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How bad is May 2015 so far...


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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

20C is a pretty good benchmark for a "warm" day in our climate, and as it is typically achieved for most of the country in late April or early May it is a good marker for dividing the "warm" season from the "cool" one, with the first air frost (typically around 6 months later) signalling the opposite change. 15C is possible every month, 25 rare outside June-Aug, so 20 fits well.

1986 was the last time we had to wait till June for 20C, but this spell could easily beat it for the longest spell without a 20C. The latest last year was in mid September I think, while autumn 1985 widely had 20C in October.

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Posted
  • Location: Leeds
  • Weather Preferences: snow, heat, thunderstorms
  • Location: Leeds

Why are people obsessed with reaching 20C, you can enjoy the weather without hitting such heights, it's been nowhere near as bad as many say, 119% sunshine figures here for week starting May 10th don't lie, it will very interesting to see the CET sunshine figures for this May, last few days sunshine figures won't help though. 

Yesterday had 12 hours of sun at Leeming which makes it the sunniest day so far in May. None of your much-fabled Polar Maritime air masses delivered as much sunshine.

 

However, the sunshine total up to yesterday is a meager 141 hours, so this month will end up below average unless the final few days of this month are VERY sunny, which I don't see happening.

 

My PWS reached 20C in April but Linton on Ouse has only reached 19.7C so far.

Edited by cheese
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Posted
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset
  • Weather Preferences: Continental winters & summers.
  • Location: Cleeve, North Somerset

Where this May has been far from great, like I said before there have been many worse Mays. The main feature this month here has been the rather non-descript weather that has frequented this month with an almost constant wind. If anything, this May has been less varied than most others. 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 were all unsettled but featured more variety than this one. I suppose nowadays we should expect May to be a dodgy month, I can't myself remember many truly good ones, just good spells of weather in otherwise poor months e.g. 15th-16th May 2002, 27th-31st May 2003, 03rd-07th May 2006, 21st-24th May 2007, 01st-06th May 2011, 23rd-30th May 2012. Only 2004 and 2008 stand out in my memory as being good Mays in recent times and even the former had a very wet and unsettled first third to the month.

 

Let's hope June is a lot better!

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Posted
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire
  • Weather Preferences: Sunshine, convective precipitation, snow, thunderstorms, "episodic" months.
  • Location: Lincoln, Lincolnshire

Same as people judging a winter month by how many nights below 0c, lack of double digit maxima, Air frosts etc. And what use is blazing sunshine if its only 11c and breezy and you still have to wear a coat to keep warm.

 

Its the truth that the warmest summer months also tend to be the sunniest ones so high presssure and southerlies must bring sunshine.

Indeed- in the summer half-year you generally need a sustained airflow off the sea to maintain cloudy conditions under an anticyclone because otherwise the cloud tends to burn off within a couple of days, thus high pressure tends to be strongly correlated with sunshine, but this is less true in winter.  I think southerly winds are similar because the continent tends to be mainly clear and sunny in summer when there is no Atlantic influence, whereas this is not the case in winter.  

 

I also sense that the link between high pressure and sunshine is strongest in south-western Britain, and weakest in coastal parts of north-eastern Britain- this is certainly consistent with my experiences of living in coastal Tyneside and in Exeter.  But the dry-sunny relationship appears to hold fairly well in coastal parts of the NE as well, the paradoxical factor being that unsettled westerly spells are quite often dry and sunny there due to the rain shadow effect.  For this reason I think many coastal parts of north-eastern Britain may be quite favoured this month.

Edited by Thundery wintry showers
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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

Not obsessed with 20 degrees, its as someone has commented a good benchmark figure for an indication of a good day temp wise in this country at this time of year.

 

On average most parts of England and Wales at least can expect to record 20 degrees by the end of May, in many a year before May..

 

When June comes the benchmark figure rises to 25 degrees, a figure again most places should record at least once at some stage in the summer. In the SE quarter of the country the benchmark figure becomes 30 degrees.. as 25 degrees can easily reached under a long draw southwesterly or a ridge with not very impressive uppers but plenty of sunshine.

 

Looking at the long range forecasts for here, we aren't expected to get any higher than 16 degrees before the month is out, whilst this is about the average max for tail end of May, it is a poor showing and on most days we are only expected to record 11-14 degree max, which is significantly below the average.

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

Just checked Mays back to 2006 and unlike this May they've all had temps in the low 70's where this month we haven't had one and won't get one looking at the models. Whether we will get the coldest May since 1996 probably will depend on overnight temps and cloud cover.

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Posted
  • Location: Northern Lake District 150m
  • Location: Northern Lake District 150m

Worst May here for a long long time

 

200% rainfall

 

50% sunshine

 

2c below average mean temperature

 

3c below average mean maximum

 

much worse than May 1996 here

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Posted
  • Location: Northern Lake District 150m
  • Location: Northern Lake District 150m

Just done some local research and this May is on a par with May 1979 around here,

 

1979 was about 3c below average, rainfall of 200% 

 

May 1996 in Cumbria was only cold, not dull or wet with 225 hours of sun at Aspatria (Met Office) and 96% of average rainfall - maximum temps were 2c below average.

