London & The South East Weather

I didn't think I'd ever see better Spring weather* than the one during lockdown, but here we are, week 7 into the season and the sun is STILL shining (bar the odd few days)! ☀️

*unless you're a farmer

There are signs we MAY reach our earliest 30C day by later next week. In the meantime, our first truly Summer-like week starts on Sunday with temperatures fluctuating between 23-28C for most of next week. 🔥☀️

There are tenuous signals from the models that we might start seeing a pattern change towards the end of this month to something warmer...or at least more seasonal. ☀️

Don't forget the clocks go forward at 1am. You'll lose an hours sleep but the plus side is you'll get 1 hour less of rain 🌧😁

It's now that time of year where there is sufficient 'poke' in the sun for showers to develop independently inland. Showers will pop up tomorrow but will be largely hit and miss. Dry for most.

As we draw to a close on another (mostly) snowless Winter, I always look towards the signs that Spring is around the corner. Although the definition of what's considered 'Spring' is arbitrary there are some natural signs that I follow...

1) Cumulus clouds ✅️
2) Showers developing inland ✅️
3) Can feel the strength of the sun ✅️

By my book Spring is here already!! 😁

September actually came out warmer than both July & August. Even stranger still it also came out just as warm as June. Can you believe that!? I don't know a time that's ever happened but it must be exceptionally rare if it has.

Stats are a bit daunting but this graph shows the the average temperatures so far. The important features to note is the black line which signifies the 1961-1990 mean and the blue line which tells us the average temperature this year. Immediately you'll notice that during the summer months the blue line was at or below the black line which tells us it was about average to below average (didn't need stats to tell us this - Summer was awful). However, the pendulum swung the other way in the first half of September where you can see that massive difference against the black seasonal mean - it's WELL above the average.

In fact, the black line naturally increases and decreases based on the seasonal changes as you can see in the chart. However, the mean this year isn't following the typical seasonal pattern. Monthly averages are still hovering at around 16-17C and have done so now for 4 months. A poor Summer and an exceptional Autumn have meant our temperatures haven't changed much at all.

It's looking likely we'll see another very warm spell of weather over the weekend.

You may have noticed a yellowy, hazy tint to the sky this afternoon - the sort of which you'd see in southern Europe. Recent storms over the Med have kicked up a lot of dust from Northern Africa and southerly winds aloft have dragged it towards us.

Should see some fantastic sunsets.

There's a cruel irony in the fact that we saw Autumn in Summer and now Summer in (meterological) Autumn 🙄

If it was July, this week may have been one of the hottest weeks ever recorded. Thankfully it's September and it's actually quite pleasant.

Just another 10 weeks and it will be spooky season, the clocks will have gone back and sunset will be approximately 16.30. 🎃🍁

Storm Antoni, named by the MetOffice, will impact southern parts of the UK tomorrow. It will bring up to 60mph gusts and 20-30mm of rain in parts. Temperatures in some places will hover in the low teens.

Awful.