Fed up with Scrabble? Blame errant jet stream
August or autumn? There has been plenty of time to debate the question these past few days, best of all indoors. Strong winds, up to 60mph on the coasts, and band after band of rain have sent holidaymakers scurrying from the beaches, and caused the cancellation of at least two summer festivals – Boardmasters in Newquay and Houghton in north Norfolk.
The villain of the piece is the jet stream, that ribbon of air currents in the high atmosphere that blows west to east across the Atlantic. This time of year it should be to the north of the UK, allowing us to lap up the warmth heading our way from the Mediterranean.
Instead, it has wandered off southwards, as if on holiday itself, leaving in its wake deep troughs of low pressure out to the west of us, with strong winds spinning up plenty of moisture and clouds. In other words, what we usually get in October.
Today will not be quite as bad as yesterday, but that is probably little comfort if you have been playing Scrabble for 24 hours in a crowded caravan. More rain clouds will be making their way across the skies of southern England on still blustery winds. Further north, there should be some sun to dry things out if you are camping, but don’t expect anything too hot. The wind direction has shifted to a north-westerly, carrying colder air from the far north across the whole country. London will strain and struggle up to 72F (22C), East Anglia 70F (21C), Cardiff a modest 66F (19C) and Edinburgh a lousy 59F (15C). Thank goodness the festival events there are mostly indoors.
The start of the new week brings little relief. In fact, it may be colder still as those north-westerly winds continue unabated, with a smattering of showers to wipe any smiles off our weather-beaten faces. Tuesday is looking a bit calmer, but that cool theme continues right up to next weekend.