2026 broke the previous record from 1976 and 2025 (last year!) by +0.78C. It might not seem like a lot, but this is average temperatures at three locations spread over three months. The difference between first and second hottest summer is now larger than the second and the tenth.

And you might notice that 70% of the summers on the list come in just the most recent 10% of all summers (records go back to 1659)...

It's finally here. The worst summer ever is over.

I’m sure like many people here I’m enjoying the generally lower temperatures and rain, but the near constant high humidity and nights that only seem to be two or three degrees lower than the max temperature during the day mean I’m still boiling to death most of the time. Bring on autumn!!!!!!

Temp Average: 20.7C (2.8C above my summer average), 2026 was the warmest summer in my records, following the warmest spring.
Rainfall Total: 83.2mm (59.9% of my summer average), a very variable summer, with a wetter than average June, followed by the totally dry July, then a drier than average August - locally the 56 day drought was broken on 19 August.

Evening lovely people.

Thought I would give an insight into what I thought as a gardener with this summer drawing in.

Regarding vegetable growing:

Great performers: most nightshade family members (excluding potatoes) blight was non existent as all watering was direct to soil. Potatoes required lots of water, they were ready about 2 weeks early.

Cucurbits: most have had a great summer. Melons are the best I've ever seen.

Corn exceptional.

Biggest sufferers: Lettuce, all leafy veg and cole crops.

As a job. It's been very very very difficult. I love sun and warmth 28-32 with low humidity but that June heatwave was horrendous. The other heatwaves were much more manageable however the sun with no rain was the killer. Work more or less dried up(pun intended).

I'm in st Alban's area and I've recorded 20mm since mid June. I imagine I'll be replacing and buying huge amounts of plants this autumn. Which will supplement the loss of wages through the summer luckily.

Ideally I would like summer weather to be week long heatwaves with some showers or fronts moving in. Any other gardeners find it too dry or have you enjoyed the sun and put up with the Watering Cans to water?

Tldr:

Love heat with low humidity, would like showers weekly or fortnightly.

Do I risk it and trust the weather forecasts or stand by and prep for a mid-September heatwave?

In London.

Sun is lovely to an extent, but I also love the smell and sound of rain and ofc it's important. What I don't love is endless grey (especially windy) days that refuse to give any rain. I want to squeeze those damn clouds of every drop.

How Is it almost completely wrong just mere hours before? I went to bed at 11 and checked the weather and It said heavy rain by 6am all through to lunch time.

Ive worked hard at the Gym this week and have done all admin and chores so was planning on a snuggle day on the Sofa...the sun Is now rising and It looks like It will a nice day, which will make me feel awful sitting around so now I've got make plans.

Just dont get how it they keep promising rain and its total opposite the next morning

The urban heat effect is what every city has in common. In the centre were plants are non existent which leads to complete lack of natural cooling mechanism. Tall buildings constantly block cold winds acting as wind catchers. It often keeps heat from escaping the ground leaving to for example 2 degrees and rain in Birmingham but heavy snow in Brinsford brewood and Shareshill due to open fields and localized cold pool. This happens even though the villages sit lower down than the city plateau. Proving how powerful urban heat dome is at dropping​ temperatures by 1 to 3 degrees + In rural areas.

In the Summer temperatures in these regions from personal experience can get unseasonably cold with temperatures dropping to crisp 12 degrees and a chill to the air at night time. Birmingham again and surrounding areas stay warmer and trap heat leading to muggy nights widely. Temperatures in day time are usually only 1 degree difference in the summer compared to multiple degrees in the winter and even autumn and spring months.

WHAT DOSE THIS MEAN FOR THIS WINTER?

With this winter projected to be very marginal for snow and battle between the jet stream and blocking high pressure system. This winter will highlight these differences to extreme level. Areas in the South in specifically will get constant rain if you live in the South West, central London Bristol, Cardiff and Swansea. So the m4 line southwards are at overwhelming risk rain not snow. The only places that will get consistent transitional snow are Chiltons Cotswolds them type of places because elevation. The West Midlands is were this extreme marginal difference will begin North of Birmingham likely up to Newcastle. Don't be shocked if you live in Birmingham our Leeds City centre our anywhere like that to get nothing. But see people in them villages get a dumping of snow.

