Summer 2026 (1st June ~ start of meteorological Summer)

[GloriaSmud]

Yesterday (1st June) marked the start of meteorological summer (and the high temperatures last week were hot enough for some and enough to last the year!)

At the moment, the GFS thinks the first 10 days of June are looking unsettled and changeable, then slightly drier/warmer towards the end of next week but the unsettled theme still continues until the middle of the month.

Thoughts from Netweather (from a few days ago) and TheWeatherOutlook on what summer might have in store for us.

its 30 degrees again today in SE London which was not forecast!

I feel like the weather forecasters have given up! I’m in the SE today - it was forecast to be 24. My car said 30. I’m outside now and it’s definitely warmer than 24 degrees.

The pattern seems to be that they forecast a ‘cool down’ then it’s never that cool. That lasts about a day and then in ramps back up to 30!

It’s actually quite lovely here. Technically it’s still 25 at 5pm but there’s just enough of a breeze to make it feel cooler and really pleasntl walking in the sunshine. Proper SW summer sort of weather/temp.

That article is correct. This part of E Devon is looking very brown. Even some of the trees are looking terrible not just the grass.

So not just me who is questioning the temps

I was able to leave the flat in a light cotton jacket this morning. It was redundant by 11 am.

So tomorrow they have agreed will be hotter and then it just gets hotter again

The reliable local forecaster said that August was just going to be hot with spikes of heat. I have no reason not to believe him. So I'm just planning for another month of this shit.

If they say it's gonna be 27 outside, I think you need to plan for 30.

from My obsessive weather watching, the pattern among forecasts seems to be that they forecast a cool down in like a week or something and then it disappears. I don't understand why they keep predicting it?

Generally, I don't like saying that because I'm not a forecaster but this is what I'm prepared for - I'd always rather be pessimistic and then pleasantly surprised than the other way round. But yes, it's all pretty grim.

Plus, I need to steam a garment for tomorrow! Yikes. It's obviously not 34° but just this relentless weather pattern since the end of May is really annoying.

I used to wish I'd move to California. Thank goodness I didn't. I've spent a lot of time over there and I would speak to people who would say to me that they were jealous of the British for actually having a weather pattern and variation. Now I understand it!

Also, quite a few few people commented on clothes - and how much variation you could have in your clothes living in the UK

I now appreciate this

I wouldn't mind if it was T-shirt and jeans weather? But this is not what we have had. And look set to have for at least the next month.

as we head towards the last month of meteorological summer

😩

We've had cloudy mornings which break up for lovely sunny afternoons but I'm getting really concerned about the lack of rain for the wildlife and their ecosystems. The poor ground feeders 😟

Pixiedust1234 ~ I've been refreshing the water in the birdbath every day and sprinkling bird seed on the grass for a few weeks now (which will probably mean when it does rain, I'll have wild bird seed germinating all over the place 😆) , but there's quite a nice group of sparrows and a few pigeons that appreciate it at the moment!

Same here but it's the worm eaters that are suffering like the blackbirds and starlings, the frogs, as well as the mammals. Dried mealworms are not healthy when eaten every day. Right now I have five baby rooks having baths most days and scaring off everything in sight but they are very amusing to watch with their little sibling squabbles over the one birdbath despite have four scattered about. The little doves visit in the evening once the baby rooks have gone to bed/roost 😅

I don't know any rain dances but perhaps I could try singing/caterwauling 🤔

Manchester is still getting enough rain to keep everything green and enough sun to keep everyone happy. Blackbirds are bobbing about with beakfuls of tiny worms every few minutes.
There was a spell of 19 days without rain, it was weird seeing dust everywhere, I’m used to at least drizzle every week to keep everything rinsed down.

@Pixiedust1234 @InMySpareTime oh wow, you have all the cuteness! I'd love that!

I wanted to put a water feature in the communal garden, but people said it would make them want to pee

That's a shame, EmeraldRoulette ~ the sound of running water in a water feature is very restful...

Looks like any rain this coming week is going to be in the form of thundery showers so might be a few rumbles of thunder/storms about, especially in the north/Scotland. Although the beginning of the week looks warm/hot for the south/SE, there are signs temperatures are returning to more 'average for the time of year' in the coming weeks...

Heat health alerts for the next few days...

NO GloriaSmud, just NO! - stamps feet - 😫

@EmeraldRoulette I don't have a water feature but I have four different sized plant saucers full of water. The smallest has large gravel in it for the insects, I have a deep medium for the blackbird baths, a large shallow one for the pigeon soakers (I'm sure they take a glass of wine in with them), hedgehogs and squirrels, and a pedestal one for those who prefer off the ground like the sparrows and great tits.
B&M and other cheap retailers will sell these too. Will your neighbours allow these?
https://www.therange.co.uk/garden/gardening/pots-planters-and-flower-beds/pot-saucers/?sort=relevance&in_stock_f=true&page=1

What is the health for?

@Pixiedust1234 oh don’t worry we have water out for the birds. I don’t tend to see the birds being cute 🥰 purely because I tend to be out there in the evening after work. I don’t have a view of the garden from my flat.

Well, I’ve seen some pigeons crashing in a few times, but that’s not particularly cute!

people have been watching the birds play in there.

It was a water feature that they didn’t want. I can totally see that the sound of running water might be annoying (To some ) if you have a garden facing flat - but it didn’t occur to me that it would make people want to pee! But a few people said it all at the same time like it was the first thing they thought of!

justasking111 ~ Probably because the heat could affect people's health. There's more of an explanation here about when/why they're issued.

And still not much in the way of rain...some in the north/Scotland but not a lot (if any) for the south....Thoughts from TheWeatherOutlook on the coming week...

The UKHSA hear health alerts are for hospitals/social care providers governments to help planning because people are more likely to get ill and need admitting to hospital during very high temps.

Met office heat alerts are different and more for the public I think.

It rained heavily here in S Wales for a bit this afternoon! Yay!
Sunny again now.
Was lovely and everything smells fresh.

We had a very brief shower for about 2 minutes this evening and that was it. By the time it had finished, the few spots that were on the ground had all evaporated! The radar shows there are showers coming our way but I think that's evaporating as well before it gets to us. So the wait for some decent (or any!) rainfall goes on....

I felt a single drop walking home from the bus stop. That seems to be our rain allocation for today. The rain clouds are moving on.

Rained here all night. By late morning was so humid 🥵. DH was half an hour away in Anglesey today. Was pouring down there this afternoon. Not a drop here.

We have an actual puddle here. Good old Manchester can always be relied upon for a bit of rain when we need it.

We had some drizzly stuff around 8.30/9pm last night and we've got a 'proper' rain shower going on at the moment.

For the next week-10 days, temperatures are looking (for the Midlands/south/SE) between 'average for the time of year' to around the 30C mark. The north/Scotland/Wales are more in the 18-20C range although Wales might see the mid 20Cs during that time. And as for rain....Scotland is the place to be for that☔

I thought we might have some rain last night as we had some very gusty wind. A few bushes were at 45 degrees but nope, not a drop to be seen 😥 I'm very jealous of InMySpareTime puddle, it looks good enough to splash in.

We had a drop or two at 6am. Not more than 0.25mm according weather underground. Not really enough to wet the ground or sort our water shortage issues.

The feels like temp is 16/17 after weeks of much higher temps and I am loving it.