It's not been a terrible summer, but it's been one that's flattered to deceive. Overall a bit of a 'nothing' summer in terms of weather.

The two issues that characterise it most to me are:

1) A lack of prolonged settled spells. There's not been more than a few properly nice days between more cloudy/cool/unsettled days (although the unsettled spells have also been relatively brief).

2) There's been little in the way of heat. We had a lovely start to June - the best spell of the summer here, with several days of sunny, dry & warm weather (temps breached 25c for about 6/7 days running). But after that, I don't think we've hit 25c for more than one day running.

My perception of the summer is going to be a little positively skewed, because we were in Devon the 2nd week of August and, whilst up here apparently had its worst spell of wet weather, we had lovely conditions - sunny every day (apart from one afternoon, where it clouded over and we had 10 mins of light drizzle) and temps peaked at at least 70f on all days (except the cloudy day); two days nudged 25c.

Additionally, we've just had a long weekend at Caernarfon in North Wales, and again the weather gods were kind (it rained twice - both overnight).

I've also been doing a reworking of the garden for much of the spring/summer, so we've had fewer days out (to potentially be ruined by rain).

Still, I'd summarise the summer as 'not bad, but not great'', with a score of 6.5/10

Overall it as not been so bad.. Could have done with a few clearer nights.  Got fed up with watering the garden at times.   All that humidity I could have done without it.. I would give it  5 out of  10....

I would rate the summer here in coastal Norfolk as a 7.5/10 after June had sorted itself out.  No technical details to back this up, except that I am browner than I have been for many years and my hair is lighter!! Plenty of sun then.  There have been several days that when you travel inland there is more cloud, conversely there have been several days when it has been foggy, but travelling 5 miles inland you were back into the mid 20's and sunny.  We have not been bothered by much wind either, when it has been windy it was a warm wind and didn't feel it at all on the eastern facing beaches behind cliffs.  A few good storms earlier in the summer but missed out on the last one.  Overall, I will look back at 2016 as a good one!

Overall summer 2016 has been a fairly decent one here. I'd rate August as the best month and July as the worst month locally. Temperatures have been more than respectable, but if there is anything I have found disappointing, it's been the cloud amounts and the lack of thunderstorms (apart from some thunder in June).

June - a half-decent one. The first 10 days of the month were absolutely everything that summer should be - many days above 25C and some decent thunderstorms. It was only let down by the last third really, which was fairly cool and cloudy. [6.5/10]

July - probably the weakest of the three summer months, but certainly not a disaster. The main highlight of this month was the big Spanish plume which brought the second-highest maximum temperatureI have recorded since 2010. A few days surrounding this day were also fairly decent, but other than that July didn't really have much else going for it. [5/10]

August - finally a decent August! This month was the strongest of the three summer months locally and was overall a very decent month. Whilst the first half was a bit on the changeable side, the second half was more than respectable enough with many pleasantly warm days. [7/10]

In the meantime, a nice warm autumn and a short mild winter will suit me fine. Roll on summer 2017!

June: Decent first week then revoltingly cool, dull and wet with the wettest June day since 1935 occurring in the midst of yet another protracted period of permacast gloom. 3/10

Mean Max 15.5C (-0.6C)
Sun: 136.2hrs (80%)
Rainfall: 111.2mm (203%)
Rain Days: 15 (+1)

July: Absolutely horrific. One of the nastiest most depressing months at any time of year. Weekends were a total write-off with not a single decent day. One day wonder of heat on the 19th followed by an overnight storm saved it from a zero mark like 2012. 1/10

Mean Max: 18.9 (+0.5)
Sun: 129.8hrs (78%)
Rain: 93.8mm (171%)
Rain Days: 24 (+9)

August: A significant improvement –dry but temperatures and sunshine were only around average so not really making up for June and July never mind all the other dross since 2007. 6/10

Mean Max: 18.4 (+0.4)
Sun: 170.2hrs (105%)
Rain: 43.8mm (81%)
Rain days: 14 (-1)

