take a lot for the central heating to sustain the warmth with the thermostat set at 20 c. Since I've had double glazing and central heating fitted about 20 years ago as well as upgrading the insulation and keeping all draughts to a minimum by keeping all doors closed (all rooms are of boxed type with no other doors) and I even seal off the gap where the washing machine waste tube go into the drainage pipe, it is very rare for my house to fall below 16 c in deep winter. But then again, it doesn't stay that cold and harsh for too long in the winter months anyway given my low laying south coast climate. 

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I don't think the SE of England knows the meaning of the word 'cool' to be honest. Pretty sure western Scandinavia, Iceland, Ireland and Scotland would be far cooler on average during the summer months. 

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No, I said one of the coolest summer climates in Europe. I still find it strange though that you are getting so high indoor temps, but I do sympathise.

As for what CP said, yes of course but when you take into account where most people live, SE England is one of the coolest places in Europe in summer. Here's the mean JJA temperature.

 

 

It's actually because of the wind this time. It's been really quite windy (gusting into the 30s for a couple of days now) and it's been warm or very warm. That warm air gets blown into the airbricks and the cavity downstairs, and - as is quite common in an oldish house like mine - there are the odd draughts. Normally that's a good thing (keeps air changing in the house, reduces mould etc), but not in the very unusual situation of it being very warm and windy - that certainly doesn't happen often!

Even in the recent heatwave it took a good 3 days or so for downstairs to warm to uncomfortably high (26C+) levels, but once it got there it stuck there for a while (aside from when I set the a/c to blow along the upstairs hallway, it then bounced off the landing wall and cooled the dining area / kitchen down nicely).

 

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I don't envy your location Retron with regards what is almost constant humid heat. I couldn't cope with it, and as much as I gripe and moan about my own climate, at least we don't have to suffer such conditions for too long at any one given time. 

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Historically, of course, it doesn't tend to linger for long, the classic "three fine days and a thunderstorm" thing. However, in the last 10-15 years it seems lengthy humid spells have become much more common, and over the past few years the dewpoints have crept higher for longer too. (For example, 20C dewpoints were practically unknown in the mid 2000s and earlier, they were a surefire way of spotting a dried-out "wet bulb" thermometer. They were recorded quite widely in the last heatwave).

It's interesting that my old boss, well-known at work for his tolerance of 25C indoor temperatures, finally cracked and bought a portable a/c unit a couple of months ago. It's not just my house which gets uncomfortably warm, it seems!

 

 

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Darren is by the coast of course (more humid, but also one of the cooler places in the SE in terms of max temps during hot periods), but overall the SE has lower DPs compared to other places in England (esp the SW) and a more continental feel. 

It's mostly a matter of personal preference of course, but I find the SE to have the best climate in the British Isles and the summer climate here to be one of the best in the world.

 

 

What a disgusting vile day, one of the worst days I have experienced in summer, gale force winds a squally showers all day, cant believe this is August and not October or any other winter day. The wind has wrecked one of the tomato plants and the others have been hammered by rain. No ripe tomatoes yet, a really poor summer for them, my worst yet with the tomato plants.

Need to buy some stronger runner bean poles, that's for sure, they collapsed at some point during the day and hopefully rescued but not too sure, as a few plants were literally ripped out of the soil. Tomatoes coming out of our ears, we have 7 plants in the greenhouse, and loads of outdoor cucumbers. Chillis and peppers are going to need a bit more time to ripen in the greenhouse.

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Summer 2020 definitely reminds me of summer 2004, warmer than average June and August but a somewhat cooler than average July. The July in both summers being particularly poor especially the first half. Both summers noted for their thunder although SE parts won't agree!

Both summers had summer gales. This August doesn't look like it will be as wet the August of 2004

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Yet another rank grey and depressing Saturday as this revolting August continues to plumb the depths of despair. Once again cloud just sat there inexplicably refusing to budge. So much for the weather improving when the schools went back because since that happened we have endured the worst spell of August weather in decades 

Absolutely sick to death of this horrendous cloudfest horror.  Night after night of vile 14C mins followed by temperatures barely getting any higher during the day. Horrible like nothing we ever used to get in summer. Be as well being mid-winter already. Only 0.5C variation so far since midnight is an absolute joke 

With the combination of an unprecedented snowless winter, a hideous washout summer and this rancid weekend curse, this is a year from hell with no redeeming qualities. Just unrelenting dross

Week in week out of repulsive grey Saturdays has been going on for two years pretty much without any sort of respite and it defies any rational explanation. This years figures are beyond appalling. The dullest and wettest day of the week by far.

