By early July the course of our summer can often seem set. If we have had a warm settled June water temperatures in our local seas may well have risen above normal and the weather pattern look set into a classic ‘blocked’ set up; the Azores high pressure may be well to the north of its usual position, extending well to the north east across the United Kingdom, with gentle south easterly winds pulling up some very warm air up from the heart of the sun baked European continent.

Conversely, we may have found that the unsettled weather we associate with a mobile Atlantic has not let up on us through June, bringing a regular supply of depressions, albeit weak ones, across us, more especially to the northern and western parts of the British Isles.

Such different patterns are a regular feature of our changeable patterns of weather across our maritime islands and the reason why those of us affected by the weather- which after all is probably most, if not

After the wet periods we saw in July it may have seemed that after July's last week or so when the sun shone that all the rain was behind us. Sadly that doesnt look to be the case with a lot more wet weather looking set to come in August.

We look to be entering a period when the jet will take a rather southerly course, steering depressions on a quite southerly track across the southern UK, with high pressure still established over the area from Iceland down through northern Scandinavia. north . As this means the track is over warmer water then the amount of moisture held by such depressions tends to be greater and as they reach the UK, blocked by high pressure further east they slow down, and release copious amounts of rain across us, especially if thunderstorms develop as well.

Summer rainfall is not especially useful generally as it tends to run off the soil rapidly without sinking in and so does not increase the water table in the long run. Equally,

After the chilly end to March some of us may not want to wait for another few months to experience an English summer and be wanting to escape to warmer climes further south where summer like warmth and sunshine is- if not guaranteed -at least an odds on chance.

So where should you think about heading? People do often expect that it will be warmer in the south of Europe earlier than it actually is especially warm. The two key things to consider are your proposed location: inland or by the sea and the strength of the sun. Certainly the sun may be very strong at locations below about 40N by mid April. You can get burnt in the sun in fact even in winter time along the southern Spanish coast and islands like Malta and Crete. So if the sun is out it will be strong. However out of the sun and at night it may be quite cold. This is because the diurnal range inland can be very high in Spring, due to the air being very dry; this is

Moving to Sovereign Harbour in 2005 meant our live systems’ sensors needed a new home too. For our Davis Sensor Suite we found this to be on the Harbour Yacht Clubs roof, enabling the Club to have live weather information for their use.

For the live WMR928 and WS2300 systems we have on display in the shop we have sited the sensors just outside the shop on a flag pole. In addition, all the products in the shop are receiving from temperature and humidity sensors in a Met Office specification Stevenson Screen, which are available made-to-order.

After both the record breakingly high temperatures and sunshine amounts during July it may seem that the course of our summer is set. Whilst it certainly looks as though the summer overall will be a warm one there are some significant trends that we should carefully note.

One of the most obvious is that our climate has a habit of righting itself; that is for most periods when the weather has set into a warm dry pattern there will be a definitive break from this; a period of unsettled wetter weather may result. There have been several notable periods when hot dry weather has been followed by very wet unsettled weather, such as in 1947 and 1975 when standpipes had hardly been erected in the streets (and a Minister for Drought appointed) before it was raining heavily!

Another concern is that the sea water temperatures are up to 3-4C warmer around our coasts now than they would normally be. Whilst this means our sea bathing is rather pleasant, meteorologically

May is often the time when mariners get out onto the open seas again, especially if April proved too poor or cold. However, there are a number of things to think about weatherwise when you do so. Whilst a calm wind and sea makes for an enjoyable experience a fresh breeze and light chop offer something a little more challenging though potentially more rewarding. In the late Spring the weather can soon change to something more dramatic, and if you're unprepared, potentially dangerous.  Blackclouts, gusty winds, heavy downpours and even thunder and lightning can cause a lot of problems for the owner of a small craft... and its crew.

The main thing is to keep up to date by using the latest marine forecasts. Pay attention to the TV forecasts and listen in particular to the more detailed marine weather forecasts available, taking note of any small craft advisories or wind warnings

Whilst I have noted before that November is often a dull, rather bleak month when we often spend many of our waking hours in the dark or a dusky twilight, it doesnt have to be that way, as our look this month at November 2004 in the 'weather events' section shows.  Such periods of bright November days when they occur can be a real antidote to the late dawns and early evening dusks.

Remember though that without the benefit of the artificial light that we rely on, the winter must have been an even darker and altogether duller affair in days gone by. In the States they call it 'Cabin Fever'. However it can develop into something more serious, the syndrome called ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD),  a type of winter depression that affects an estimated half a million people in the UK between October-March, and especially during the winter months. Symptoms generally include depression, sleepiness and a loss

The month of November is still epitomised well in this 19th century poem:

No sun - no moon!
No morn - no noon -no dawn - no dusk - no proper time of day.
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, no comfortable feel in any member.
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, no fruits, no flowers, no leaves, no birds!
November!

Thomas Hood (1799-1845)

November can often be a dull, rather bleak month when the weather refuses to set itself into winter proper but as the hours quickly shorten, we often can spend many of our waking hours in the dark or a dusky twilight.

The poet Thomas Hood captured it well above and when he wrote it, the month, without the benefit of the artificial light that we rely on, must have been an even darker and altogether duller affair.

Recently the syndrome ‘Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has been recognised. This condition is a type

On 31^st March 2005 we had the official opening day of The Weather Shop by Michael Fish and Eastbourne’s Lady Mayor. We had the pleasure of welcoming many of our manufacturers’ representatives and new and re-visiting customers.

To celebrate opening our new shop we staged a grand opening weekend at the beginning of April 2005, which included a large Prize Draw entered by all whom visited the shop over our special weekend. Prizes included a WMR928, Multi Stark Weather Forecaster donated by Oregon Scientific, and products from other manufacturers.

Brian Hamilton, author of Weather Display software, was able to join us all the way from New Zealand for the weekend and was on hand to answer any queries. This provided a great focus for face-to-face introductions between Julian, author of Weather Display Live, and Chris, who runs the Forum for Weather Display 32, and publishes his weather data to the following link,

In the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year (around June 22) occurs when the sun is farthest north and marks the official first day of summer, although weather wise we consider June 1st as the start of a three month summer period which ends on August 31st. The summer solstice marks the period when the length of time between sunrise and sunset is at a maximum for the year.

The area that sees the very longest period of possible daylight (and therefore sunlight) in the UK is in the far northern isles of Scotland near the town of Lerwick. Here the sun rises at about 0330 on June 21st and sets at about 2241 BST, giving -in theory- the possibility of around 19 hours sunshine. In practice such amounts are rarely achieved.

However some months can be extremely sunny in June. For example, Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, recorded 381.6 hours, the highest monthly sunshine record for this century, an average of 12.7 hours per day.