What a contrast to last summer. Last summer was a paltry 164, this summer is going to be 260 and as a result the best summer here since 1995. The reason why it surpassed 2003 and 2006 is that with respect to 2006, the July was truly exceptional, however the August was poor. It is often forgotten that August 2006 was the dullest August since 1986. That had an impact on the index as well as the fairly frequent rain.

With summer 2003, if you look at the figures during the exceptional heatwave in early August, Manchester airport only got above 27C, 3 times. Compare that to the 11 consecutive times at Heathrow. 9 times of 30C or over but only once at Manchester Airport. So it wasn't exceptional except for 1 day, here.

Summer 2013 has been fairly consistent with July the standout but the June and August have been pretty reasonable.

Summers in order with the best at the top and the worst at the bottom
1976 301
1995 298
1983 278
1955 277
1911 274
1984 271
1959 269
1975 268
1949 267
1989 262
2013 260
1947 255
1933 251
1901 249
1921 249
2003 247
1925 246
2006 246
1996 245
1935 243
1994 240
1934 238
1940 238
1941 236
1970 235
1969 234
1973 234
1999 234
1997 232
1990 229
1917 228
1926 227
2005 224
1905 223
1932 223
1945 223
1967 223
1977 223
1914 222
1992 222
1908 220
1960 217
1950 216
1957 216
1968 215
1906 214
1942 214
1937 213
1939 213
1904 212
1929 211
2001 211
1903 209
1943 209
1991 207
1913 205
1971 205
1919 203
1961 203
1982 203
1951 201
1918 200
1944 200
2002 200
1930 199
1974 199
1979 199
1952 198
2000 198
1928 197
1962 197
1964 197
2004 197
1915 196
1981 196
1902 195
1963 194
1993 194
2009 194
1953 193
1966 192
1998 192
1988 191
2010 191
1910 190
1936 190
1965 189
1986 189
1916 188
1972 185
1958 184
1985 180
2011 179
1922 178
1938 177
1948 176
1927 175
1920 174
1923 174
2007 174
1931 173
1978 173
1980 173
1909 171
1946 170
1987 169
2008 168
2012 164
1924 158
1912 156
1956 155
1907 147
1954 143

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An interesting point there Kevin.

From the point of view of my own location, I would put summer 2013 somewhere in between 2003 and 2006, the last two good summers prior to this year. For me it is not anywhere close to 1995 overall the the really hot & sunny weather in 1995 was considerably more prolonged than this year; the heatwave lasting for just over a fortnight in July was the closest we had to 1995 here. June 2003 and June 2006 were both quite similar in nature, with a mixture of very warm and sunny days and cooler nore unsettled ones. June 2013 was rather like that as well really. The main difference between 2003 and 2006 was that in the former summer, the best weather came during August whereas in the latter year in came during July, rather like this summer. My summation of this summer here in respect of past good ones would be that it was as good as, perhaps slightly better overall, than 2003 but not quite as good as 2006 which for me had a slightly better June overall and then the roasting July. The only summers for me that come anywhere close to 1995 in terms of good weather were 2006 and 1989.

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Not as good as either 2003 or 2006 by a long way I would say here.  August has been a pretty gloomy month and it has felt rather cold (though it looks like mean temperature will be the same as August 2012 which was by far the best month last summer).

Better than 2003 here purely for warmth, but in terms of sun? I'm not so sure.

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Thanks for this Kevin. 

The Manchester Summer index is a very good reflection of the UK summer as a whole.

As a 43 year old if someone was to ask me what my best summers are I would say 1976, 1983, 1989 and 1995 and then 2013...Glad to see the index shows this.

1984 is surprising though as this one does not stand out at all ? 

IMO 1990,2003 and 2006 (although very good summers) stick in the mind due to their extreme temperatures.

2013 is up there with the best and this opinion should be shared with those both to the north and south of Manchester.

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I agree totally nowhere near as good as 2003 and 2006 here, in fact 2003 was in a totally different league.

Both June and August here were fairly gloomy and unsettled and all three summer months have seen above average rainfall, hardly a classic!

Next please.

Andy

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1984 was a very good summer, the second half of August was very warm and was dry as well overall.