 

2015 is the worst May since 1979 here

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Posted
  • Location: Peterborough
  • Weather Preferences: Snow and frost in the winter. Hot and sunny, thunderstorms in the summer.
  • Location: Peterborough

Down here in the south east, temperatures around average and rainfall if anything a little below normal. Sums up my rather meh feelings about this month. There have been plenty of dry days with temperatures in the high teens or low twenties this month where most other locations have been wetter, cloudier and cooler.

Just 1 day where there was some decent shower activity, the rest came from persistent bands of rain or the occasional squall line on some of the cold fronts which have passed through here.

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Posted
  • Location: Nymburk, Czech Republic and Staines, UK
  • Weather Preferences: Sunny and warm in summer, thunderstorms, snow, fog, frost, squall lines
  • Location: Nymburk, Czech Republic and Staines, UK

Pretty grim May here, Spring as a whole hasn't been anything to shout about. Too much cloud and plenty of very chilly days for much of the time. The sunny days (and cloudy ones) have been marred by a constant howling wind too. Very annoying. Desperately hoping things improve dramatically soon!

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Posted
  • Location: Shrewsbury
  • Location: Shrewsbury

Looks like Shawbury is going to have the dullest May since either 1983 or 1981, depending how the last 3 days do. 1981 is beaten, needs another 10 hours to beat 1983. It will certainly be in the top 5 dullest Mays.

Lowest absolute max since 1986 too, no 20C. Not exceptionally wet, but must be up there for windiness as well. A very disappointing May.

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Posted
  • Location: halifax 125m
  • Weather Preferences: extremes the unusual and interesting facts
  • Location: halifax 125m

I don't think it has been as bad here as more northern areas there have been far wetter Mays here and it has definitely been colder but to sum it up for me it has been consistently cool right to the end which I guess is quite rare!

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Posted
  • Location: Alresford, Near Colchester, Essex
  • Weather Preferences: As long as it's not North Sea muck, I'll cope.
  • Location: Alresford, Near Colchester, Essex

Crap May in my neck of the woods (right near the Coast) and I agree with Stainesbloke about the poxy wind - the worst feature of the month here!

Edited by Steve C
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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield
  • Location: Sheffield

Not a Very good May at all-Cool and Our Wettest month of the year so far here in Sheffield and more due Tomorrow Evening and Early Sunday Morning-absolutely vile some days when the rain has fallen-more like November than May.

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Posted
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl
  • Location: Windermere 120m asl

Just done some local research and this May is on a par with May 1979 around here,

 

1979 was about 3c below average, rainfall of 200% 

 

May 1996 in Cumbria was only cold, not dull or wet with 225 hours of sun at Aspatria (Met Office) and 96% of average rainfall - maximum temps were 2c below average.

 

2015 is the worst May since 1979 here

 

 

Yes its been a very poor May over the Lake District, combination of sustained below average mean temps, significantly above average rainfall and limited sunshine has made for one of the worse Mays in a long time. May 96 saw colder nights but wasn't as wet or as dull. Another aspect of the month has been a constant nagging chilly NW wind. I think our highest max has been about 17 degrees, and the vast majority of days have seen maxima in the 10-13 degree range.

 

The stats back up how poor things have been for the NW quarter of the UK as whole, over 175% average rainfall and mean temps at least 1 degree below, many places close to 2 degrees normal. However, further SE conditions have been nearer normal, as you would expect under a predominantly W/NW airstream.

 

May can be the best month of the year in the Lake District for dry sunny weather at least, unfortunately not this year, and it looks like ending on a very disappointing note. First 2 days of June look very poor as well, hopefully things will change markedly in a weeks time..

Edited by damianslaw
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Posted
  • Location: Odiham, Hampshire
  • Location: Odiham, Hampshire

An absolutely beautiful evening. Crystal clear skies and temperatures dropping to 3.5 in the countryside where I am in north Hampshire. A reminder of just how far north and therefore how cold it can get even at this time of the year.

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Posted
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield
  • Weather Preferences: Any Extreme
  • Location: Sheffield South Yorkshire 160M Powering the Sheffield Shield

Had to put it on briefly yesterday evening but it's spending most of the time off thankfully.

Anyway coldest May since 2013 here just as wet as that year as well.

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Posted
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire
  • Weather Preferences: Spanish plumes, hot and sunny with thunderstorms
  • Location: Keyingham, East Yorkshire

Well the Month as a whole has ended up just on the poor side of average here. But nothing very bad, as the past week has provided some sparkling springlike days and some decent warmth too. Looking at the bigger picture and the country as a whole, we have really lacked a nationwide high pressure spell though.

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Posted
  • Location: West Cumbria, Egremont 58m (190.3ft) ASL
  • Weather Preferences: Cold/snow winter, Warm/hot summer, Thunderstorms, Severe Gales
  • Location: West Cumbria, Egremont 58m (190.3ft) ASL

Worst may ever, windy and cool, dont even think we got over 14c.

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Posted
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia
  • Location: Bratislava, Slovakia

Nearing month's end and this definitely goes down as a very poor May. Dominated by cold, blustery NWerly winds, a premium of sunny days and with several instances of heavy, prolonged rainall. Worst of all have been the temperatures, which have failed to get above 17C here all month - that is simply diabolical. Today's predicted sunshine didn't even materialise here save for a few fleeting moments here and there, and tomorrow looks to round off the month in a fittingly execrable fashion.

 

Can't wait for things to get warmer and more settled. I'm fed up.

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