Sunshine (hrs):

Mon: 5.79
Tue: 5.34
Wed: 5.73
Thu: 5.30
Fri: 5.04
Sat: 4.55 
Sun: 5.15

Rainfall (mm):

Mon: 1.96
Tue: 0.72
Wed: 0.99
Thu :1.17
Fri: 1.08
Sat: 2.54
Sun: 0.86

Ridiculous, extremely depressing, logic defying nonsense 

 

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It's been a weird Summer. We've had a few absolutely glorious days of sunshine and warmth dotted between long stretches of unbroken grey cloud - with a fair bit of rain thrown in. What has really been lacking is days of sunshine and showers. Has this weather type gone out of fashion these days? Purely anecdotal but 'changeable' weather seems to be occurring less and less to me.

Summer 2004 was way better than this summer here. In fact, even though it wasn't great, it was still better than almost every summer since 2007. Sunshine is the most important element in the feel of how good a summer is and once again it's been severely lacking.

Every month of 2004 managed near average sunshine contrasting sharply with this years dismally cloudy June and August. July 2020 had nearer average sunshine but every month of 2004 was sunnier. The easterly spell at the start of August 2004 was nowhere near as grim as mid-August 2020 with most afternoons managing at least a few hours. 

With just 10 days to go summer 2020 hasn't even managed 400 hours sun whereas 2004 had over 500 hours.

2004 may have been a bit wetter but the thunderstorms in late June and mid-August were more impressive than their equivalents from this year. The June 2020 storm in particular was garbage occurring at the same time as fog. That has been the major problem this summer - it's been one of the foggiest and murkiest I can recall - on a par with 2007 for easterly muck.

Temperature wise 2004 was much warmer with June seeing warm day temperatures, July cool and August average. There won't be a warm summer month this year with June and August near average and July cool.

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Don't get changeable weather any more. All the sunshine comes at once leaving long stretches of dismally dull and grey dross that we just never used to get in summer.

Days with westerly winds, variable cumulus and sunny spells used to be the norm but are barely seen any more 

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Yes that's exactly my impression too. 

In Hertfordshire we've had a few days of sunshine and showers this week. It felt like spring weather had returned.  

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We're now at the end of what I regard the solar summer. 2 months have gone since the solstice and both the length of days and the sun's strength are now rapidly diminishing. From here on we are in the early autumn phase where nights cool off and we start to see misty mornings and cool evenings even after warm days.
We seem to be enduring typical late August weather with frequent wind and rain. Will we have our usual early September settled spell? There are tentative signs of this now (as the Met Office like to say!).

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Richard, it's 16C and lashing it down here. I see you are a pleasant dry 18C!

It was raining most of the morning here and down to 13C

While it has dried up this afternoon and reached 17.7C, it's far from pleasant. Dull grey skies with not a glimpse of sunshine and windy. Would seem there's a greater chance of more rain than actually seeing the sun now. A far cry from the sunny spells with a chance of showers that was forecast 

I thought last weekend was bad enough but at least it was dry with a few glimmers of sunshine. Three consecutive weekend days with less than half-an-hour sun and four out of five Saturdays with less than 3 hours. Absolutely appalling and like I said earlier it may as well be mid-winter.

Next week looks atrocious too so I may have to dig out the stats for August 1963 as that is the only likely candidate for seeing worse weather than this. Not even August 2008 was as dismal as what we have had to suffer since the 13th

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I'm going to be in the Cotswolds from the 5th to 13th September which means the answer to that question is no.

Can see the synoptic set up already. High pressure over Scotland giving a sunny week here with easterly winds dragging rain and cloud from the North Sea across Southern England and the Midlands 

 

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Pretty much the same story over here and while it has been rainy at times, it has been unusually and consistently light. Typical summer showers seem to have been replaced by lengthy spells of barely measurable rain. The worst, most dismal summer I can remember after what was a dazzling spring. 

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Well, let's hope that the Government lift the local lockdown in your area quite soon, so that you can at least get to those places.

My question though would be that if for some reason, you weren't able to get to the Cotswolds at that time, would this then mean that the synoptic setup which you have just described, would then be unlikely to happen?

 

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Hasn't been a really decent August up here for sometime. When I mean a decent August, the majority of the month is dominated by dry, sunny weather. 

Even August 2018 struggled. Rostherne near Manchester airport, August 2017 and 2019 were sunnier than August 2018. Even August 2014 was sunnier!

 

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