I don't think overall summer 2006 was a spectacular summer, the winter of 2010-11 comes across to me as a winter version of that summer. One or two sensational periods of weather, namely July 2006 and December 2010 but two poor months, August 2006 and February 2011.

If August 2013 had turn out like August 2006 then the index I reckon would have only been around 220, whilst if August 2006 had been like August 2013 then the index would have been in the 280s.

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For here, I think it was a good summer, overall.

I think it was on par with summers of 2003 and 2006; with the former, August was the best, and with the latter, June and July were certainly warmer and sunnier, but August was very disturbed and wet (and quite dull, too), the summer month we didn't actually have this year.

As to breakdown:-

June I think was nothing really special, but not too bad either; it was rather dull at times but mostly dry. It could have been a lot worse, of course, and it was better than Junes of 2012 and 2011.

July was an excellent month; mostly very warm, dry and sunny, with just an odd thunderstorm.

August was quite a good month; it was quite varible, but warm, mostly dry with a good deal of sunshine.

July was a stunner

June & August

I go along with all that Steve - August was very pleasant in my part of the country and in most respects nearly as good as July. June was the let down here I'm afraid to say.

But July and August taken together have delivered pretty well 9 weeks of either nice or very nice weather and we've not had 9 weeks of decent weather on a consecutive basis for years.

 

 

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Cheers Kevin - A big thanks for that.

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I think that of June and August, June was the slightly better of the two. July will have been the standout month from this summer virtually countrywide I would think, but although June and August were not as sunny, both were a vast improvement on anything we saw in summer 2012, or indeed the five previous poor summers. In all honesty, I think that had back in May someone said that the summer as a whole would turn out in the way it did, I don't think many would have complained. Indeed, I think that far from wanting a 1995, 1976 type summer or anything like that, all most would have wished for was a summer that was a considerable improvement on those we saw from 2007 to 2012. We certainly got that IMO.

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Sums things up entirely there David. Also look at this figure . 2012 was one of the very worst summers ever and it my God it sure felt like it - This summer was something like the 11th or 12th best. So we went from one of the worst to one of the best.

That really is incredible.

 

 

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What a very pleasant and welcome change this summer has been and its not over yet!

From down here in Dorset june was about as bang on average as its possible to get,temperature wise.Mean temp 14c

 

July,what a scorcher! Most days the max was 28c-31c with wall to wall hot sunshine,mean temp 19.9c

August,a very pleasant month not sweltering heat,nor cool,mean temp 18.4c

Certainly the best summer since 2006 and the 6th warmest in the past 40 years.

Apart from the warmth the biggest difference is it has been very dry here from may onwards and a massive contrast to

2012.

 

Look at the 1950's though for the precedent.

 

1954 worst, 1956 3rd worst.

1955 4th best.

 

How can that be logically explained? It can't it's just what makes us so interested in the Great British Weather....

 

PS...no more lurking, September resolution is to log in and contribute

 

My England and Wales summer index also marks this year quite highly, due mainly to there being no very wet month and a very high score for July.

June: 127.07 (20th out of 43 since 1970 - last year was 43rd)

July: 173.61 (2nd since 1970 behind 2006 but ahead of 1983)

August: 144.06 (provisional - 11th since 1970)

Summer overall: 148.25 (7th).

Summer index rankings for JJA:

1. 1976: 165.98

2. 1995: 159.88

3. 2006: 155.9

4. 1989: 154.11

5. 1975: 152.81

6. 1983: 149.2

7. 2013: 148.25

8. 2003: 146.21

9. 1984: 145.6 (the “forgotten summer”)

10: 1996: 143.43

Similar to the Manchester index but with some subtle differences. We now have 3 of the last 4 years ending in "3" in the top 10, next to each other. Still nowhere near 1995 for sustained dry, warm and sunny weather though.

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1995 was really incredible - and its such a shame that June of that year was dull and chilly. June 1995 totally destroyed the chances of 1976 being defeated.

July 1995 and August 1995 taken together I do believe and correect me if I'm wrong - those 2 months together were the hottest 2 consecutive months on record.

July 1995 was hot intself with a CET of 18.6C which in itself is a hot month. Then August comes along and then smashes that CET figure by 0.6C delivering a CET of 19.2C - that is really incredible.

The summer of 1976 was nowhere near delivering a CET for any month anywhere near 19C. July was quite close though with 18.7C

But it was June of 1976 which helped put that summer in the record books with a CET of 17C.

