Coolest UK summer since 2015

Sarah Keith-Lucas
Lead Weather Presenter

2 September 2024

The UK has seen its coolest summer for nine years, according to latest statistics from the Met Office.

It has also been a season of contrasts, with the north-west of the UK cool and wet, while the south and east have had a more typical UK summer.

The hottest day of the summer was 12 August, when temperatures in Cambridge reached 34.8C. Although we did see some heatwaves recorded in the south, any periods of heat have been fairly short-lived.

This year bucks the trend of the warm summers we have seen in recent years. The last time the UK had a cooler than average summer was back in 2015.

Two maps of the UK. The first shows blue across Wales, western Scotland and Northern Ireland showing lower temperatures compared to average. The second has brown across much of England and Wales to show dry weather there and blue colours across the far north-west showing wetter weather.

The coolest and wettest weather this summer has been in the north-west of the UK

Temperatures on the low side

Summer - in weather and climate terms - incorporates June, July and August.

The three key indicators for assessing a season's weather are temperature, rainfall and sunshine amounts.

The statistics from the Met Office show that overall, summer was cooler than average. The mean daily temperature (the average across 24 hours) across the UK was 14.37C, which is 0.22C below average. The daytime maximum temperatures were more notably cool than the night-time minimums, with cloudy skies often keeping overnight temperatures up.

The long-term trend for higher temperatures is continuing due to climate change, although individual years will see ups and downs in temperature.

Five of the top 10 warmest summers on record in the UK have all occurred since 2000.

Heavy cloud and rain falling over Windermere as a tripper boat moves through the waters, and small waves are lapping

August was a particularly wet month in north-west England and western Scotland

Average rainfall

How wet it has felt for you depends very much on where you are, but looking at the summer as a whole, rainfall comes in at 241.3mm, which is just 5% below average.

For Achnagart in Highland it was the wettest summer on record with more than double the monthly average falling during August. It was particularly wet elsewhere in western Scotland and north-west England.

In contrast, much of Wales and the rest of England had a notably dry summer, with parts of the Midlands receiving only a third of their expected rainfall.

Blue skies with small, fluffy cumulus clouds over the pier at Cromer. Blue and green shades of sea below
Image source,BBC Weather Watcher / Walking Tractor

Eastern England saw plenty of sunshine during the second half of August

Sunshine in short supply

If you feel the blue sky days have been lacking this summer you would be right if you have been anywhere other than central-southern England, eastern England and parts of eastern Scotland.

These areas have seen up to 25% more sunshine than expected, whereas for the rest of us, it has been decidedly dull.

Things did pick up in the second half of the summer when the jet stream shifted north, bringing drier and warmer weather for many of us.

Map of UK with grey in the west showing low sunshine duration and yellow in the east showing higher amounts of sunshine 

What about autumn?

September last year brought a record-breaking seven consecutive days that reached 30C or more but it is unlikely we will see such as prolonged spell of heat this year.

Although September started with 30C at Wiggonholt in West Sussex, there have been some thundery downpours too.

Over the next few days, high pressure is never far away, so although things will turn a little fresher, with a few showers, there will still be some drier and warmer weather to be enjoyed too.

Keep up with the latest long range forecast in our monthly outlook.

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