Well...that was a sh1te summer....

Summer is overrated anyway.

At its peak it is too hot, too sweaty, uncomfortable for sleeping at night, too light to go to bed early, bugs everywhere, grass goes brown and dies.

Autumn and Spring much nicer.

From the Guardian 9 years ago:

Climate change could bring tourists to UK - report

Climate change could "dramatically" change the face of British tourism in the next 20 years, with European tourists flocking to the UK to escape unbearably hot continental summers, experts say.

Research shows that European tourists may choose to holiday in Britain as resorts nearer to home become too hot.

Weather changes may provide revival opportunities for northern seaside towns such as Blackpool and put new strains on roads and development in southern coastal resorts, a study in the Journal of Sustainable Tourism said.

Academic David Viner, a researcher at the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit in Norwich, produced the report after analysing the work of experts around the globe.

"The likelihood [is] that Mediterranean summers may be too hot for tourists after 2020, as a result of too much heat and water shortages," the study said.

There were "opportunities for the revival of northern European resorts, including Blackpool, in the next 20 years, as climate change and rising transport costs offer new holiday opportunities," it said.

The study added: "Climate change will impact on many holiday destinations. For many this will be problematic, for others it will produce benefits."

http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/jul/28/travelnews.uknews.climatechange

I much prefer Spring and Autumn to summer

Sorry to be the resident weather bore  ,but in the UK  north in a line from the Severn to the Wash - you do not get a SUMMER .

Glasgow,Belfast, Liverpool,Birmingham,Stoke ,Manchester,Bradford,Derby  = NO summer .Nil, zilch.

Low sunshine (if any at all) - and no warmth .

Gothenburg,Oslo,St Petesburgh,Helsinki,Gothenburg  ALL  get better sunnier ,warmer summers than those cities.

So if you live in those parts - get used to it .


Southern England under the Wash /Severn line  gets the same useless 'summers' as Amsterdam ,Northern Germany above the Rhine ,Brussels ,Cologne,Brest and Lille .

Paris ,Franfurt and Prague are all  next to hopeless  most summers as well ,although this year baking hot .


Summers start around Central France and down most years - and they aren't that great - the locals in Bordeuax  i spoke to were even on the moan  about cloud cover .


Stick to the Med .

Canterbury,Ipswich , Southampton,Portsmouth ,London and Brighton are the best Cities in the UK for any semblance to summer ,

Ratio of Sun hours /Warmth

I have never known a Summer with so many grey dull day's......Depressing as ****.

It rained every day in August! Last time that happened they built an ark

Europe's had a heatwave since May and a friend in Paris couldn't stop whinging about the heat

Sorry to be the resident weather bore  ,but in the UK  north in a line from the Severn to the Wash - you do not get a SUMMER .



Think that's mostly true because of the jet stream.
Whenever you see the weather map of the UK at any time of year though, it's always better weather in the South East. The north gets much more snow. Feel sorry for the Norweigans though, gets light from 11am and dark 4 hours later.

Jet stream playing a small part ,but the north west is synonimous with cool,damp,windy,cloudy sh1te weather

Start at Torshavn and work south to south east

Torshavn -
Stornaway-
Glasgow -
Carlisle
Lancs
Manchester
Stoke
Birmingham
Luton
London
Lille
Frankfurt
Budapest

starts at 11c and finishes at 28c  and the sun totals get higher each time pretty much .


Bilbao must get the worst  sunshine hours for its southerly position in Europe though
700 hours of  sun , May to sept

Helsinki 1070 hours for the same time period .

Yes ,Helsinki has longer days ,but not to that extent

the North Atlantic has much to answer for

I love all the Seasons.

So would I if they were reliable, and the transition from one to the other was clear cut.

We just don't get anything like that in the UK.

Starting with Spring, it's different every year. We get bulbs flowering, and new leaves on the trees, and then get hit with sub zero temperatures.

We get blossom on the trees, and then wind and rain to blow it all off.

This year we had four sunny and warm days, back to back in May, and then the 'mish mash' of inconsistent weather ever since.

So we stagger through Summer that never happens, and then into Autumn which would be beautiful except, as with Spring, the colourful leaves are blown off the trees with more wind and rain.

Follow that with the bleak, damp misery of an endless winter, and there you have it, till it never happens again next time!

I have friends in the US who say they love all the seasons, that pretty much reliably cycle from one to the next, and have you ever experienced
"The Fall" in Massachusetts, DC or Maryland?