[summer '85]

August 1956 was very cool with a CET of 13.5 and it was also wet with an EWR of 158.6mm

Some notable events of the month were:
5th: 60mm fell during a storm at Swanage in 1 hour.
6th: 45mm fell at Arundel Castle in 18 minutes
Hailstorm left 30cm+ deep in Tunbridge Wells, 81mm fell at Faversham
18th: 50mm+ fell across many western parts and northern parts as a deep low moved through northern England
25th: 75mm+ fell on parts of Somerset.

Low pressures, one after another moved through the UK during the month and there was hardly one day where high pressure had total control over the UK until the very end of the month

Here's some data from the month

Dyce
Mean Max: 14.7 (-2.7) Highest Max: 17.8 Rainfall: 83mm (108%)
Glasgow
Mean Max: 16.1 (-2.4) Highest Max: 18.9 Rainfall: 117mm (127%)
Eskdalemuir
Mean Max: 14.5 (-2.7) Highest Max: 19.4 Rainfall: 226mm (173%)
Tynemouth
Mean Max: 14.6 (-3.0) Highest Max: 20.6 Rainfall: 159mm (227%)
Manchester
Mean Max: 16.9 (-2.5) Highest Max: 21.7 Rainfall: 201mm (240%)
Watnall
Mean Max: 16.9 (-3.4) Highest Max: 20.6 Rainfall: 152mm (214%)
Birmingham
Mean Max: 17.1 (-3.2) Highest Max: 20.0 Rainfall: 112mm (170%)
Kew
Mean Max: 18.2 (-3.3) Highest Max: 21.7 Rainfall: 93mm (163%)
Belfast
Mean Max: 16.1 (-2.1) Highest Max: 20.6 Rainfall: 161mm (171%)

August 1956 was a fairly thundery month over England and Wales

Number of days with thunder

Manchester: 6
Birmingham: 5
Watnall: 7
Ross-on-wye: 7
Kew: 7


But not so over Scotland

Dyce: 0
Glasgow: 0
Stornoway: 0

Not surprising the summer of 1956 made news for all the wrong reasons with film footage of deserted windswept beaches, people struggling to stay upright in the strong winds, children and adults having "hail ball" fights and workmen clearing the hail that struck Tunbridge Wells with shovels.

Across the whole of the UK, September 1956 was warmer than August 1956

[London Calling]

This at a time when very few people travelled abroad, and for most their week's holiday would have been spent sitting all day in a cold, windswept shelter on the promenade because the boarding landlady wouldn't let anyone back in before 6pm. No wonder package tours to Spain became so popular.

[summer '85]

Quote

London Calling - 31/7/2006 13:16 This at a time when very few people travelled abroad, and for most their week's holiday would have been spent sitting all day in a cold, windswept shelter on the promenade because the boarding landlady wouldn't let anyone back in before 6pm. No wonder package tours to Spain became so popular.

[hehe]  It always makes me laugh when you see old film footage of men wearing  shirt and tie sitting on the deck chair with a knotted handkerchief on their head sunbathing. [hehe]

[Dave K]

50 years ago...the year of the famous "August snow"...

1956: Summer Hailstorm

TUNBRIDGE WELLS, England: This southern English city called out its snowplows last night [Aug. 7] to clear away five-foot drifts of hailstones from a freak summer thunderstorm. Thousands of tons of ice fell on Tunbridge Wells, within half an hour, bringing all traffic to a halt and sending pedestrians running for cover. Some of the hailstones were the size of golf balls. The storm was part of a patchwork of crazy weather that hit southern England on the last day of its annual August Bank Holiday. Tunbridge Wells got the worst. The hail assault was followed by floods in low-lying sections. The hail smashed thousands of windows and froze hundreds of vehicles into a solid icepack. Thunderstorms brought havoc to dozens of cities.


From The International Herald Tribune archives

[Chris Alder]

If only something like that could happen this summer as I think this is the most boring summer I can remember certainly from a Dorset point of view.

[Ed wxman]

Unbelievable hail event.Hardly the weather for sipping the Pimms!

[summer '85]

[Dave K]

Quote

The scene in the centre of Tunbridge Wells was astounding. Everywhere the hailstones made a white carpet and water pouring off the common and down the high street and the Frant Road swept the hail into great drifts by the Pantiles traffic lights.As soon as the hail stopped local residents and passers-by left cover, rolled up their trouser legs and tried to clear the blocked drains. As they worked, a single deck bus came down the Frant Road and the driver signalled that he was going to drive straight through.The bus entered the water in a great wave but hailstones piled up against it shoulder high. It was stranded there for three hours.

Extract from The Kent Weather Book by Bob Ogley