After a fortnight of settled and fine weather for most parts of the UK, we’re now seeing more changeable conditions which have led to stories claiming summer is ‘over before it even began’.
They point to our 30-day outlook, which it’s fair to say does make reference to changeable conditions being likely to persist through into the start of July.
However, before we all write off summer, it’s important to emphasise a couple of points.
Firstly, changeable weather isn’t all bad. In this case it means we’re likely to see mainly westerly winds which will allow weather systems to push in from the Atlantic, bringing spells of rain at times. But we’ll also see some dry and bright or sunny spells at times too. So it’s what you’d term as typically British weather and far from a ‘wash out’.
Secondly, we’re not even half way through June. Now, for us meteorologists, the summer runs until the end of August. That means even the 30 day outlook does not get us to half way through the season – so there is still plenty to play for in the forecast for summer 2013.
It’s also worth pointing out that so far, summer has been pretty good – since it began on 1 June, somewhere in the UK has seen a temperature of 20C or above every day.
Official blog of the Met Office news team 
I have read your report in this email and I appreciate that whoever wrote it is trying to send the message that “the glass is half full not half empty” but I am sorry whichever way you slice it we have had NO summer yet and all the predictions are for more of the same until end July. Now if come 1st August the Jet Stream moves north of Scotland, where it should be at the time of year, then that would be super but I personally feel that the chances of this happening are the same as me winning the lottery.
Hope you’ve bought a ticket…It’s 30C here today July 16 (Oh and Met office – you predicted unsettled and changeable into the beginning of July – nope it’s been gloriously hot since the end of June…pass the seaweed someone, I’ll get better results that way.
“It’s also worth pointing out that so far, summer has been pretty good – since it began on 1 June, somewhere in the UK has seen a temperature of 20C or above every day.”
It has certainly been a pleasant start to June, but partly this is because of the contrast with the exceptionally cold weather that came before. If I look at the Central England Temperature then I can see that June has been below average temperature for the month so far [to the 9th].
I think that’s quite an interesting effect of people’s perceptions. We have had such cold and wet weather – in recent months and recent summers – that below average temperatures can feel like a heatwave in the popular perception.
“Buzzcocks” or some similar word
This summer has been average. I’ve been alive 45 years now. We had some decent summers in the 1990s, a nice one in 2006 and 1977. The rest have been pretty much like this one – rubbish, or is it extreme?