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UPDATE at 3pm on Friday 2nd September.

UK provisional statistics for Summer 2011

• Across the UK, the mean summer temperature was 13.6 Celsius, which is 0.4 Celsius below the long term average.

• The UK mean summer temperature was similar to 1998 and the coolest since 1993, when it was 13.4 Celsius.

• The UK average rainfall for the summer was 267mm which is 18% more than the long term average for the season which is 227mm.

• As far as sunshine is concerned, there were 489 hours this season, 96% of the long term average which is 510 hours

ENDS

August has once more turned out to be a disappointing month. Overall, the UK has received 126% of the normal August rainfall, and it's been much duller than normal with only 76% of average sunshine. Averaged across the UK maximum temperatures were 0.8C below normal.

Provisional figures also show that it's been the coolest UK summer (June, July & August) since 1993.

But locally, figures from the Met Office weather station at Linton-on-Ouse indicate that summer has actually been very close to average.

Total summer rainfall recorded at the station was 174mm, compared with the long term average of 169mm.

The summer average temperature was 15.48C, the same as in 2007. The station's average is 15.43C.

Just down the road at Church Fenton there's been 498 hours of sunshine this summer, very close to the average of 494 hours.

In spring, I wrote an article, which you can read HERE summarising the various summer forecasts on offer.

Of all the long range forecasts I read, only Piers Corbyn at Weather Action can claim success with his summer forecast.

But let's not forget what the climate records show - glorious springs often deteriorate into unsettled summers - and this year has been no exception.

Looking ahead into September, there's no indication of a decent spell of warm settled weather, with the unsettled theme likely to last for the foreseeable future.

The latest global temperature for July, according to the UAH satellite measure, has shown a further rise from June, and now stands at 0.372C above the running 30 year mean.

Adjusted to the more standard time period used by the Met Office and the WMO, the anomaly is now approximately +0.625C above the 1961-1990 average, continuing its sharp rebound from around the turn of the year.

The warm air that has greeted the start of August looks set to a blip in what is certain to be described come September as yet another disappointing, unsettled summer.

Highest temperatures will be in the Southeast of the UK, where 30C (86F) is likely in the next 24 hours, but the warmth will be felt further north too, with 27C possible in parts of Lincolnshire. It will come as no surprise though that the high temperatures are likely to trigger local thunderstorms.

This comes off the back of a disappointing July.

Dishforth in North Yorkshire measured 62mm of rain, well above the July average of 45mm. July was also cooler and cloudier than average.

Waddington in Lincolnshire reported rainfall close to average with 48mm of rain, compared with their average of 52mm. There were only 157 hours of sunshine, compared with the average of 190 hours.

Elsewhere, it was the coolest July at Dublin airport for 46 years. Across the UK, it was the coolest based on CET temperature data since the abysmal July of 2007.

Interestingly, according to , July was amongst the top 5% of most 'northeasterly' Julys in the last 139 years.

Looking ahead, a prolonged spell of settled warm weather, at least for the first half of August, looks highly unlikely. There is a strong signal from all the main forecasting centres that low pressure will dominate our weather at least until mid-month.

Indeed later this weekend and into next week, conditions may feel Autumnal at times with the potential for a deep area of low pressure to develop bringing wind and rain to most areas. The chart below is typical of what could lie in store.