Britain is supposed to have the Azores High pressure during Summer rather than it heading East.

August statistically is the hottest month of the year (cumulative heat peaks in this month + daylight sun heat).

What I would like to know is..... Given that Britain's Summer has been a washout and temperatures slightly above average (although significantly lower than recent years), can Britain still have temperatures in the 30s celcius this August?

i.e. In August if the Azores high heads over Britain and days are clear. Will temperatures reach those seen in previous years, or do the months prior impact?

Regards

So far we only have predictions, and we well know is that if you want to lie the fastest way is to predict the weather.

In the last 5-7 years all weather systems in Europe have suffered a gradual change, the stable pressure systems in Summer, i.e. High in the Azores and low over Moscow are not as predictable anymore as they once were and all predictions go into the direction that they are both lost.

If you want to know for sure, well, nobody knows. All we have is statistics from which we can derive more or less, given a situation, the next developing one.

The wildcard here is the gulf stream. If it is weakening, as established by some meteorological institutes, then your chances of a real hot summer in Scotland and northern England are very bleak.

If not your chances of a 30 degree summer are pretty good, chances are that it will get hotter. Not good for all those wonderful lawns.

We could in theory still get temps in the low 30s this August, although maxima in the high 20s are more likely. We won't be getting any record breaking temps though and I suspect something like 28c is the highest we'll get - always assuming the weather does finally settled down for a brief heatwave (by no means certain!).

The main reason we're unlikely to see 30c+ now is that the ground is very wet. The highest temperatures usually occur in part due to very dry soil allowing for greater and more rapid heating of the air above. This is one reason why temps often rise day by day during a heatwave.

However the fact it's been cool in July does not itself impact on the likelihood of high temps in August.

At the moment, looking to the middle of August, there are indications that, in the south at least, it should be drier with the Azores high reaching out across us at times. But no significant heatwave, with maximum temps only reaching up to the mid 20s.

If I recall correctly, I think in 2005 the temp only reached 30c at the end of August and there's no reason why we couldn't see the highest temps of the year occur in September (at the moment though, the highest temps were recording in April - and if that stood, it would be extremely unusual!) So don't despair, there's time yet for some warm summery weather . Just don't blame me if it doesn't arrive until 2008!