As the weather in the UK is renowned for its unusually fickle nature, making any prediction as to whether the UK will experience good or bad weather in Summer 2010 is just like asking how long is a piece of string!
Remarkably upbeat weather forecasts for a hot summer in 2009 in no way matched the reality of the damp and dismal UK summer that ensued. It has to be said that any Brit who booked summer holidays in the UK for 2009 based on the many optimistic long range forecasts is now undeniably cynical about the usefulness of such weather forecasts. As ever, it is a good idea in the UK to ensure an umbrella or rain mac is carried – no matter how marvellous the forecast seems to be or how wonderful the weather seems at the start of the day.
There are a number of weather forecasts that predict a hot summer for the UK in 2010 and indeed Positive Weather Solutions state that the summer of 2010 could well be the “warmest summer on record” or at the very least one of the three warmest summers ever recorded. Typically though the stoic Brits will be very doubtful of such optimistic forecasts and prefer to wait and see what transpires. Certainly, after a week or two holidaying on home soil in July or early August 2009, most Brits will be convinced that a Mediterranean vacation is really the only way of guaranteeing a sunshine holiday.
Of course, many country dwellers swear that the signs of nature will give more reliable indicators for long range weather forecasts. One example of an ancient weather forecasting tool is to monitor the oak and the ash tree in early spring to see which one will come to leaf first. The leafing of the oak and ash tree is supposed to indicate the amounts of rainfall likely during summer, the traditional lore being that: “if the oak before the ash then we will only have a splash and if the ash before the oak we will surely have a soak”. Monitoring birds in flight and other animal life is another method of gauging potential weather conditions and forecasts. Indeed many country people are well versed in reading the signs of nature and can offer far more accurate long range weather forecasts than those that are made by professionals at the Meteorological Office.
For the British people any period of prolonged hot and sunny weather during the summer of 2010 will be a bonus but not a real expectation. Hot, sunny days will be an excuse for weekend day trips to the beach, or ad hoc weekends away at seaside or countryside locations. Barbeques will be cleaned up and Brits will spend as much time as possible soaking up the sun’s rays in their gardens or in local parks.
