Weatherwatch: Why Britain’s heatwaves don’t always end with thunderstorms

The science behind summer storms – and why they have yet to break the hot spell gripping the country“The English summer: three fine days and a thunderstorm,” George II is reputed to have said, although the line has also been attributed to Charles II and others. It was not recorded until 1867, by which time it was already in common circulation. A brief hot spell ending in a thunderstorm is a familiar pattern, but it is not what we have experienced in recent weeks.