Summer is a time of year that many of us look forward to with long, warm and sunny days, giving us plenty of time to get outside and enjoy ourselves - walks in the park, trips to the seaside, garden barbecues - just a few of the many activities that are characteristic of a British Summer.

Although summer typically conjures up thoughts of dry, sunny and warm conditions, there are often periods of rather unsettled and active weather. Storms with thunder, lightning and hail are quite common, and sometimes even mini-tornadoes are reported!

With the days getting longer and summer 2004 fast approaching, it's an ideal opportunity to remind ourselves of last year's record breaking summer, and even hazard a guess as to what the forthcoming Summer months will bring.

Review of summers 1998 to 2002.

Summer 2003
Quite a dry and sunny, with above average temperatures, and some record-breaking heat.

This Summer came in with a bang. Thunderstorms affected a large part of England and Wales at the start of June. Shepshed, Leicestershire had 39mm of rain in one hour on the 1st, and St. Leonards, East Sussex had 60mm in just a few hours on the 2nd, causing flash floods in places.

Stormy weather returned mid-June, with a deep depression passing to the north-west of Scotland giving gusts of wind reaching 58mph for Lerwick and Sella Ness on 17th. The weather was somewhat calmer the following week, with many places in Northern Ireland reporting 13 hours of bright sunshine on the 25th.

July was a fairly mixed month, with most of the UK having a settled start. Wisley, Surrey reached 33.6°C on the 15th, while Maidenhead, Berkshire recorded it's hottest July day since 1976.

The second half of the month, however, was very unsettled across the UK. On the 17th, St. Athan, South Wales, received 50mm of rain in 12 hours and the south east of County Down, Northern Ireland had 70mm of rain in 14 hours, causing widespread flooding.

The 9th and 10th saw extreme heat across the UK, especially south east England, with temperature records tumbling en masse. Brogdale, near Faversham, Kent reached 38.5°C (101.3°F) on the 10th - a new UK highest temperature record!

While southern areas basked in extreme heat on the 10th, north east England was hit by severe thunderstorms. Carlton, North Yorkshire, had 48mm in 15 minutes, with 2cm of hail lying on the ground.

Just days after the extreme heat, cooler weather arrived from the west and the temperature fell to 1°C at Tulloch Bridge, Scotland on the night of the 16th.