Overall: Another awful summer scoring a pathetic 3/10. It’s just not good enough. 9/10 summers now wet and the majority with significant sunshine shortages is just intolerable

Mean Max: 17.6 (+0.1)
Sun: 436.2hrs (88%)
Rain: 248.8mm (152%)
Rain days: 53 (+9)

An almost identical summer to 1953 with a dreadful June and July followed by nondescript August. Rest of the year has been similar too and if that continues that will mean another November and December like last year

After a wet June and first few days of July, most of this summer has been absolutely fabulous in this part of the world. Dry, warm (with only a few hot days) and sunny almost without exception. We moved onto the Downs 11 years ago this week and I think summer 2016 is probably the best we've had up here (summer 2006 was too hot).

9/10

Pretty good summer overall in Devon. Cloudier and wetter in June, but then a very dry July followed by the best August since 2005 around here.

Overall, here in NW Lincs we've had a pretty good Summer I think.  Yes there were three spells of poor weather (mid June, early July and second half of August).  Other than that there were plenty of days that were dry, sunny and warm, with a number of hot days too. The best spell was from July 10th-25th which only gave 0.5mm of rain here in total.  It's a pity that the second half of August was so unsettled and wet, otherwise if it had carried on as the month had started, I would've called this a very good Summer.

Another downside of the Summer here was the almost complete absence of thunder days.  Only one day with thunder recorded, that being on June 15th, and even that was only one proper crack of thunder.   Only one Summer out of the last 34 years has had as little thunder as this Summer, that being 1986.

Overall though a good Summer here, especially considering the best weather occurred on my two weeks holiday from work!   Score: 7/10.

5/10

Very average.

June, July and August saw average highs of 18.0c, 19.6 and 19.5 which is close enough to average for my location. 
July was very dry with only 25mm of rain.
Lots of dry usable days like you would expect in summer but also a few spells of poor weather notably at the start of July.
Let's hope September is a really good summer month which is significantly above average.

An ideal summer for me would be marked by a breeze on most days, a fair bit of cloud (via bubbling up cumulus) and rain once or twice a week to keep things green. It wouldn't include days on end of blazing sunshine, dewpoints in the high teens or days with no wind.

Based on that, it got off to a decent start - June was reasonable enough. July wasn't bad either, but August was a real stinker due to excessive heat, sunshine and humidity. There were only a handful of days which I'd describe as pleasant in August.

So 8/10 for June, 7/10 for July and 1/10 for August. That gives 16/30, or 5/10.

Many days with UV of 7+ and several with 8 here.

Three days around 30C (last two years managed 1 each).

Fantastic tomatoes and virus-free walnut tree. Much watering needed.

Some thundery, sticky nights with flashing skies.

All 3 months CET and locally warm.

Local streams have dried up, including the Dun above Dean.

14 species of butterfly in Bentley Wood.

Flying ant take-off days 7 so far ( 2 last year)

Hot days every month from May to Aug (& Sep forecast)- just like 1989. Extended summer.

Sea temperature warm enough for skin snorkelling and dips.

Best for 11 years.

Score - 8.5 / 10

Good UK summer for me - but then I fortunately chose to take my holiday during the last two weeks of August which were mostly dry, warm and sunny.

Sunshine has been the problem for this summer, that's what has held the index value down. August pushed the index value up with better sunshine values.

A poor June sunshine-wise but a decent July and an excellent August made the trajectory of the summer an ever upward one.   Being one of the warmest and sunnier Summers of the past half century is good enough for me.  Nice one 2016, IMBY.

This thread is about perception and mine is that summer was reasonable around here. After a poor start things improved and we had a lot of dry days. Unfortunately there was often a lot of cloud too and although the weather remained 'usable' I personally hate those conditions. I'd have happily swapped the overcast but dry days for a mix of completely sunny days and completely wet ones.

Thanks, this explains it. Nothing more boring than a cloudy summer where the temperature remains just in the high teens.