For goodness sake - get a grip

The maximum temperature in Stavanger, yesterday was 16ºC and the minimum was 11ºC. In Kirkwall, on Orkney 14/10ºC. In London 23/13ºC. In Alicante, just down the road, it was 29/20ºC and in Doha in Qatar 45/31ºC. No real surprises there then.

The highest temperature ever recorded in Spain is 47.8ºC in Murcia on 29 July 1976. Murcia is about 50 minutes from here by car.  The highest temperature ever recorded in England is 38.5ºC in Faversham, Kent on 10 August 2003. No big surprise there either.

Over the winter our perception was that Cartagena was warmer than Culebrón. In summer it's just the reverse; warmer by day in Culebrón but still warmer overnight in Cartagena. We think that it's a lot stickier in Cartagena now than in Culebrón. The figures for yesterday bear out our perception. Cartagena max. 29.5ºC, min. 21.2ºC, humidity 65%; Culebrón (Pinoso really) max. 30.3ºC, min. 15.4ºC, humidity 58%.

It's a while since I've been in the UK in summer but, if I were to describe June, July and August in England I would say that it stops being cold, that there will be two or three weeks worth of sunny, warm, dry days but that even when it's not sunny, dry and warm it's perfectly pleasant. That doesn't mean there won't be a couple of days when you'll need a raincoat or a jacket in the evening. You may even need to fire up the heating a couple of days but it's not like January. And yes, I have heard that it has been an exceptionally poor summer so far in the UK. Nonetheless, if you know the UK I'm sure that you would agree that the above description is largely accurate.

In Spain, at least in Alicante and Murcia, I would say that June, July and August will be hot and dry.

So why oh why does everybody I talk to in Spain say, and I paraphrase, "Crikey, it's hot!" Are they surprised?