Want the climate of the Eighties? Move 275 miles north

The mean temperature for July so far in Wanstead stands at 22.2°C, that’s 4.6°C above the 1961-90 average. Far too hot for many it would seem. And, with many regions in England now officially under drought conditions, far too dry. So where has the climate of my childhood got to? A look on the excellent RoostWeather site shows that a mean temperature of 17.6°C this July lies somewhere between Scarborough and Edinburgh. But, with just 6mm of rain all month, that’s far too dry. You need to move another 93 miles north to find somewhere with over 40mm of rainfall, the average amount during a July in 1961-90. Which takes us up to somewhere between Boulmer and Alnwick.