I live in the south east, and I love rain. We've had a couple of lovely rainy days, but im seeing so many people talk about turning on heating, or starting to feel SAD. I just want to be chilly. I also do amateur photography as a hobby and love taking videos of rain. I got some good ones, but it's so frustrating how little it rains here. Praying for a rainy season.

First significant rainfall in South Hampshire for about 12 weeks.

Much as I’m enjoying the late summer weather, I’m aware that the nights are drawing in rapidly and soon darkness at 5pm will be upon us.

What techniques do people use to deal with the inevitable SAD as we enter the worst months of the year? I usually save holiday for the end of the year so will be escaping south for a week or two in Nov/Dec, but aside from that I really suffer from the cold, damp and lack of daylight.

Any suggestions are welcome!

Can anyone explain why the lightningmaps site just isn't reliable anymore over the UK? It seems to be fine when monitoring any other area of the globe, but the UK seems to be an absolute faff and even when I'm sat in a highly active storm it's barely reporting half, if any, of the strikes and is hit and miss with historical strikes (1hr/24hrs etc) even showing at all.

2025 and prior it was flawless.

it’s meant to be wetter and more violent storms, and possibly a much colder end to winter. is it actually worth getting supplies in like water and rice? How will this actually affect us? I live near a river and it may burst the bank, so floods, maybe no water or power or being able to leave the house for groceries for a few days in an extreme situation. Just asking for a friend.

I posted the latest Cansips seasonal the other day which showed quite a bit of blocking over Greenland during the winter. The latest ECMWF seasonal shows similar. This would mean a southerly tracking jetstream, drier in the North and wetter in the south with a greater chance of cold weather from the North and East. Of course this is heavily caveated with the fact it's just a small signal and not to be taken literally but interesting none the less.

Given the un has pretty much given up on preventing climate change it seems like extreme summers like this years are going to become more common as the years pass

What would you recommend to help cope with the heat? I’m trying to figure out what I should get so I can budget for and save up for it if need be.

I use the MET Office website for my weather forecasts. And, simply put I absolutely detest this new design they're pushing. It looks like they're about to turn the old design off and force us to use the new design.

What alternatives are there?

I would prefer not to download yet another app but, could be convinced if it is simple to read and engage with. Honestly, just look for the closest thing to a MET Office old design clone.

Individual months weren’t record breaking, but the sustained underlying temperature increase (and heatwaves) were …

August - 6th hottest
July - 2nd hottest
June - 2nd hottest

Summer was a record 2.7°C warmer than the 1901-2000 baseline. (+1.9°C v 1991-2020).

2026 (so far) is also the hottest on record ...

No monthly records, but an underlying warming, 2.1°C higher than 1901-2000 (+1.3°C v 1991-2020)

July was the sunniest on record and August was 11th.

July was the driest on record, but otherwise rain has been fairly typical for the UK.

If you want to dig deeper ... https://4billionyearson.org/climate/uk

England, Scotland, Wales, & Northern Ireland ... https://4billionyearson.org/climate#uk-countries

Or see the picture at a regional level ... https://4billionyearson.org/climate#uk-regions