Watch this we will have the driest Summer ever. 

My worry would be that there appears to be an awful lot of wetness in there. Hopefully some of this is due to clustering that tends to happen with stats even in more benign times. It does seem to be mostly centred around 2007, 2012 and through this last winter so even if the weather remains volatile we would hope that there will be some drier clusters in the mix.

Looks highly likely a top 10 driest September on record to add to this list.

If confirmed that would make at least a third of this year having tended to the extremes.

Looks like it might be the driest September on record (since 1910) across the UK as a whole (drier than 1959 even) according to this morning's Met Office press release. The EWP is of course a longer series but we should still finish in 5th or 6th place in this series

http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/news/releases/archive/2014/early-september-stats

August was the 8th wettest on record for the UK as a whole and the period Jan to Aug was the wettest on record

September is also likely to be the joint 4th warmest on record for the UK as a whole since 1910.

As I noted in the CET thread there have been zero months this year where the CET figure has been even remotely close to average. The extremes of weather we have been experiencing in the UK for many years now just seem to be getting even more frequent.

Are there really more weather stations? It seems to me that the official recording network has been "rationalised" and reduced quite considerably. There are more amateur stations around, of course (which don't count for record purposes), but lots of the former Met Office stations have shut.

Seems about right Rob - things are more streamlined these days, perhaps due to the development of increasingly accurate satellite and radar observations.

Since March began, this year has been relatively uninteresting on a month to month basis here, with the extremes being subtle in their manifestation and a lack of extreme events.

Over in Reading, I did manage to catch an extraordinary downpour in late April, but the resultant flash flooding was very brief and localised.

Not even a flake of snow, no exceptional cold, no exceptional heat... yet mean temperatures have rarely been close to 'normal', mostly well above. Perhaps the quieter side of a warming climate...

Touching on the lack of cold and snow last winter, it struck me the other day how much I've missed seeing a crystal clear, icy cold day with frost and ice persisting throughout - let alone with a layer of snow involved!

Same as here,Stormchaser.Im actually getting a bit tired of this never ending summer this year.Im looking forward to stepping out on a cold frosty morning,even a chilly one atm would do, something under 10c would make a change!

Its now over 20 years since we had a below average September and October,it would be nice to get autumns like we had in the 70`s & 80`s,

but yet again not this year

I know exactly what you mean. That's the reality of a warming climate.  Saves on the heating bills anyhow

30th October 2000 we had a brief snow cover here of a few cm, I believe parts of East Lancashire got up to 15cm. October 2003 was pretty cool with a few decent frosts but not as cold as October 1992 and 1993. Must be rare to get two cold Octobers back to back.

6th driest September on record for England and Wales

1959 8.0mm
1865 9.5mm
1804 11.9mm
1795 12.9mm
1910 16.4mm
2014 16.5mm

Top 10 months regards to CET, EWP rainfall, EW sunshine or a combination of since 1st January 2006

July 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
January 2007
April 2007
June 2007
January 2008
February 2008
August 2008
December 2008
November 2009
December 2009
December 2010
April 2011
October 2011
November 2011
March 2012
April 2012
June 2012
December 2012
July 2013
October 2013
January 2014
February 2014
April 2014
September 2014

Getting ridiculous this.

October 2014 is now on the list as joint 10th warmest October according to Hadley.

Top 10 months regards to CET, EWP rainfall, EW sunshine or a combination of since 1st January 2006

July 2006
September 2006
October 2006
November 2006
January 2007
April 2007
June 2007
January 2008
February 2008
August 2008
December 2008
November 2009
December 2009
December 2010
April 2011
October 2011
November 2011
March 2012
April 2012
June 2012
December 2012
July 2013
October 2013
January 2014
February 2014
April 2014
September 2014 

December 2014

January 2015

Both December 2014 and January 2015 added to list because of sunshine.

Maybe I've missed things, but it seems this record has crept up entirely unannounced, which is even more strange given th lack of other extreme weather to focus upon, and the contrast to last winter's eternal storms and resulting dullness. Looking back, there has actually been a lot of sun (relative to winter norms of course) but I don't seem to have been conscious of it until now.  It's virtually impossible for me to believe any other winter record would have occurred so unheralded, be that mild, cold, wet, dry, or even dull!

one thing I had noticed, which is associated with 'sunny-ness' is the number of clear spells at night giving good star watching opportunities and the large number of, generally light, frosts, of which there have been dozens IMBY.

Cheers Kevin - Great stuff and thanks for those excellent stats.

I did wonder. It's been noticeably sunny in the South East this winter. The rain has also been sporadic but heavy,  more like spring or summer than winter.

The funny thing about the last few years is that whenever the weather seems unusually warm, sunny, wet etc we seem to break or get close to all time records. It's as if the weather in the past was a bit boring. The only records we never seem to get close to are those for lack of sunshine. I think the era of smog and air pollution in the 19th and early 20th century probably ensured these will remain intact for a long time. Of course our sunshine records don't go back as far as the pre-industrial age.

Note how the warm records outnumber the cold ones.

Sunniest April on record.

Sunshine levels over the last 5 months have been remarkable.