 

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Re June 1995: I do recall there being some pretty cool and cloudy days here early on that month, but during that time we did have some pretty warm and quite sunny days as well. The prolonged heat and sunshine here first got going circa the 21st of June when the first of that summer's heatwaves began. In fact, during the last week or so of that June, it was every bit as hot up here as it was during July just passed, I was just finishing 4th year at high school at the end of June 1995 and I can clearly recall walking to and then back from school in intense heat and under stong hot sunshine and clear blue skies, and only from around 30th June did it turn a little cloudier and cooler again. Possibly the main difference between June 1995 and the same month in 1976 was that in the former year, the heat and sunshine only got going in the final third of the month whereas in 1976 it started rather earlier.

Summer 1995 as a whole was really for me like a much extended version of the two week heatwave we had this July. This year's summer hasn't been a classic for me but a notable improvement on the last 6 for sure. For me, the summers that come closest to 1995 for persistence of good weather are 1989 and 2006. I was unfortunately a little too young in 1983 and 1984 to remember those summers in any real detail, plus my interest in all things to do with weather didn't really commence until around 1988/1989.

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I'll put the stats here. CETs

1995:. June 14.3C July 18.6C August 19.2C

1976: June 17.0C July 18.7C August 17.6C

You can see the diffrence dramatically. You won't break any summer records with a June CET in the 14s, no way.

As far as I can remember the warm heat in June 1976 commenced before the 20th. It was only the first week which was on the cool side. In 1976 I was running my school weather station then - so I remember 1976 very well indeed.

1995 was very different with a cloudy, dull but dry June - it was chilly as well - But the last 3 days or perhaps 4 was when the change commenced. I recall the last 2 days 30C plus. It was a real tragedy that it commenced so late in the month and far too late to make a difference to a low CET figure for that June.

As to July and August 1995 - that heatwave was in a class of its own.

 

 

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For here;-

I remember June 1995 being very cool, miserable and wet for the first half, with spells of prolonged rain as low pressure lay close to the east coast (10 C on 9th!). The weather only really improved after the 18th with abundent sunshine, but the winds often blew from NE keeping here rather cool.

July and August 1995 were excellent; mostly very warm, dry and sunny, but often with cool sea breezes. July was also noted for some severe thunderstorms, such as the one on July 11, that originated from Benelux, and producing deafening cracks and bangs every 5 to 10 seconds at one point! August on contrast was a non thundery month.

Summer 1989 was remarkably long, being mostly very warm, dry and sunny from 1st May to last week of September.

It's amazing that this summer scored just 2 points less than 1989 on the Manchester summer index.

 

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Summer 1989 for me was almost a carbon copy of summer 2006 from what I recall of it, the main difference between them was that the Mays that preceded the respective summers were very different from each other. May 1989 was a predominantly good month here with many dry, warm and sunny days, and an especially warm weekend on Saturday 20th/Sunday 21st May. May 2006 by contrast was very poor and, according to the press at the time, was in some parts of the country the wettest May since 1983. As for the summers themselves, the thing that both 1989 and 2006 had in common was that both had a fairly good June and then an excellent July, but which were then followed by an August that was fairly poor in comparison. Had the Augusts of both 1989 and 2006 been as good as the preceding two months, then I would in all likelihood have estimated them to have been just as good as 1995 I reckon.

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I'm not sure where you lived in August 1989 but for a lot of places, August was a pretty decent month. It was very sunny in some locations, Bournemouth had nearly 300hrs of sunshine. It was a better August overall than August 2006 was.

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In 1989 I was living in the same location I am at present, just a few miles to the north-east of Glasgow. Earlier this evening I was having a look at some WZ archive charts for August 1989 and it seems to have been a fairly westerly/south-westerly based month for weather, so that could explain why it was better the further south one happened to be. My memory of it is that there was rather more by way of unsettled weather here during that August than there had been in any month since that April, as May 1989 was a fairly settled month as well which really set the tone for what came in June and July.

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Paul Hudson compares 2013 to 1976
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/paulhudson/posts/Summer-warmth-similar-to-1976-in-some-areas 

It certainly hasn't been that dry but the stats say temperatures only a little lower in some areas.

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