As it rained...

Don't take this as a forecast for the winter as its way to early and this only gose out to mid October

This summer I was hoping to actually get things done, since I don't have a job but am active at home. But since the weather got hot, I've genuinely been unable to get pretty much anything done for the past two months.

When the heatwaves started, I couldn't focus on anything, couldn't get motivated to do anything (even if it was important or I really wanted to do it), and I felt unwell and fatigued constantly, not to mention insanely irritable. I later found a electric thermometer and brought it to the room I normally do things in, and I discovered not only is the room above 25C most of the time during the day (and at night during the heatwave), but that I ONLY feel good and better if the temperature goes below 25C, but it rarely ever does.

When it did cool down a few weeks ago at night, it felt freezing...but the temperature was only 19-22C, which feels strange to me. It felt like it was winter, yet the room was still technically a warm temperature, but I started to feel like myself again, and even had a few nights of quality sleep which only lasted for a few nights before it got too warm and humid again to sleep comfortably, and now I feel insanely depressed again.

I was able to pre-order a portable AC unit, which will arrive in a few months, so I'm hoping this will never happen again, but I feel weird that for some reason, if the temperature is above 24C, I lose the ability to function like a normal person and feel ill and tired and essentially disabled (that's a bit of an exaggeration but that's the only word I can think of) if it gets too hot and humid.

The worst bit is, I swear that I have felt like this every summer before, but I never realised how warm my room actually was because I never feel the heat like most do. Like, I think it's cool, just my body feels warm for some reason. But now I realise it's because my body is rarely in room temperatures below 23-24C for the most part, at least during the middle third of a year.

I hope their possessions are safe and they get sorted ASAP.

taken from Staverton Airport - first mesocyclone pics i’ve ever got!

I filmed this during a thunderstorm last night in Lichfield and noticed something strange when watching it back.

Around the middle of the clip, there’s a bright light that seems to move diagonally from the upper left toward the lower right, passing near or behind the fixed street light. A moment later, there’s a much bigger flash lighting up the sky to the right.

I’m not claiming it’s anything unusual or dramatic. I’m just curious what might explain it, and I’d be interested in conventional explanations.

For context, I was filming in landscape from under a sheltered car port, so the phone wasn’t directly out in the rain. The street light and houses are fixed in the frame. This is trimmed from a longer clip of about 45 seconds, recorded at 1920x1080 and around 24 fps. I can upload the fuller version as well if that would help.

My best guess is that it could be part of the lightning sequence, a lens flare, or some other camera/weather effect. I’d appreciate thoughts from anyone who knows more about lightning, weather, cameras, or video analysis.

I was anxious all day yesterday and had a headache, couldn’t sleep last night, then the storm started and eventually i fell asleep but i’ve woken up with this sense of impending doom with added nausea and it’s awful.

Google says it’s the barometric pressure! A rapid drop in air pressure impacts the pressure inside your sinuses, inner ears, and joints. For many people, this invisible pressure shift triggers a subtle "fight or flight" response, causing you to feel physically restless or tense before the storm even arrives… I was just wondering if this is common? I’m mid thirties and never noticed it before today but it’s so interesting!

I have had a weather station for 15 years. Never in that time has it recorded anything close to this today. The last rainfall (above 1mm) was on 23rd June. Here are some figures:
34mm rainfall in 27 minutes. This is absolutely insane. The entire town had flash flooding.
1,120 recorded lightning strikes (within 20 mile radius)
At the peak, it was recording 25 lightning strikes per minute. This is more akin to a Florida thunderstorm.
Never have I seen anything like it in the UK.

A family member who lives 5 miles away did not have any rain during this event, which shows how localised they are.

Lots of thunder and lightning, drains not handling the sudden downpour, we have two rivers in our town so it’ll be flooded soon.