I don't think August is any more variable than any other month.

Look at February - Can be completely frozen and snow bound, but can also be a spring month. April can have frost and snow, but can also give us 80c+ summer heat. September has delivered temperatures getting on for 100f (1906) and snow (1888)

I think all months are capable of huge variation,  August included. The months with the biggest variable potential seems to me to be February to April actually.

The highlands are special as powdery snow fall on the tops.....

2010  Cairngorms at 1100 meters.....

I think you've only started this thread because of the contrast between this month and July's heat. It could easily have been the other way around. 

Malcolm
Wakefield & Gothenburg, SWE

I agree with KevBrads. The Spring months are the ones with the greatest variations, both within the same month and compared to other years. Personally I would nominate August as most boring month of the year. Here up North it is nearly always unsettled and dull - ie sunshine amounts relative to the maximum possible are low.

Contrast March 2012 with March 2013. The Scotland temperature record for March heat was broken on several consecutive days in March 2012 with temperatures in the 70s. A year later in March 2013 there were numerous snowfalls across Britain.

I guess with August is how it has been known to throw up sudden last minute heatwaves (1990 and 2003) which doesn't really do anything for me as they are often accompanied with high humidity, and indeed we had that big rain in August 1996 when five inches fell in two hours.
  But otherwise for the most part, August does tend to be a generally uneventful month weather-wise, especially if our winds keep coming in from the north west and we end up with experiencing stratsocumulus infill for days on end - such as what is happening at the moment.

I agree with Kev - in spring you can have days going barefoot, and other days where it's like a severe Feb 1991, and yet more days where you have to sit indoors playing computer games and starting new threads on forums.

August is the month that the media love

Every year there's a headline "August to be hotter than July" giving August the kiss of death for heat fans

On a personal level, my mum's birthday is 25th March.

2012 it was 21C, 2013 it snowed where she lives

Can't remember the years, but that's happened several times before as well ie very warm one year and snowing the next!

I think March can be incredibly varied - probably more than any other month - look at 2012 and 2013 as a comparison! ........2012: almost Summer like temps....... 2013: frigidly cold and lots of snow

Yes you can get 3 seasons in one month

Just been in The Scottish Mountains Thread. They are already on about snow up there... So nothing special for them..

I don't think August is special at all or Im I missing something

August is not special. One of the most boring months of the year and, over the past decade, one of the most unpleasant too.

August is anything but special,a horrible, benign, stale month that seems to go on forever.

April can and is often a special month weather wise and often brings late winter frost&snow

as well as summer sun and heat as per 2011,as well as spring sunshine and showers.

Anything is possible with the weather in April. not august!

I would be inclined to agree with the original poster's sentiments. To me, August is one of the most beautiful months of the year. Still summer, but with the dark threat of something more sinister in the air - even if it never materialsies. Daylight hours gradually declining, which is always welcome. Still warm. Far superiour cloud scapes than anything you would see in Spring due to warmer air masses and higher cloud bases. Lingering twilights with strong flowery scents in the air. The list is endless. To me, Spring, particularly March and April, are just extensions of Winter with cold, blustery polar maritimes being dominant. Tolerable in Winter, but appalling in Spring, with longer daylight meaning the ugly skies that air mass brings is almost constantly within one's sight.

Sriram was saying how the weather in August was so variable (totally disagree); Chunky Pea agrees with him but says it`s a beautiful month with daylight hours gradually declining, and nice cloudscapes.

I don`t see the connection between Sriram`s view and Chunky Pea`s.

There`s an old saying, "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb"  which of course means that it can still be winter in the early days of the month, and spring by the end of it.

So I don`t think any other month can be quite as variable as March.

Every month has its qualities, just some more than others. August maybe notable because it's the last month of summer, equally you wonder if June/July will be damp squibs or steamers

Perhaps not a direct connection (or does there actualy need to be one in the first place?) but as a month, I do think that August is of a 'higher quality' (for want of a better expression) weather wise than March or April. It can be every bit as boisterous as March, although maybe not as frequently.  It can get very hot, and can get quite cool. Thunderstorms are bigger, rain rates more frequently higher. Everywhere is in bloom. March, and Spring in general, is, to me at least, a hugey overrated season. It is more often than not cold, yet not cold enough; sometimes warm, but not warm enough. Growth does really become apparent until mid-May (at least in this neck of the woods)

Spring to me is a wannabe season: A wannabe winter, and wannabe summer. I'd much prefer the real thing.

Just to add, I don't really buy into the old saying that 'March comes in like Lion and goes out like a Lamb ( or vice-versa). I think you will find that this could apply in equal measure most months year, especially the Autumn and Winter ones.

No, I don't think August is any more special than any of the other 11 months, apart from it's when English schools have their summer holidays and most people take their family holidays, so we're likely to take more notice of the weather.  Every month can throw up surprises and break records and that's why the great British weather is so talked about.